There aren’t a lot of contested local races in Dawes County for today’s primary election..
There weren’t enough candidates to require a primary for the Crawford City Council or for either the Crawford or Chadron School Boards.
There are 5 candidates for the four spots on the November ballot for Chadron City Council, but Thomas Rutledge withdrew from the race after the ballots had been printed.
If Rutledge were to still get more votes than any of the 4 remaining candidates – Clay Anderson, Jessy Roberts, Kevin Oleksy, or Loren “Bat” Pourier – only 3 names would be on the November ballot.
The only other contested local race is Dawes County Commissioner District 3, where Walt Juhlin and Dave Redden are vying for the Republican nomination. The winner will face Libertarian Tony Johnson in the fall.
Tanya Storer of rural Valentine and Tony Tangwall of Whitney, both Republicans, are running for the 43rd Legislative District seat of term-limited Tom Brewer, but both will advance to November regardless.
There is a ballot measure for Chadron residents – creation of a 2% lodging tax with all proceeds going toward capital improvements for parks or recreational facilities within the city limits. It would be paid by those staying in motels.
There are contested primaries at the federal level, including one for Democrats as Daniel Ebers and David Else both want to challenge 9-term Republican Congressman Adrian Smith in November.
Smith faces two challengers of his own, John Walz and Robert McCuiston, as does incumbent GOP Senator Pete Ricketts, who is up against John Glen Weaver and Mac Stevens. Walz and Weaver have been endorsed by the Nebraska Republican Party.
Nebraska’s other incumbent GOP Senator, Deb Fischer of Valentine, is being challenged by Aaron Kowalski. Neither has the party endorsement.
The Libertarian Party has 6 candidates for president: while President Biden has 1 on the Democratic side and Donald Trump has two.