Secretary of State Evnen Faces Likely GOP Challenger
by Matt Johnson
OMAHA — Incumbent Bob Evnen, seeking a third term as Nebraska Secretary of State, faces a likely Republican primary challenger this cycle. Scott Petersen made an “unofficial” announcement to the Douglas County Republican Party at a function at the ICC Bowlatorium in Omaha on Thursday evening.
“It hasn’t been a secret. A week ago, I made the decision to run for Secretary of State,” Petersen told the crowd of around 50-60 guests.
Petersen previously served as Douglas County Republican Party chairman in 2011 and 2013. In 2020, he ran unsuccessfully for Douglas County Clerk-Comptroller as a Republican challenger to Democratic incumbent Daniel Esch. He also served as political director for U.S. Rep. Don Bacon from 2016 to 2019 and later helped manage the 2024 primary campaign of Bacon’s GOP challenger, Dan Frei.
Petersen was the owner of Petersen Printing, Inc., and a founding partner of the political consulting firm Chase Marketing LLC. He considered himself retired until deciding last week to explore this statewide bid.
Evnen was first elected in 2016 and has championed election integrity measures, including voter ID requirements. He also collaborated with the Trump administration on voter roll verification efforts, a move that prompted a lawsuit from Common Cause Nebraska; that case was recently dismissed.
Cole Lumsden, campaign manager for the Evnen campaign, said in a statement, “Secretary of State Bob Evnen has been an ardent supporter and ally of President Trump’s, and has been a key partner with the administration on election integrity. Secretary Evnen is looking forward to once again earning the trust and support of Nebraskans on May 12th.”
Petersen will be making a more official announcement next week, but directed guests to visit his campaign website in the meantime: www.petersenfornebraska.com.
“We’ll put out our official press release early next week. I think the filing went down there today,” Petersen said. “We are going to go for it, and absolutely have fun with it. I appreciate all your help, and it’s going to be an exciting time. So we need to turn out a lot of Republicans in the primary and make it a big deal.”
Evnen has been Secretary of State since 2019 after winning his general election race 61-39. In 2022, he faced off against two Republican challengers, Robert Borer and Rex Schroder, winning the three-way race with a plurality of votes.
The filing deadline for non-incumbent candidates is March 2, and the primary is held on May 12.
— Matt Johnson is a freelance reporter with The Plains Sentinel.
