With only two candidates for Nebraska State Board of Education in each of Districts 5 and 6, theoretically the primaries could be skipped and the candidates shortcut to the general election.
Not so.
According to Tracy Overstreet, Hall County Election Commissioner, in Hall county three races that never automatically advance are: Nebraska State Board of Education, Legislature and State Board of Regents.
“(Those three races) never auto-advance, regardless if the number of candidates are too few to pare anybody down.”
The State Board of Education races in District 6 (which includes Hall, Buffalo, Adams and Merrick Counties) and District 5 (including Hamilton, York and Merrick Counties) each have two candidates competing in one spot per district.
In District 6, Sherry Jones and Danielle Helzer were on the primary ballot. Jones received 69.18% of the votes (29,695); Helzer, 30.82% (13,227). All precincts had reported.
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There are no incumbents running in District 6. Sherry Jones and Danielle Helzer are in contest to take the seat held by Maureen Nickels. Nickels declined to run for re-election. She was elected to represent District 6 in 2014.
Helen Raikes and Kirk Penner are vying for a spot representing District 5. With all precincts reporting, Penner received 60.92% of the votes (32,150); Raikes, 39.08% (20,624). The District 5 spot was vacated by Patricia Timm, who announced her resignation in October 2021, 17 years after being appointed to the seat by then-governor Mike Johanns. Penner was appointed to his District 5 seat in December 2021 by Governor Pete Ricketts to fill Timm’s spot.
Having a primary election for State Board of Education, Legislature and State Board of Regents does have value, Overstreet explained.
“It ends up being sort of a litmus test for those candidates. They can see where they had strengths where they had weakness, where they maybe need to do some campaigning before the general election.”
In cases like these, primaries have “No winner or loser,” Overstreet said. “They will be on the general ballot again.”