County Voters Support Change To Commissioners

Nebraskans have a new governor and a new U.S. senator, bringing about a new era in state government. However, regarding local races, voters elected few new faces to public office here in Elgin and throughout much of Antelope County.
The 2014 general election is in the books. Unofficial vote totals show Republican Pete Ricketts handily defeating Democrat Chuck Hassebrook for the state’s highest office.
Across the state, Ricketts collected 56 percent of the votes, Hassebrook received 40 percent of the ballots cast.
Republican Ben Sasse defeated Democrat Dave Domina to become Nebraska’s next senator, replacing Mike Johanns who is stepping down when his term expires in January.
Sasse received 63 percent of the vote compared to 33 percent for Domina.
County Races
In local races of note, Kelly Mueller was elected county assessor and Lisa Payne was elected county clerk.
Incumbents re-elected were Sheriff Bob Moore, County Attorney Joe Abler and County Treasurer Sandy Knapp.
The only county-wide election of note involved whether or not to maintain a supervisor form of government. Voters, by a margin of 1,140 ‘For’ to 1,106 ‘Against’ approved switching to a board of commissioners which will take several years (three to be exact) to implement.
Voters overwhelmingly said ‘No’ to a ballot issue allowing the Antelope County Agricultural Society to increase their budget’s restricted funds base by 95 percent over the allowable growth percentage beginning with the 2015-2016 fiscal year. The vote was 1,516 ‘Against’ to 553 ‘For’.
Voters in the Neligh-Oakdale School District said “No” (923 to 175) to the issuance of nearly $7 million in bonds for the costs of renovating, rehabilitating and improving the district’s existing school buildings.
Local races
At city hall, election races featured candidates running unopposed. Mike Schmitt was re-elected mayor. Duane Miller was elected to City Council Ward #1.
All candidates running for the District #18 Board of Education were elected/re-elected.
logoThere were several contested races for positions on the Upper Elkhorn NRD Board.
In Subdistrict #7, Michael Moser beat Keith Heithoff by a margin of 968 votes to 945.
In Subdistrict #4, Jerry Childers collected 1,184 votes compared to just 479 for Chip Whitaker.
In another UENRD race, for the at large seat, Paul Bartak collected 928 votes to just 865 for Christopher Dierks.
National Races
The night proved to be a victory for the Republican Party, particularly in the U.S. Senate where, unofficial results show them becoming the majority party.
A complete listing of unofficial election results can be found at www.elginreview.com.