Hutton, Smith Win Contested County Races; Fulton Carries County While Losing Statewide

Written by Nemaha County Herald

Jana Smith won the Democratic nomination for Nemaha County Assessor and Bob Hutton won renomination as Nemaha County Commissioner, 1st District, on the Republican ticket in the Tuesday, May 11, primary election.
Tony Fulton, Auburn native, carried Nemaha County despite losing the statewide vote for the Republican nomination for state treasurer.Smith received 333 votes to 112 votes for Wendy Hemmer in the assessor’s race. She will be unopposed in the Tuesday, Nov. 2, general election.Hutton, incumbent, received 179 votes to 99 for Jim Jarvis. He will also be unopposed in November.Brownville, Peru IssuesPeru voters, 64-19, approved continuation of a 1 percent sales and use tax.Brownville voters, 32-21, approved a 1 percent sales and use tax. The issue of whether that issue would sunset in 10 years tied with 25 votes each.Other County RacesAll other county officers were unopposed in their respective primaries.Republican: Amy Hector received 762 votes for Clerk of the District Court, there were two write-ins. Louie Ligouri received 675 votes for County Attorney, there were five write-ins. Brent Lottman received 718 votes for County Sheriff, there were six write-ins. Marvin Bohling received 224 votes for 3rd District Commissioner, there was one write-in. There were 42 write-ins for County Clerk, 86 write-ins for County Assessor, 29 write-ins for County Treasurer and 21 write-ins for County Assessor.Democrat: Joyce Oakley received 414 votes for County Clerk, there were two write-ins. Patricia Holtzman received 381 votes. Randy Rohrs received 115 votes for 3rd District Commissioner, there were three write-ins. There were 15 write-ins for Clerk of the District Court, 15 write-ins for County Attorney, 28 write-in for County Sheriff, 11 write-ins for 1st District Commissioner and 10 write-ins for County Surveyor.Humboldt-Table Rock Steinauer Board of EducationFor four-year terms: Lynn Fankhauser, 30 votes; Scott Ogle, 28 votes; Neal Kanel, 25 votes; Todd Binder, 23 votes; Corey Hain, 22 votes; Steve Schaardt, 21 votes; Pete Niedzielski, 13 votes and there was one write-in.For two-year terms: Bryan Gossman, 68 votes; James Zentner, 52 votes; Terry Vice, 51 votes; Jeremy Leech, 15 votes; Missy Freeman, 11 votes; Joe Standerford, seven votes and Sandra Stalder, six votes.State RacesRepublican: Gov. Dave Heineman received 746 votes to 57 for Paul Anderson and 38 for Christopher Geary. John Gale received 671 votes for Secretary of State and there was one write-in. Fulton received 673 votes for State Treasurer while former Attorney General Don Stenberg received 136 votes and Tom Nesbitt, former head of the State Patrol, received 36 votes. Attorney General Jon Bruning received 711 votes and there was one write-in. Mike Foley received 657 votes for Auditor and there were two write-ins.Democrat: Mark Lakers received 288 votes for governor and there were three write-ins. Janet Stewart received 289 votes for Secretary of State and there were two write-ins. Mark Stoj received 259 votes for State Treasurer and there were 20 write-ins. There were 20 write-ins for Attorney General and 13 write-ins for Auditor.Despite winning the statewide vote, Amendment 1 received 586 No votes and 573 Yes votes in Nemaha County. It authorizes the Legislature to permit officials of counties and municipalities to acquire, own, develop, and lease or finance personal property for use by nonsectarian, nondevotional and nonreligious purposes and to issue revenue bonds for such purpose; will prohibit the use of condemnation for acquiring such property and operation of such property as a business by county or municipal officials and will not authorize county or municipal officials to impose any tax to repay the obligations represented by such revenue bonds.Patricia Timm received 882 votes for the State Board of Education, District 5. There were seven write-ins.Congress, 1st DistrictRep. Jeff Fortenberry received 709 Republican votes. David Hunt received 60 votes and Ralph Bodie 49 votes.On the Democratic ticket, Jessica Lynn Turek received 108 votes; Ivy Harper, 67 votes; Sherman Yates, 60 votes; Stanley Krauter, 54 votes and there were two write-ins. Harper won the district Democratic nomination.