Kathy Wilmot ran ahead of outgoing state Sen. Matt Williams to become the newest member of the University of Nebraska Board of Regents.
Wilmot, a former member of the State Board of Education who received endorsements from several conservative politicians and organizations, will replace Regent Bob Phares of North Platte.
Phares will step down from the board at the end of the year after serving three terms.
His replacement won every county in District 7 en route to a 54.4% to 45.6% victory over Williams, according to the Nebraska Secretary of State. District 7 encompasses the Panhandle, the Sandhills and southwest Nebraska.
While officially a nonpartisan race, Wilmot won the backing of Gov. Pete Ricketts, who donated $20,000 to her campaign, and allegedly funded a political action committee that ran attack ads against her opponent.
People are also reading…
The Beaver City resident also received the endorsement of the Nebraska GOP over Williams, as well as the support of Protect Nebraska Children, a right-wing political action committee that spent at least $38,000 to elect candidates to state and local school board races in 2022.
On Thursday, the Southern Poverty Law Center reported Protect Nebraska Children, which formed in 2021, has ties to the anti-LGBT group Family Watch International.
Wilmot’s campaign also received financial backing from former Omaha mayor and NU Regent Hal Daub, Republican gubernatorial candidate Charles Herbster, and Sen. Steve Halloran of Hastings.
Other current and former lawmakers, including Sen. Dan Hughes of Venango, Sen. Lydia Brasch, and Sen. John Kuehn, as well as Rep. Adrian Smith of Nebraska’s 3rd congressional district, also backed Wilmot.
The support from Ricketts and others led to criticism from a state senator and friend of Williams, who wrote before the election that attacks against the Gothenburg senator were “cowardly attempts to sway voters in the worst way possible.â€
“To say I’m disappointed in Governor Ricketts for spending $300,000 to attack a fellow committed conservative Republican is an understatement,†Sen. John Stinner of Gering wrote in a Nov. 2 letter to the Scottsbluff Star-Herald.
“It’s repugnant and indicative of everything that people complain about in coffee shops across our state,†added Stinner, the former chair of the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee.
Regent Paul Kenney of Amherst won a second term on the Board of Regents, outdistancing Julie Hehnke, a school counselor at Grand Island Central Catholic, by a 54.2% to 45.8% margin.
Kenney, a farm and ranch owner and the chairman of Kaapa Ethanol LLC, also received $10,000 in backing from Ricketts, according to campaign finance reports.
Gov.-elect Jim Pillen of Columbus, a member of the Board of Regents representing District 3, also donated $10,000 to Kenney’s campaign. Fellow Regent Rob Schafer of Beatrice, and former regents Howard Hawks and Daub were also donors.
Kenney also received backing from Burlington Capital Group founder Michael Yanney, Crete Carrier CEO Tonn Ostergard, Hausmann Construction CEO Joey Hausmann and Younes Hospitality president Paul Younes.
Regents, who set the NU system’s budget, approve programs and building projects and hire the university president, are scheduled to meet again Dec. 2 for their final meeting of 2022.
The first meeting of 2023 is scheduled for Feb. 10.
Full coverage of Nebraska's 2022 general election
Here's what went down Tuesday night.
Jim Pillen's path to victory took him through a multi-candidate Republican primary battle in May that centered on an expensive showdown.
In metropolitan Omaha's sharply competitive 2nd District, Republican Rep. Don Bacon moved into position early Wednesday to claim a fourth term, defeating challenger Tony Vargas.
Incumbent Pat Condon ended the night with 2,000 more votes than challenger Adam Morfeld.
After Tuesday's election, Republicans appear to have secured a filibuster-proof supermajority of 34 senators in the nonpartisan Legislature.
Voters also gave strong majorities to raising the state's minimum wage to $15 an hour and giving airports the ability to use incentives to attract air service.
An at-times emotional Jim Pillen addressed supporters on Tuesday evening, saying the way he ran his campaign for governor has prepared him to lead the state come January.
Most Lancaster County incumbents won their races, except for county assessor, but several offices will welcome newcomers following Tuesday's general election.
Three candidates backed by the Protect Nebraska Children conservative political action committee won on Tuesday, shifting the balance of power on the board.
Check out photos from 2022 Election Day across Nebraska.
Lancaster County Commissioner Dave Shively said he hopes to have about 3,500 early votes not yet counted done by Thursday, with 3,850 additional ballots to be counted sometime next week.
At one point Tuesday night, just 20 votes separated Vargas and Bacon. But Bacon later began to open up his lead as more votes were counted from Sarpy and Saunders counties.