2020 Nebraska elections

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2020 Nebraska elections
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2022  

The 2020 Nebraska elections were held on November 3, 2020. In addition to the U.S. presidential race, Nebraska voters elected the Class II U.S. Senator from Nebraska, one of its Public Service Commissioners, two of eight voting members on the Nebraska University Board of Regents, four of eight seats on the Nebraska State Board of Education, all of its seats to the House of Representatives, two of seven seats on the Nebraska Supreme Court, two of six seats on the Nebraska Court of Appeals, and 25 of 49 seats in the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Six ballot measures were also voted on.

Contents

United States Senate

Incumbent Republican Senator Ben Sasse ran for re-election to a second term. He faced Chris Janicek, the Democratic nominee, in the general election, but following allegations of sexual misconduct by Janicek, the Nebraska Democratic Party supported write-in candidate Preston Love Jr. in the general election.

2020 United States Senate election in Nebraska [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Republican Ben Sasse (inc.) 583,507 62.74% −1.60%
Democratic Chris Janicek227,19124.43%−7.06%
Democratic Preston Love Jr. (write-in)58,4116.28%
Libertarian Gene Siadek55,1155.93%
Write-in 5,7880.62%
Majority356,31638.31%+5.46%
Total votes930,012 100.0%
Republican hold

United States House of Representatives

All three of Nebraska's members in the United States House of Representatives ran for re-election. All three won re-election.

District Republican Democratic OthersTotalResult
Votes%Votes%Votes%Votes%
District 1 189,00659.52%119,62237.67%8,9382.81%317,566100.0%Republican hold
District 2 171,07150.77%155,70646.21%10,1853.02%336,962100.0%Republican hold
District 3 225,15778.51%50,69017.68%10,9233.81%286,770100.0%Republican hold
Total585,23462.17%326,01834.63%30,0463.19%941,298100.0%


Public Service Commission

District 2

Incumbent Public Service Commissioner Crystal Rhoades, a Democrat, ran for re-election to a second term. Tim Davis, a restaurant server, won the Republican primary to challenge Rhoades. Rhoades defeated Davis in a landslide, winning 63% of the vote. Two years into her term, however, Rhoades was elected Douglas County Clerk of the District Court and resigned her position.

Democratic primary

Candidates
Results
Democratic primary results [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Crystal Rhoades (inc.) 37,913 100.00%
Total votes37,913 100.00%

Republican primary

Candidates
  • Tim Davis, restaurant server [3]
  • Krystal Gabel, cybersecurity technical writer and business analyst [4]
Results
Republican primary results [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Tim Davis 11,537 55.81%
Republican Krystal Gabel9,13144.19%
Total votes20,668 100.00%

General election

2020 Nebraska Public Service Commission, District 2 election [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Crystal Rhoades (inc.) 95,119 62.67%
Republican Tim Davis56,69837.33%
Total votes151,817 100.00%
Democratic hold Swing {{{swing}}}

State Board of Education

District 1

Incumbent Board member Patsy Koch Johns was unopposed for re-election.

Candidates

  • Patsy Koch Johns, incumbent Board member

Primary election results

Nonpartisan primary results [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Nonpartisan Patsy Koch Johns (inc.) 51,460 100.00%
Total votes51,460 100.00%

General election results

Nonpartisan primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Nonpartisan Patsy Koch Johns (inc.) 93,015 100.00%
Total votes93,015 100.00%

District 2

Incumbent Board member Lisa Fricke ran for re-election to a second term. She was challenged by Robert Anthony, a real estate agent. Though the race was formally nonpartisan, Fricke was a Democrat and Anthony was a Republican. [5] Fricke ended up defeating Anthony in a landslide, winning 65% of the vote.

Candidates

  • Lisa Fricke, incumbent Board member
  • Robert Anthony, real estate agent

Primary election results

Nonpartisan primary results [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Nonpartisan Lisa Fricke (inc.) 39,330 70.42%
Nonpartisan Robert Anthony 16,516 29.58%
Total votes55,846 100.00%

General election results

Nonpartisan primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Nonpartisan Lisa Fricke (inc.) 71,932 64.64%
Nonpartisan Robert Anthony39,33535.36%
Total votes111,267 100.00%

District 3

Incumbent Board member Rachel Wise declined to seek another term. To replace her, Norfolk Public School Board member Patti Gubbels and Columbus Public School Board member Mike Goos ran. [6] Gubbels defeated Goos in a landslide, winning 66% of the vote.

Candidates

Primary election results

Nonpartisan primary results [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Nonpartisan Patti S. Gubbels 32,050 69.75%
Nonpartisan Mike Goos 13,895 30.25%
Total votes45,945 100.00%

General election results

Nonpartisan primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Nonpartisan Patti S. Gubbels 54,199 66.11%
Nonpartisan Mike Goos27,79633.89%
Total votes81,995 100.00%

District 4

Incumbent Board member John Witzel declined to seek another term. Tax attorney Jacquelyn Morrison and Midland University professor Adrian Petrescu, who held several positions in the Romanian government in the 1990s, ran to succeed him. [7] Morrison defeated Petrescu in a landslide, winning 74% of the vote.

Candidates

Primary election results

Nonpartisan primary results [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Nonpartisan Jacquelyn Morrison 26,474 74.64%
Nonpartisan Adrian Petrescu 8,988 25.36%
Total votes35,462 100.00%

General election results

Nonpartisan primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Nonpartisan Jacquelyn Morrison 53,839 74.08%
Nonpartisan Adrian Petrescu18,84725.92%
Total votes72,686 100.00%

Board of Regents

District 1

Incumbent Regent Tim Clare was unopposed for re-election and won his third term uncontested.

Candidates

  • Tim Clare, incumbent Regent

Primary election results

Nonpartisan primary results [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Nonpartisan Tim Clare (inc.) 52,973 100.00%
Total votes52,973 100.00%

General election results

Nonpartisan primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Nonpartisan Tim Clare (inc.) 94,646 100.00%
Total votes94,646 100.00%

District 2

Incumbent Regent Howard Hawks declined to seek re-election. Psychologist Jack Stark, Millard Public School Board member MiKe Kennedy, and nonprofit manager Viv Ewing ran to replace him. [8] At the nonpartisan primary, Kennedy placed first, winning 35% of the vote, and Stark narrowly edged out Ewing to advance to the general election, winning 34% to Ewing's 32%. However, several months into the general election campaign, Kennedy withdrew from the race, citing a need to focus on his existing service commitments during the COVID-19 pandemic. [9] Though Ewing contemplated a write-in campaign, [9] she ultimately declined to do so and Stark was elected unopposed.

Candidates

Primary election results

Nonpartisan primary results [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Nonpartisan Mike Kennedy 20,129 34.91%
Nonpartisan Jack A. Stark 19,567 33.96%
Nonpartisan Viv Ewing18,28531.72%
Total votes57,981 100.00%

General election results

Nonpartisan primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Nonpartisan Jack A. Stark 101,098 100.00%
Total votes101,098 100.00%

State judiciary

Justices Lindsey Miller-Lerman and Jeffrey J. Funke of the Nebraska Supreme Court; Judges Michael W. Pirtle and David Arterburn of the Nebraska Court of Appeals; and Judges Thomas E. Stine and Dirk V. Block of the Nebraska Workers' Compensation Court ran for retention. All were retained.

Nebraska Supreme Court

District 2

Justice Lindsey Miller-Lerman
ChoiceVotes %
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svg Yes93,02574.20
No32,35025.80
Total votes125,375100.00
Source: Nebraska Secretary of State [1]

District 5

Justice Jeffrey J. Funke
ChoiceVotes %
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svg Yes93,41878.34
No25,15221.66
Total votes118,570100.00
Source: Nebraska Secretary of State [1]

Nebraska Court of Appeals

District 2

Judge Michael W. Pirtle
ChoiceVotes %
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svg Yes84,46668.55
No38,56031.45
Total votes123,026100.00
Source: Nebraska Secretary of State [1]

District 4

Judge David K. Arterburn
ChoiceVotes %
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svg Yes94,75472.05
No36,51727.95
Total votes131,271100.00
Source: Nebraska Secretary of State [1]

Nebraska Workers' Compensation Court

Judge David K. Arterburn
ChoiceVotes %
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svg Yes94,75472.05
No36,51727.95
Total votes131,271100.00
Source: Nebraska Secretary of State [1]
Judge Thomas E. Stine
ChoiceVotes %
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svg Yes564,63375.50
No182,36624.50
Total votes747,000100.00
Source: Nebraska Secretary of State [1]

State legislature

25 of 49 seats in the Nebraska State Legislature were up for election. Although officially nonpartisan, before the election, its de facto composition was:

Party# of seats
Republican30
Democratic18
Independent1
Total49

Ballot measures

Initiative 428

Nebraska Initiative 428 would cap the annual interest for payday loans at 36%. As of September 2020, the Nebraskan average was 400% APR. [10] Vote for 428, an organisation campaigning for the initiative's passage, released a poll by Benenson Group Strategies which showed support for the measure (among Nebraskan voters) at 67%. It was conducted in August. [10]

Initiative 428
ChoiceVotes %
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svg Yes723,52182.80
No150,33017.20
Total votes873,851100.00
Source: Nebraska Secretary of State [1]
Initiative 428 results by county
Yes:
.mw-parser-output .legend{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .legend-color{display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;text-align:center;border:1px solid black;background-color:transparent;color:black}.mw-parser-output .legend-text{}
80-90%
70-80%
60-70% 2020 Nebraska Initiative 428 results map by county.svg
Initiative 428 results by county
Yes:
  •   80–90%
  •   70–80%
  •   60–70%

Initiative 429

Nebraska Initiative 429
Flag of Nebraska.svg
November 3, 2020
Initiative 429
Results
Choice
Votes %
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svgYes588,40565.04%
Light brown x.svgNo316,29834.96%
Total votes904,703100.00%

2020 Nebraska Initiative 429 election results map.svg
Yes     50%–60%      60%–70%      70%–80%
No     50%–60%
     Tie

Nebraska Initiative 429 would allow gambling at licensed racetracks. [1]

Initiative 429
ChoiceVotes %
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svg Yes588,40565.04
No316,29834.96
Total votes904,703100.00
Source: Nebraska Secretary of State [1]

Initiative 430

Nebraska Initiative 430
Flag of Nebraska.svg
November 3, 2020
Initiative 430
Results
Choice
Votes %
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svgYes591,08665.01%
Light brown x.svgNo318,09434.99%
Total votes909,180100.00%

2020 Nebraska Initiative 430 election results map.svg
Yes     50%–60%      60%–70%      70%–80%
No     50%–60%

Nebraska Initiative 430 would establish the governing commission for racetrack gambling. [1]

Initiative 430
ChoiceVotes %
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svg Yes591,08665.01
No318,09434.99
Total votes909,180100.00
Source: Nebraska Secretary of State [1]

Initiative 431

Nebraska Initiative 431
Flag of Nebraska.svg
November 3, 2020
Initiative 431
Results
Choice
Votes %
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svgYes620,83568.71%
Light brown x.svgNo282,70331.29%
Total votes903,538100.00%

2020 Nebraska Initiative 431 election results map.svg
Yes     50%–60%      60%–70%      70%–80%
No     50%–60%
     Tie

Nebraska Initiative 431 would enact taxes on gambling at racetracks. [1]

Initiative 431
ChoiceVotes %
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svg Yes620,83568.71
No282,70331.29
Total votes903,538100.00
Source: Nebraska Secretary of State [1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Robert B. Evnen. Official Report of the Nebraska Board of Canvassers, General Election, November 3, 2020 (PDF).
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Evnen, Robert B. (2024). The Nebraska Board of State Canvassers, Official Report, Primary Election, May 12, 2020 (PDF).
  3. Hammel, Paul (October 21, 2020). "First-time candidate seeks to unseat Democrat in Nebraska Public Service Commission race". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved February 22, 2025.
  4. League of Women Voters of Greater Omaha (2020). "Douglas County Voters' Guide: Statewide Primary Election 2020" (PDF). Retrieved February 22, 2025.
  5. Dejka, Joe (November 3, 2020). "Lisa Fricke, Jacquelyn Morrison win seats on Nebraska State Board of Education". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved February 22, 2025.
  6. Wagner, Lauren (October 10, 2020). "Two running for state board of education". Norfolk Daily News. Retrieved February 22, 2025.
  7. Dejka, Joe (October 6, 2020). "Nebraska State Board of Education candidates field questions on COVID-19, school discipline". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved February 22, 2025.
  8. Dunker, Chris (May 12, 2020). "Contest set for longtime regent's seat". Lincoln Journal Star. Retrieved February 22, 2025.
  9. 1 2 Ruggles, Rick (September 6, 2020). "Mike Kennedy withdraws from University of Nebraska Board of Regents race" . Retrieved February 22, 2025.
  10. 1 2 James, Karla (September 30, 2020). "Poll Shows Nebraskans Support Payday Lending Reform". KLIN News Talk. Retrieved October 3, 2020.