Evnen out as Nebraska secretary of state

Challenger Scott Petersen beat incumbent Secretary of State Bob Evnen in Tuesday's Republican primary.

The Associated Press called the race in Petersen's favor at 10:36 p.m. As of 10:45 p.m. Petersen had 55% of the vote.

Petersen told Nebraska Public News earlier in the night that he felt he was "in position to win pretty big tonight."

"Nebraska is such a red state, a very good red state, and winning the Republican primary for this race, I'll be a heavy favorite in the fall."

Evnen, who served as a member of the State Board of Education before becoming secretary of state in 2018, was seeking a third term.

In a statement released Wednesday morning, he said it was the "honor of a lifetime" to serve as secretary of state.

"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," Evnen said.

As secretary of state, he was a prominent supporter of Nebraska's voter ID requirement. Nebraska voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2022 requiring voter ID, which took effect beginning with the 2024 primary election. Under Evnen’s office, Nebraska conducted post-election audits and publicly released the findings.

Recently, Evnen provided voter registration data to the U.S. Department of Justice at the Trump administration’s request, a move that drew legal challenges from voting rights groups concerned about voter privacy.

Evnen embarked on a transparency tour across the state leading up to the primary election, meeting with eight different county election offices.

He wrapped up his final stop April 30 with Madison County after making stops at Lancaster, Scotts Bluff, Lincoln, Buffalo, Hall, Douglas and Sarpy counties. At each stop, Evnen observed “logic and accuracy testing of ballot counting equipment.”

Petersen, an Omaha business owner – focuses on election transparency, which he claims has been an issue under Evnen the past seven years. Petersen said a big reason he ran for the office "is people losing confidence in election systems."

Petersen, who has never held an elected office, has worked closely in Republican politics. He’s a previous chair of the Douglas County Republican party and served as delegate for the 2024 Republican National Convention.

In a X post, Petersen said his campaign filed a records request with the SOS office, asking for information on Department of Justice voter roll cleanup coordination, the number of votes flagged and removed, categories of removals and final reports and summaries. He said that request would be fulfilled around June 5.

Petersen will face Sarah Slattery.

In the Democratic race, Slattery, who lives in Plattsmouth, easily outdistanced Lee Cimfel of Lincoln.

Slattery is a chef and small-business owner who has been politically active in the past few years. Her political experience includes a run for the Legislative District 2 seat in the 2022 election, which she lost to Rob Clements. She was appointed last year to the Plattsmouth Library Board and the Plattsmouth Bridge Commission.

Slattery has criticized Evnen's moves to release voter data to the federal government as well as trying to get thousands of medical marijuana petition signature disqualified, saying on her campaign website that, "the public's trust in the Secretary of State's office is at an all-time low.”