Lincoln Journal Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • A6

A6 Wednesday, May 11, 2016 Lincoln Journal Star By MARGARET REIST Lincoln Journal Star Two longtime educators will compete for the District 1 seat on the Nebraska Board of Education in a tight race be- tween the three candidates. Patsy Koch Johns and Stephanie Bohlke-Schulte were the top two vote-getters in primary elec- tion, with Koch Johns inch- ing ahead of Bohlke-Schulte in the nal uno cial tally by 331 votes. Koch Johns ended the night with 34 percent of the vote, to 33 per- cent. Physician Bob Rauner trailed, but not far behind, with nearly 32 percent. Bohlke-Schulte said she surprised by the close vote.

Koch Johns be reached for comment. thrilled the voters think it would be advanta- geous to have someone on the state board with educational experience and Bohlke-Schulte said. especially important given the work on educational standards and assessment the board will be doing, she said. Koch Johns, 66, retired in 2012 from Lincoln High School after a 43-year ca- reer in education. She has coached theater and speech and is a strident advocate for the arts as well as for students living in poverty.

Bohlke-Schulte, 62, spent 26 years as a music teacher and counselor before be- ing elected to the Grand Is- land Board of Education in 1994. She served two terms and then worked as an el- ementary school principal in Grand Island for 10 years. She moved to Lincoln about a year ago and her son, Matt Schulte, is on the Lincoln Board of Education. Rauner, 46, is director of Partnership for a Healthy Lincoln and spent the last eight years working with Lin- coln Public Schools gather- ing data on tness, obesity and their ects on student achievement. Koch Johns and Bohlke- Schulte are vying for the seat held by Lillie Larsen, who run for re-election.

The district covers two- thirds of Lincoln and Lan- caster County. Reach the reporter at 402-473- 7226 or By JoANNE YOUNG Lincoln Journal Star Twenty-two legislative races pared down candidates to two Tuesday night. All incumbents appeared to advance, although not neces- sarily nishing rst in their races. In east District 25, the seat held by Sen. Kathy Campbell who has served two terms, it was a close race be- tween Lincoln attorney Jim Gordon, a Democrat, and Re- publican Suzanne Geist.

Both will advance. Neither has held public of- ce. Gordon said late Tuesday he never missed an opportunity during the primary campaign to talk to people in the district, and to listen to their views on important issues such as property taxes, Medicaid ex- pansion and job opportunities. And he will continue that. Friends, family and a wide circle of volunteers helped take him through the primary, he said.

be more thankful for what done than I am right he said. Geist, a Republican, said she competed with two at- torneys Gordon and David Tagart and two doctors Les Spry and Dale Michels all with name recognition. She is self-employed in sales and had little name recognition, she said. So she set out to in- troduce herself to the district, knocking on 10,000 doors. have to say I am as over- whelmed and surprised as anyone she said of her nish.

In west District 27, Anna Wishart, a Democrat, led Republican Dick Clark, an at- torney, by a wide margin. Wis- hart is a policy consultant for Nebraska Children and Fami- lies Foundation. Both will advance. Wishart said the campaign really opened her eyes to chal- lenges the people in her dis- trict face. feel like made a lot of friends and some really great relationships with people across District Wishart said.

Attorney Mike Hilgers, a Republican, and attorney Larry Scherer, a Democrat, advanced in District 21. is just one Hil- gers said. an important step, but not the nal step. To be able to make a di erence in lives in the district got to win in Both candidates in District 29 incumbent Kate Bolz and challenger Melody Vaccaro both Democrats, will advance to the general election. In other races statewide, Sen.

Nicole Fox, who was ap- pointed by Gov. Pete Rick- etts when South Omaha and Downtown District 7 Sen. Jer- emy Nordquist left the Legis- lature a year early, had to battle it out with John Synowiecki, a former member of the Legis- lature. It appeared Synowiecki and Tony Vargas will advance. District 7 has a large Demo- cratic population, with twice as many registered over Re- publicans.

The legislative seat is rst public ce. Sen. Ernie Chambers from District 11, the lon- gest-serving state senator, was a strong leader in the three- person race all night, with 74 percent of the vote, despite saying he campaign or take donations. face John Sciara in the general election. Sen.

David Schnoor of Scribner, appointed by Gov. Dave Heineman, advanced to the general. Al Davis of Hyannis, Repub- lican incumbent in District 43, also advanced but came in sec- ond to Tom Brewer. Reach the writer at 402-473-7228 or On Twitter (i) Incumbent PRESIDENT Democrat 1,426 of 1,480 precincts Hillary Clinton; 40,821 Bernie Sanders; 35,870 Republican Donald Trump; 119,050 Ted Cruz; 35,853 John Kasich; 22,114 Marco Rubio; 7,033 Ben Carson; 9,859 Libertarian Marc Feldman; 47 Gary Johnson; 364 Steve Kerbel; 35 John McAfee; 119 Austin Petersen; 130 U.S. HOUSE DISTRICT 1 Democrat 511 of 525 precincts Daniel Wik; 25,501 Republican Je Fortenberry; 62,511 U.S.

HOUSE DISTRICT 2 Democrat 262 of 282 precincts Brad Ashford (i), 20,697 Republican Don Bacon; 29,827 Chip Maxwell; 15,302 Libertarian Steven Laird; 96 Andy Shambaugh; 84 Je rey Stein; 34 LEGISLATURE Top 2 vote-getters advance District 1 35 of 48 precincts Dan Watermeier (i); 5,969 District 3 52 of 52 precincts Carol Blood; 1,996 Tommy Garrett (i); 2,546 District 5 208 of 228 precincts Gilbert Ayala; 600 Mike McDonnell; 1,839 District 7 208 of 228 precincts Nicole Fox (i); 630 John Synowiecki; 591 Tony Vargas; 993 District 9 208 of 228 precincts Sara Howard (i); 3,152 Larry Roland; 805 Van Argyrakis; 152 District 11 208 of 228 precincts Ernie Chambers (i); 1,066 Fonte Hamilton; 121 John Sciara; 249 District 13 208 of 228 precincts Jill Brown; 1,609 Justin Wayne; 1,761 Mark Elworth; 231 Jake Seeman; 289 District 15 35 of 35 precincts David Schnoor; 3,407 Lynne Walz; 2,825 District 17 32 of 32 precincts Ardel Bengston; 1,488 Louis Benscoter; 281 Joni Albrecht; 2,965 District 19 37 of 37 precincts Jim Scheer (i); 4,432 District 21 198 of 198 precincts Rick Vest; 726 Larry Scherer; 1,913 Mike Hilgers; 3,033 District 23 34 of 34 precincts Bruce Bostelman; 3,604 Jerry Johnson, 3,009 District 25 198 of 198 precincts Suzanne Geist; 3,980 Jim Gordon; 3,562 David Tagart; 350 Leslie Spry; 1,686 Dale Michels; 1,435 District 27 198 of 198 precincts Dick Clark; 1,606 Anna Wishart; 3,307 Deb Andrews; 418 District 29 198 of 198 precincts Kate Bolz; 6,210 Melody Vaccaro; 1,281 District 31 208 of 228 precincts Rick Kolowski (i); 1,990 Peter Mayberry; 449 Ian Swanson; 2,422 District 33 55 of 55 precincts Steve Halloran; 4,908 Les Seiler (i); 2,984 District 35 27 of 27 precincts Zachary Zoul; 985 Dan Quick; 2,328 Gregg Neuhaus; 2,119 District 37 29 of 29 precincts John Lowe; 3,030 Bob Lammers; 2,652 Mike McShea; 546 District 39 208 of 228 precincts Pat Borchers; 1,709 Bill Armbrust; 1,753 Lou Ann Linehan; 2,101 District 41 60 of 60 precincts Tom Briese; 6,438 District 43 66 of 66 precincts Tom Brewer; 5,204 Al Davis (i); 4,380 District 45 52 of 52 precincts Michael Cook; 2,551 Sue Crawford (i); 2,519 District 47 54 of 54 precincts Peggy Popps; 1,811 Wendall Gaston; 1,422 Karl Elmshaeuser; 2,053 Steve Erdman; 2,949 LINCOLN AREA RACES Top 2 vote-getters advance STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION District 1 Patricia A. Koch Johns; 13,524 Bob Rauner; 12,570 Stephanie Bohlke-Schulte; 13,193 LANCASTER COUNTY BOARD District 2 Republican Joseph er; 1,156 Jim Ballard; 1,751 STORMWATER BOND For; 32,007 Against; 14,650 PRIMARY ELECTION 2016 Gordon, Geist win hot contest GEIST VACCAROBOLZWISHART CLARKGORDONSCHERER HILGERS District 21 District 25 District 27 District 29 By KEVIN ABOUREZK Lincoln Journal Star Raymond businessman Jim Ballard beat fellow Republican Joe er in the Republican primary race for the District 2 Lancaster County Board seat. feel very humbled by all the support I have been Ballard said. Ballard, co-owner of James Arthur Vineyards in Raymond and the From Nebraska Gift Shop in the Haymarket, and er, a county sheri cap- tain, were seeking the seat be- ing vacated by longtime Com- missioner Larry Hudkins. Ballard will face Democrat Jennifer Brinkman, a com- munications cer for a com- mercial real estate company, on Nov.

8. a great er said of Ballard. sucks to lose, but the county would be in good hands with The ve county commis- sioners are elected to four-year terms and earn $42,500 a year. Two seats are up for elec- tion, including the District 4 seat held by County Board Chairwoman Roma Amund- son, who was unopposed. Ballard, 51, holds a bach- degree in broadcasting and a degree in jour- nalism from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and has served on boards including the Parkview Christian School Board and Nebraska Winery and Grape Growers Associa- tion.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7225 or On Twitter Ballard advances to face Brinkman BRINKMANBALLARD Lancaster Co. Board KOCH JOHNS State Board of Ed By ZACH PLUHACEK Lincoln Journal Star Brittany Lo elholz voted Tuesday with newfound hope her pick for president might survive the primary election. She and her husband, Jus- tin, marked their ballots for Republican Ted Cruz at Schoo Middle School hours after the U.S. senator from Texas hinted consider re-entering the GOP fray if he emerged vic- torious from pri- mary, they said. was still going to vote whether the person I wanted was on there or Brittany Lo elholz said.

just hope my vote counts, I But when polls closed, Donald Trump, the New York billionaire and presumptive Republican nominee, had achieved a landslide win in Nebraska and ed hope of a Cruz comeback. Trump was ectively the last man standing after Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich stepped out of the Republican fray last week. Those moves diminished what could have been a rare barn burner for GOP voters in presidential primary. think it really ated the said John Paul Sabby, chairman of the Lancaster County GOP.

Uno cial nal results showed about 30 percent of registered voters completed ballots in Lancaster County. Statewide turnout numbers yet available. Still, local politicos ex- pected a more dramatic night. few weeks ago, we thought it was going to look a lot di said Neva Win- kle, chairwoman of the Lan- caster County Young Demo- crats. About 9 p.m., she and about 75 local Democrats gathered to watch Election Night returns in the basement of in the Haymarket, 201 N.

Eighth St. And Sabby, the GOP chair- man, joined a crowd of about two-dozen people at a wine tasting in the Talon Room, 230 N. 12th St. The party, hosted by the Lincoln Independent Busi- ness Association, was among a few Republican-heavy events in the county. Earlier in the day, voting took place without reports of major glitches.

At First Presby- terian Church, 15 people had voted in the rst 45 minutes Tuesday, which poll worker Agnes Masek called run things at the 17th and streets polling place since the 1980s, and predicted about 150 of the 1,339 registered voters would show up by end. By contrast, turnout was huge in November 2004, when Lincoln voters weighed in on a presidential general elec- tion and ballot initiatives on expanded gambling, banning smoking in all Lincoln work- places and contributing more state lottery funds to the Ne- braska State Fair. had sitting on the steps Masek recalled. Slim ballot makes for quiet primary 80 80 34 6 6 77 77 34 St. A St.

Van Dorn St. Pioneers Blvd. Old Cheney Rd. Pine Lake Rd. Yankee Hill Rd.

Rokeby Rd. Saltillo Rd. 1 t. 1 4 th t. .1 2 th t.

3 3 rd t. .4 8 th t. 2 7 th t. 4 0 th t. 5 6 th t.

7 0 th t. 8 4 th t. 9 8 th t. Holdrege St. Adams St.

Fletcher Ave. Superior St. 2 26 46 27 28 29 David Murdock Trail South St. 3 5 th t. Calvert St.

rmal Blvd. 21 32 30 25 Lincoln legislative districts SHEILA Journal StarSource: nebraskalegislature.gov 21 32 30 25 Lancaster County ERIC Star Beverly Biggs casts her vote in the Nebraska primary Tuesday morning at First Evangelical Covenant Church. BOHLKE-SCHULTE Top 2 people advance in each race. Voter turnout hits 30 percent. Two longtime educators tops in state board race.