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Pete Festersen
Pete Festersen is a member of the Omaha City Council in Nebraska, representing District 1. He assumed office in 2009. His current term ends in 2029.
Festersen ran for re-election to the Omaha City Council to represent District 1 in Nebraska. He won in the general election on May 13, 2025.
Biography
Festersen earned his bachelor's degree from Connecticut College. He later received his MPA from the University of Nebraska-Omaha. Festersen is the vice president of government affairs at CHI Health.[1]
Elections
2025
See also: City elections in Omaha, Nebraska (2025)
General election
General election for Omaha City Council District 1
Incumbent Pete Festersen defeated Mark Brannen in the general election for Omaha City Council District 1 on May 13, 2025.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Pete Festersen (Nonpartisan) | 69.7 | 10,666 |
 | Mark Brannen (Nonpartisan)  | 29.7 | 4,550 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.6 | 87 | ||
| Total votes: 15,303 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Omaha City Council District 1
Incumbent Pete Festersen and Mark Brannen advanced from the primary for Omaha City Council District 1 on April 1, 2025.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Pete Festersen (Nonpartisan) | 65.5 | 7,909 |
| ✔ | | Mark Brannen (Nonpartisan) | 33.9 | 4,097 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.6 | 77 | ||
| Total votes: 12,083 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Endorsements
Festersen received the following endorsements.
2021
See also: City elections in Omaha, Nebraska (2021)
General election
General election for Omaha City Council District 1
Incumbent Pete Festersen defeated Sarah Johnson in the general election for Omaha City Council District 1 on May 11, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Pete Festersen (Nonpartisan) | 61.0 | 9,047 |
 | Sarah Johnson (Nonpartisan) | 37.5 | 5,564 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 1.5 | 221 | ||
| Total votes: 14,832 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Omaha City Council District 1
Incumbent Pete Festersen and Sarah Johnson defeated Tyeisha Kosmicki and Paul Anderson in the primary for Omaha City Council District 1 on April 6, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Pete Festersen (Nonpartisan) | 54.7 | 7,416 |
| ✔ | | Sarah Johnson (Nonpartisan) | 24.6 | 3,327 |
| Tyeisha Kosmicki (Nonpartisan) | 14.7 | 1,994 | ||
| Paul Anderson (Nonpartisan) | 5.6 | 764 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.3 | 45 | ||
| Total votes: 13,546 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2017
Incumbent Pete Festersen defeated Grant Sturek in the general election for District 1 on the Omaha City Council.[2]
| Omaha City Council, District 1 General Election, 2017 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Pete Festersen Incumbent |
82.06% | 12,562 |
| Grant Sturek | 16.66% | 2,550 |
| Write-in votes | 1.29% | 197 |
| Total Votes | 15,309 | |
| Source: Douglas County Election Commission, "Official Results," accessed June 28, 2017 | ||
Incumbent Pete Festersen and Paul Anderson defeated Grant Sturek in the primary election for District 1 on the Omaha City Council.[2]
| Omaha City Council, District 1 Primary Election, 2017 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Pete Festersen Incumbent |
75.50% | 7,110 |
| Paul Anderson |
14.98% | 1,411 |
| Grant Sturek | 8.42% | 793 |
| Write-in votes | 1.09% | 103 |
| Total Votes | 9,417 | |
| Source: Douglas County Election Commission, "Official Results," accessed April 25, 2017 | ||
Endorsements
Festersen received the endorsement of the Omaha Police Officers Association on April 12, 2017.[3] He received an endorsement from the Omaha World-Herald on May 2, 2017.[4]
2014
Festersen ran in the 2014 election for the U.S. House to represent Nebraska's 2nd District. The general election took place on November 4, 2014.[5] He dropped out of the race on December 9, 2013.[6]
Endorsements
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee included Festersen in their Jumpstart program. The program provided financial support to the candidate.[7]
Campaign themes
2025
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Pete Festersen did not complete Ballotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey.
2021
Pete Festersen did not complete Ballotpedia's 2021 Candidate Connection survey.
2017
Festersen's campaign website included the following themes:
| “ |
FIGHTING CRIME Pete will continue to:
HOLDING THE LINE ON TAXES To hold the line on taxes we must:
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT To continue our great progress we must: |
” |
Campaign finance summary
Ballotpedia currently provides campaign finance data for all federal- and state-level candidates from 2020 and later. We are continuously working to expand our data to include prior elections. That information will be published here as we acquire it. If you would like to help us provide this data, please consider donating to Ballotpedia.
See also
2025 Elections
External links
|
Candidate Omaha City Council District 1 |
Officeholder Omaha City Council District 1 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Re-Elect Pete Festersen, "About," accessed March 6, 2017
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Douglas County Election Commission, "Candidate Information," accessed February 28, 2017
- ↑ Omaha World-Herald, "Omaha police union issues endorsements in city races — but not in mayor’s contest," April 13, 2017
- ↑ Omaha World-Herald, "Editorial: Our choices for Omaha City Council," May 2, 2017
- ↑ Omaha.com, "Pete Festersen to vie for Lee Terry's congressional seat in 2014," accessed October 14, 2013
- ↑ Watchdog, "Festersen out of Congressional race, Democrats wonder who’s in," accessed December 9, 2013
- ↑ Roll Call, "House Democrats Promote 3 Recruits," accessed October 24, 2013
- ↑ Re-Elect Pete Festersen, "Priorities," accessed March 6, 2017
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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Omaha City Council District 1 2009-Present |
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