2024 Nebraska primary recap: Lincoln-area legislative races show clear winners (2024)

Here are the results from the 2024 Nebraska primary election held on Tuesday.

Below find all the Journal Star's posts and updates from Tuesday's voting and counting.

Voter turnout below projections

11:35 p.m. Nebraska voters did not show up in numbers that officials had expected.

About 28.5% of Lancaster County voters turned out for the primary election, which was slightly better than the state total of about 26%.

Though neither of those totals are final, they will fall well short of the 35% turnout that Secretary of State Bob Evnen had predicted.

Votes still to be counted in Lancaster County

10:55 p.m. Lancaster County will still have about 2,800 votes to count after election day.

The county Election Commissioner's website said late Tuesday night that it will count approximately 2,400 early ballots that came in too late to be counted before Tuesday on Thursday. It also has nearly 400 provisional ballots that won't be counted until May 22.

Bosn pulls ahead in District 25

10:15 p.m. Carolyn Bosn has now pulled well ahead of Nicki Behmer Popp in the Legislative District 25 race.

Bosn, the Republican incumbent, has 55.5% of the vote to 41.5% for Behmer Popp, a registered nonpartisan candidate. Maher Aurang Zeb has 3% of the vote.

In District 21, incumbent Republican Beau Ballard passed the 50% mark against his two Democratic challengers, coming in with 53.6% in the latest totals. Seth Derner had 30.4% and appeared likely to advance to the general election. Bryan Paseka was a distant third with 16% of the vote.

Bosn, Behmer Popp in dead heat

9:15 p.m.Carolyn Bosn and Nicki Behmer Popp were essentially tied in District 25, with Bosn taking a three-vote lead with more than 6,000 votes counted.

Early returns show tight Lincoln-area legislative races

8:15 p.m.Early primary election vote returns Tuesday night show some close races in Lincoln-area legislative races.

The first voting results released at 8 p.m. show a tight District 25 race between incumbent Sen. Carolyn Bosn and her main challenger, Nicki Behmer Popp.

Behmer Popp took a slight lead over Bosn for the seat representing southeast Lincoln and Lancaster County.

Behmer Popp, a political independent who serves on the Lincoln Airport Authority, had 49% of the early vote to Bosn's 47.6%. Bosn was appointed by Pillen to fill the seat vacated by former Sen. Suzanne Geist last year.

Maher Aurang Zeb was running a distant third at 8 p.m. with 3.3% of the vote.

Sen. Beau Ballard won the early vote in the District 21 legislative race representing northwest Lincoln and Lancaster County.

Ballard, a Republican who was appointed to the position by Gov. Jim Pillen and former Gov. Pete Ricketts at the end of 2022, led challenger Seth Derner, a Democrat by a margin of 47.5% to 33.2% as of the 8 p.m. results.

Bryan Paseka, also a Democrat, collected 19.3% of the early vote.

Both candidates running for the District 27 seat to replace Sen. Anna Wishart will advance to November's general election.

Jason Prokop, a Democrat, had a comfortable margin with 61.7% of the vote at the 8 p.m. early results over Dawn Liphardt, a Republican. Liphardt received 38.3% of the early votes.

And Sen. Eliot Bostar, who represents District 29 in the Legislature and was running unopposed for reelection, will also advance.

In District 1 — where four are vying to replace Sen. Julie Slama, who opted not to seek reelection to the seat representing Otoe, Johnson, Nemaha, Pawnee and Richardson counties in the Legislature — Dennis Schaardt of Steinauer, a Republican who owns Den’s Country Meats in Table Rock, and Glenda Willnerd of Unadilla, a registered Democrat, led the race upon the release of early vote tallies Tuesday night.

Schaardt led the field with 58 votes — nearly 50% of the early votes cast in the Southeast Nebraska district. Willnerd had 34 votes followed by Bob Hallstrom, an attorney from Syracuse who is a registered Republican.

In the crowded District 23 race to replace term-limited Sen. Bruce Bostelman of Brainard, the earliest returns showed three candidates in a dead heat, including Larissa Schultz of Yutan, a nonprofit worker and yoga instructor; Jared Storm, of David City, a pilot and small-business owner; and Dennis Fujan, a farmer and Navy veteran from Prague. All three had garnered between 20% and 30% of early votes cast in the district, which includes Saunders, a portion of Butler and Colfax counties. Schultz led the field with 29.5% of the early votes.

1st District House

First District Congressman Mike Flood was headed for a comfortable Republican primary victory over challenger Michael Connely, with more than 80% of the vote in his favor in early returns.

State Board of Education

In the State Board of Education District 1 race, Kristin Christensen had a comfortable lead over Liz Davids, with 65% of the vote to 35%, although both will advance to the general election in the nonpartisan race.

NU Regents

Incumbent Rob Schafer had a comfortable lead in the University of Nebraska Board of Regents District 5 race, with about 43.7% of the vote. Jerome Wohleb was in second place with 32.4% and Gary Rogge was third with 24% of the vote.

Waverly bond issue

Waverly Public Schools' proposed $89.9 million bond issue appeared headed toward a resounding defeat, with the no votes winning in early returns by a nearly 2-to-1 margin.