Bosn shoots out to lead; Ballard outpacing challengers in Lincoln legislative races (2024)

An infusion of Election Day votes put Sen. Carolyn Bosn on top in the primary election for District 25 in the Nebraska Legislature.

Bosn received double the amount of Election Day votes as her challenger, Nicki Behmer Popp, in the race to represent southeast Nebraska and Lancaster County after Behmer Popp had done well in the early ballot counting.

An appointee of Gov. Jim Pillen, Bosn ultimately won Tuesday's primary in the nonpartisan race with 56% of the vote to Behmer Popp's 41%.

Both will advance to November's general election.

"I am cautiously optimistic and grateful for the support that I've had from my family, from the volunteers that have helped me with my campaign," Bosn said in a 9:40 p.m. phone interview.

Behmer Popp, a Realtor who serves on the Lincoln Airport Authority, had an early advantage over Bosn and Maher Aurang Zeb among ballots received by the Lancaster County Election Commissioner before Tuesday.

But when the first tranche of Election Day results had been counted, Bosn gained a razor-thin edge of just three votes over her challenger.

By the time the unofficial final results were posted, her lead extended to more than 1,500 votes.

From her election night party at Catalyst in south Lincoln, Bosn reiterated her gratitude.

"I feel like we know that the message is resonating with voters and we're keeping our ears open when we're out talking to the voters, listening to the issues and working to fix some of the everyday issues that Nebraskans are facing," she added.

In the nonpartisan legislative elections, the top two vote-getters in each race move on to battle in November. Here's are some results in other legislative races:

District 21

In the seat representing northwest Lincoln and Lancaster County, incumbent Sen. Beau Ballard defeated challenger Seth Derner.

Ballard, a Republican business owner who was appointed to the position by Gov. Jim Pillen in partnership with then-Gov. Pete Ricketts, received more than 55% of the vote in the three-way race.

Derner, an education consultant who is one of two Democrats challenging Ballard for the seat, had 29.9%, while Bryan Paseka, a mechanic and carpenter for a rail company, carried 15%.

Ballard and Derner will square off again in November.

"I'm very pleased with the results and very fortunate for all the residents of District 21 that have put their trust in me to continue to represent them in the Nebraska Legislature," Ballard said Tuesday night.

As he watched the results trickle in Tuesday night with family and friends, Ballard said he was grateful.

"Putting in a lot of shoe leather and a lot of phone calls and trying to reach as many voters as possible, so it's very humbling to see the results," he added.

District 27

Both challengers vying for the southwest Lincoln and Lancaster County seat now held by Sen. Anna Wishart, a registered Democrat, will advance to the general election.

Jason Prokop, also a Democrat, was outpacing Republican Dawn Liphardt 56% to 44% after the unofficial final results were released.

District 29

Sen. Eliot Bostar, who represents central and southeast Lincoln's District 29, ran unopposed and is headed to a second term in the Legislature.

District 1

The race to replace Sen. Julie Slama in representing extreme Southeast Nebraska in the Legislature narrowed from four candidates to two on Tuesday.

Dennis Schaardt, a meat locker owner from Steinauer who ran against Slama in 2020, had nearly 45% of the vote and led over Robert Hallstrom of Syracuse, who began to close the gap with 33.9% as of midnight.

Schaardt and Hallstrom will meet up again in November.

Glenda Willnerd, a part-time librarian from Unadilla, and Bob Holman of Auburn, were eliminated.

Slama, who was appointed to the Legislature in 2018 and won election in 2020, announced she would not seek a second full-term.

District 23

A crowded field seeking to represent the legislative district immediately north of Lancaster County was narrowed from six candidates on Tuesday night.

Jared Storm, a small-business owner from David City, built a lead over the next two challengers by 11:30 p.m. for the district representing Saunders County, as well as Colfax and most of Butler counties.

Storm, a Republican, had 35.2% of the vote, while fellow Republican Dennis Fujan, a retired farmer from Prague, had 20.4% and Larissa Schultz of Yutan, the only Democrat in the race, had 14.9%.

Challengers to replace term-limited Sen. Bruce Bostelman of Brainard also included Allie French (10.5%), Alan Zavodny (13.3%) and Jacob Wolff (5.6%).

Other preliminary results from legislative races across Nebraska include:

* In District 11, former state Sen. Ernie Chambers held onto an early lead over his successor, incumbent Sen. Terrell McKinney, to represent North Omaha in the Legislature.

Chambers had 44.8% to McKinney's 44%, while challenger Calandra Cooper had 11.1% as of 11:30 p.m.

* After racing out front with the first batch of election results, former Sen. Dan Quick's lead over current Sen. Ray Aguilar began to close.

As of 11:30 p.m., Quick, a Democrat, was in front of the Republican Aguilar -- his predecessor and successor -- by a 51.3% to 48.7% margin to represent District 35 in Grand Island.

Both candidates will advance to the general election.

* Sen. Jen Day of Gretna continued to outpace her challengers, Bob Andersen and Caleb Muhs, for the District 49 seat as of 10 p.m.

Day, a Democrat, held 43.6% of the vote over Andersen, who had 34.8%.

* Omaha Sen. Kathleen Kauth maintained a healthy 60.75% to 39.25% lead over challenger Mary Ann Folchert as of 11:30 p.m. for the District 31 race representing Millard and west Omaha.

* Dave Wordekemper won the primary race to replace Sen. Lynne Walz of Fremont for the District 15 race.

Wordekemper (43.8%) and Roxie Kracl (25.2%), both Republicans, will advance to the general election to replace Walz, a registered Democrat.

The district includes all of Dodge County and the northwest corner of Douglas County, including Valley.