Petersen Pulls Off Upset in Secretary of State Primary
by John Gage
(Photo credit Matt Johnson)
OMAHA – The Nebraska Secretary of State race was one of the surprises Tuesday night for many election observers, with Scott Petersen pulling off an upset win over incumbent Bob Evnen. At 9:55 pm, Decision Desk HQ called the race in favor of Petersen, who is leading Evnen 55-45%.
Petersen started the night off slightly behind Evnen but overtook him within the first hour of votes being counted and has since slowly expanded his lead.
Petersen told The Plains Sentinel he was grateful for the support he has gotten in his campaign. “I am absolutely excited and looking forward to winning in November and going to work for Nebraska,” he said in a statement Tuesday night. “I am so honored and grateful to the many volunteers across the state. We work so hard to make this happen.”
“I look forward to working hard to restore confidence in our election systems and in our elected leaders,” he added.
On Wednesday morning, Evnen issued a concession statement.
“It’s been the honor of a lifetime to serve the great state of Nebraska as your Secretary of State, and I’m proud of all the great work our team accomplished these past eight years,” he said. “While we didn’t get the result we wanted, I look forward to serving out the remainder of my term, and I will work to ensure a seamless transition following the general election. Thank you, Nebraska.”
The win by Petersen is one of the biggest upsets by a challenger in a Nebraska election in recent memory.
Earlier Tuesday evening, Petersen told The Plains Sentinel he was “surprised” to be up leading so early in the night, and noted he thought it meant he would likely win the primary race.
The race has become a litmus test for how Republican voters in Nebraska feel about election security, with Petersen arguing Evnen has not done enough to secure Nebraska’s elections.
Petersen’s early strong performance comes despite Evnen having a more than 4 to 1 money advantage in the race.
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 history of running 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.