Behind the 'Shocking' Grassroots Defeat of Bob Evnen

by John Gage

(Picture credit Matt Johnson)

Headed into Tuesday night, Bob Evnen was the unquestionable favorite to win the GOP primary for Secretary of State, where he would, in all likelihood, go on to win a third term in office. But as votes started to roll in, things quickly took a turn towards challenger Scott Petersen.

Most political observers ahead of the primary predicted Petersen would put up a fight, but expected he would lose. It was only a matter of by how much.

As the first round of votes came in Tuesday evening, the early vote was nearly split, a result that appeared to surprise even Petersen, who told The Plains Sentinel he had expected his voters to be more likely to vote on Election Day than by early ballot.

Petersen has a 55-45% lead on Evnen, culminating in the biggest grassroots upset in the state since then-State Sen. Deb Fischer beat then-Attorney General Jon Bruning and State Treasurer Don Stenberg in the 2012 U.S. Senate GOP primary.

Evnen’s fall is more complicated than it might appear on first glance. Petersen ran a campaign focused almost entirely on election integrity, claiming the secretary of state did not do enough to secure Nebraska’s elections. GOP distrust of elections certainly played a leading role in Evnen’s loss, but political insiders say there are more reasons that added to his downfall.

Voter Fatigue, Grassroots Betrayal, a Better Ballot Name

On Wednesday, The Plains Sentinel spoke with a handful of Republican consultants and leaders to ask what they thought the major causes behind Evnen’s loss were. Most of the Republicans spoke on background so they would be able to speak candidly about Evnen.

A myriad of reasons were given for the secretary of state’s defeat, including voter fatigue. Evnen is the only statewide official going for a third term in a row for the same office.

Almost everyone said that Evnen did not take the race seriously enough. “Bob didn’t do any favors or help himself,” one GOP consultant said. “He did not take voter concerns seriously.”

Another consultant, Rod Edwards, agreed. “After 2020 when all of the election integrity concerns came up, justifiable or not, the feeling was he dismissed them,” he said. “And it’s been building ever since then.”

Multiple people pointed to the fact that they were not aware that the state had an Election Integrity Unit until Evnen sent out a press release the day before the election announcing the team was “on standby” in case any concerns or complaints arose.

Petersen ran a “boisterous” campaign, which included stunts like purchasing a new Trump sign for the “iconic” I-80 Trump Barn, that contrasted sharply with Evnen’s sometimes stiff and aloof presence on the campaign trail.

Still others said Evnen had been a boon to Democrats in the state, pointing to “incompetence” that had hurt Republicans and helped Democrats in high-profile fights. Among examples cited were mishandling of ballot access fights with Democrats and pushing for a “weak” voter ID law.

“He’s done everything to help the Democrats in his role,” one Republican leader noted, adding that Republicans voters had already expressed their dissatisfaction with his leadership four years ago when he only garnered 44% of the vote in a three-way primary.

Another point made by Republican insiders was that state leaders’ support for Evnen was “muted” as he had “angered everyone” in statewide or federal office at one point or another. Particularly noted was the way Evnen has used his office, including questions raised by Auditor Mike Foley over how the secretary of state was using a nonprofit and his frequent trade missions.

Well before the election, Republican leaders had privately questioned Evnen’s frequent trade missions and whether they were actually meant to benefit the state. The secretary of state’s “antics” made it less likely for Republican leaders to come to his defense even after it became clear that the race with Petersen was becoming closer than expected.

“Foley provided the death nail,” one Republican leader told The Plains Sentinel.

Perhaps the most unique reason given for Evnen’s loss was lack of name ID and the fact that “Petersen” is a better ballot name. “I think on its face Scott Petersen ran an aggressive campaign and deserves a lot of credit for that but I think a lot of credit goes for having a common last name,” Chris Peterson, who runs CP Strategies, said. “For better or worse, I’m not sure Bob Evnen had strong name recognition despite two terms in office.”

‘RINO Bacon’

Petersen supporters have their own theory as to why their candidate won. On Tuesday, grassroots supporters of the campaign mockingly thanked Congressman Don Bacon for supporting Evnen, calling him “RINO Bacon” and saying that it exposed the secretary of state as being a “RINO” himself. One prominent Petersen supporter, online activist “Beard Vet,” tweeted out “Don Bacon is finished” with a clown meme following the announcement that Petersen had won.

Throughout the end of the primary, Bacon had mixed it up with Petersen supporters online after accusing several of them, including former secretary of state candidate Robert Borer, of being antisemitic. Petersen distanced himself from his supporters’ comments and said that he’s never said an antisemitic thing in his life.

On Steve Bannon’s War Room show on Wednesday morning, Petersen attributed his win to a “true grassroots victory.” “I was plugged in, and I had one thing on my mind,” he said. “If we don’t fix our election systems, we are in danger of losing our country. And locally, there is a big group of people across our state who do not trust our election system.”

Petersen promised Bannon that if he wins in the general election, he will be “the true first Trump supporting candidate elected federally or statewide” in Nebraska.

General Election Looms

Petersen will face Democratic candidate Sarah Slattery in the general election. Slattery won the Democratic party nomination with over 90% of the vote against Lee Cimfel.

Slattery has run for office before, challenging Republican State Sen. Rob Clements for his legislative seat four years ago. Slattery lost 56-44% in the heavily Republican seat but raised a respectable $50,000 for her run.

So far, the Democratic candidate has only raised $10,000 in her bid to become the next secretary of state, but it is possible Democratic donors invest more into the race following Evnen’s loss.

— John Gage is the executive editor of The Plains Sentinel.