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Nebraska Secretary of State election, 2026

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2022
Nebraska Secretary of State
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General election
Election details
Filing deadline: Pending
Primary: May 12, 2026
General: November 3, 2026
How to vote
Poll times:

8 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Central time zone); 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (Mountain time zone)
Voting in Nebraska

Ballotpedia analysis
Federal and state primary competitiveness
State executive elections in 2026
Impact of term limits in 2026
State government trifectas
State government triplexes
Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2026
Nebraska
executive elections
Governor

Lieutenant Governor
Attorney General
Secretary of State
Auditor
Treasurer
Public Service Commission
State Board of Education (4 seats)
State Board of Regents (2 seats)

Nebraska is holding an election for secretary of state on November 3, 2026.

To learn more about other elections on the ballot, click here.

Candidates and election results

Note: The following list includes official candidates only. Ballotpedia defines official candidates as people who:

  • Register with a federal or state campaign finance agency before the candidate filing deadline
  • Appear on candidate lists released by government election agencies

Note: At this time, Ballotpedia is combining all declared candidates for this election into one list under a general election heading. As primary election dates are published, this information will be updated to separate general election candidates from primary candidates as appropriate.

General election

The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.

General election for Nebraska Secretary of State

Incumbent Bob Evnen is running in the general election for Nebraska Secretary of State on November 3, 2026.

Candidate
Image of Bob Evnen
Bob Evnen (R)

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Candidate profiles

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Voting information

See also: Voting in Nebraska

Ballotpedia will publish the dates and deadlines related to this election as they are made available.


Past elections

The section below details election results for this office in elections dating back to 2014.

2022

See also: Nebraska Secretary of State election, 2022

General election

General election for Nebraska Secretary of State

Incumbent Bob Evnen won election in the general election for Nebraska Secretary of State on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Bob Evnen
Bob Evnen (R) Candidate Connection
 
100.0
 
500,342

Total votes: 500,342
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Nebraska Secretary of State

Incumbent Bob Evnen defeated Robert Borer and Rex Schroder in the Republican primary for Nebraska Secretary of State on May 10, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Bob Evnen
Bob Evnen Candidate Connection
 
43.9
 
98,263
Image of Robert Borer
Robert Borer Candidate Connection
 
32.2
 
72,150
Rex Schroder
 
23.9
 
53,628

Total votes: 224,041
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2018

See also: Nebraska Secretary of State election, 2018

General election

General election for Nebraska Secretary of State

Bob Evnen defeated Spencer Danner in the general election for Nebraska Secretary of State on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Bob Evnen
Bob Evnen (R)
 
60.6
 
406,632
Spencer Danner (D)
 
39.4
 
263,982

Total votes: 670,614
(100.00% precincts reporting)
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Nebraska Secretary of State

Spencer Danner advanced from the Democratic primary for Nebraska Secretary of State on May 15, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Spencer Danner
 
100.0
 
76,769

Total votes: 76,769
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Nebraska Secretary of State

Bob Evnen defeated Debra Perrell in the Republican primary for Nebraska Secretary of State on May 15, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Bob Evnen
Bob Evnen
 
58.5
 
81,371
Debra Perrell
 
41.5
 
57,816

Total votes: 139,187
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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2014

See also: Nebraska Secretary of State election, 2014
Secretary of State of Nebraska, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngJohn Gale Incumbent 75.2% 368,135
     Libertarian Ben Backus 24.8% 121,470
Total Votes 489,605
Election results via Nebraska Secretary of State

Election analysis

Click the tabs below to view information about demographics, past elections, and partisan control of the state.

  • Presidential elections - Information about presidential elections in the state.
  • Statewide elections - Information about recent U.S. Senate and gubernatorial elections in the state.
  • State partisanship - The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation and state government.
  • Demographics - Information about the state's demographics and how they compare to the country as a whole.


See also: Presidential voting trends in Nebraska and The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

Cook PVI by congressional district

Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index for Nebraska, 2026
District Incumbent PVI
Nebraska's 1st Mike Flood R+6
Nebraska's 2nd Don Bacon D+3
Nebraska's 3rd Adrian Smith R+27

2024 presidential results by 2026 congressional district lines

2024 presidential results in congressional districts, Nebraska
District Kamala Harris Democratic Party Donald Trump Republican Party
Nebraska's 1st 43.0% 56.0%
Nebraska's 2nd 52.0% 47.0%
Nebraska's 3rd 23.0% 76.0%
Source: The Downballot

2016-2024

How a state's counties vote in a presidential election and the size of those counties can provide additional insights into election outcomes at other levels of government including statewide and congressional races. Below, four categories are used to describe each county's voting pattern over the 2016, 2020, and 2024 presidential elections: Solid, Trending, Battleground, and New. Click [show] on the table below for examples:


Following the 2024 presidential election, 53.7% of Nebraskans lived in one of the state's 91 Solid Republican counties, which voted for the Republican presidential candidate in every election from 2016 to 2024, and 46.3% lived in one of 2 Solid Democratic counties. Overall, Nebraska was Solid Republican, having voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016, Donald Trump (R) in 2020, and Donald Trump (R) in 2024. Use the table below to view the total number of each type of county in Nebraska following the 2024 election as well as the overall percentage of the state population located in each county type.

Historical voting trends

Nebraska presidential election results (1900-2024)

  • 6 Democratic wins
  • 27 Republican wins
Year 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Winning Party R R D D D R R R D D R R R R R R D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R

This section details the results of the five most recent U.S. Senate and gubernatorial elections held in the state.

U.S. Senate elections

See also: List of United States Senators from Nebraska

The table below details the vote in the five most recent U.S. Senate races in Nebraska.

U.S. Senate election results in Nebraska
Race Winner Runner up
2024 53.2%Republican Party 46.5%Independent (Nonpartisan)
2024 62.6%Republican Party 37.4%Democratic Party
2020 62.7%Republican Party 24.4%Democratic Party
2018 57.7%Republican Party 38.6%Democratic Party
2014 64.4%Republican Party 31.5%Democratic Party
Average 60.1 35.7

Gubernatorial elections

See also: Governor of Nebraska

The table below details the vote in the five most recent gubernatorial elections in Nebraska.

Gubernatorial election results in Nebraska
Race Winner Runner up
2022 59.2%Republican Party 36.0%Democratic Party
2018 59.0%Republican Party 41.0%Democratic Party
2014 57.2%Republican Party 39.2%Democratic Party
2010 73.9%Republican Party 26.1%Democratic Party
2006 73.4%Republican Party 24.5%Democratic Party
Average 64.5 33.4
See also: Party control of Nebraska state government

Congressional delegation

The table below displays the partisan composition of Nebraska's congressional delegation as of October 2025.

Congressional Partisan Breakdown from Nebraska
Party U.S. Senate U.S. House Total
Democratic 0 0 0
Republican 2 3 5
Independent 0 0 0
Vacancies 0 0 0
Total 2 3 5

State executive

The table below displays the officeholders in Nebraska's top four state executive offices as of October 2025.

State executive officials in Nebraska, October 2025
Office Officeholder
Governor Republican Party Jim Pillen
Lieutenant Governor Republican Party Joe Kelly
Secretary of State Republican Party Bob Evnen
Attorney General Republican Party Mike Hilgers

State legislature

Nebraska State Senate

Party As of October 2025
     Democratic Party 14
     Republican Party 33
     Other 2
     Vacancies 0
Total 49

Trifecta control

Nebraska Party Control: 1992-2025
Seven years of Democratic trifectas  •  Twenty-seven years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Governor D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R
Senate - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The table below details demographic data in Nebraska and compares it to the broader United States as of 2023.

Demographic Data for Nebraska
Nebraska United States
Population 1,961,504 331,449,281
Land area (sq mi) 76,814 3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White 79.9% 63.4%
Black/African American 4.8% 12.4%
Asian 2.5% 5.8%
Native American 1% 0.9%
Pacific Islander 0.1% 0.4%
Other (single race) 4.2% 6.6%
Multiple 7.6% 10.7%
Hispanic/Latino 12.3% 19%
Education
High school graduation rate 92.1% 89.4%
College graduation rate 34.1% 35%
Income
Median household income $74,985 $78,538
Persons below poverty level 10.3% 12.4%
Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2018-2023).
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Secretary of State elections in 2026

There are 26 secretary of state seats on the ballot in 2026.

See also

Nebraska State Executive Elections News and Analysis
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Nebraska State Executive Offices
Nebraska State Legislature
Nebraska Courts
2025202420232022202120202019201820172016
Nebraska elections: 2025202420232022202120202019201820172016
Party control of state government
State government trifectas
State of the state addresses
Partisan composition of governors

External links

Footnotes