Christa Yoakum's telephone interactions with voters in northwest Lincoln and Lancaster County routinely veer into how she became the commissioner representing District 2.
People rightly don't remember voting for her to represent them on the County Board, though some voters recall marking the bubble next to her name in 2018.
They did so then when she ran and narrowly lost election to the Nebraska Public Service Commission.
Her campaign then and now differs markedly because of the pandemic, she said, as she is not knocking on doors and talking to voters in person.Â
Still, her priorities as a candidate remain largely the same.Â
"A lot of things I stood for then, I stand for now," Yoakum said in an interview last week.
Along with her continued support for the environment, Yoakum said she is running to advance policies for working families, promote public safety and expand rural broadband.Â
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She faces Republican Eric Underwood in the only contested Lancaster County Board race this year.Â
In the summer of 2019, Yoakum was selected from a group of 13 candidates to fill the District 2 seat vacated after Jennifer Brinkman left the County Board for a job in the Lincoln Mayor's Office.
Yoakum, a Democrat like Brinkman, said her career in health care and in service to the newest Nebraskans, set a stage for her service to the county.Â
Yoakum grew up in rural Lancaster County and attended a one-room school where her teacher fanned a curiosity about the world within her through science field trips to the nearby creek and engaging civics lessons, she said.Â
After moving to Lincoln and attending Lincoln High School, Yoakum's first job came as a county employee at Lancaster Manor, caring for seniors.Â
That evolved into a 30-year career that included her becoming an assistant living administrator, she said.Â
She left the health care field and then volunteered and took on activism for causes such as the opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline, she said.Â
She helped oversee the historic vote by Sudanese refugees in America to create the independent nation of South Sudan in 2011, and her work there helped lead her to a job at Nebraska Appleseed working to support immigrants and refugees, she said.
Through her husband John Yoakum, whom she married in 1979, Christa Yoakum met one of her life's mentors, his mother Carol Yoakum, who was active in local politics.Â
Campaigning for Carol Yoakum became a date outing for the young couple, and overhearing her mother-in-law give advice to local officials such as then-Mayor Don Wesely inspired her, Yoakum said.
"She’s the one that made me feel like I had the license to get involved," the 62-year-old said.
She's grateful for her appointment to the County Board, a selection process that at times was uncomfortable because it played out entirely in public, she said.Â
She's proud of the commissioners' bipartisan, unanimous budget this year that kept the property tax levy unchanged from the prior year even amid calls to raise it to help the Lancaster Event Center.Â
"We don't always agree on some things," she said. "(But) we have trust in each other, and we treat each other respectfully."
Yoakum and her husband have four adult sons, who live in the area, and 10 grandchildren.Â
The couple are each on the 2020 general election ballot, with John Yoakum running as a candidate for the Lower Platte South Natural Resources District Board of Directors.
"It's kind of nice to be able to share this (campaign experience)," Christa Yoakum said with a smile. "We can just say, 'Vote Yoakum' and it works for everybody."Â
Candidate Yoakum answers issue questions:
The 2020 Journal Star Voter's Guide
The 2020 Journal Star general election Voter's Guide
Your guide to Lincoln-area and statewide races and ballot questions that will appear on the Nov. 3 general election ballot. Click on a race name to see the candidates and learn about their views on the issues.
Nebraska voters will decide whether to cap the maximum annual rates associated with payday loans at 36% following a successful ballot initiative.
Nebraska voters will determine whether to allow casino gambling to enter the state when they consider a three-pronged initiative on the genera…
Republican Sen. Ben Sasse is seeking reelection to a second six-year term and will face Democratic nominee Chris Janicek of Omaha on the ballot.
Nebraska holds three seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Eastern Nebraska's 1st District includes Lincoln; the 2nd District includes O…
Southeast Community College is led by an 11-member board of governors that meets on the third Tuesday of every month.
The Lower Platte South Natural Resources District covers about 1,600 square miles in Southeast Nebraska, including most of Lancaster and Cass …
Only one of the two seats on the Lancaster County Board of Commissioners up for election this year features a contested race.
The University of Nebraska Board of Regents consists of eight members elected to serve six-year terms representing districts across the state.
The State Board of Education sets state education policy and regulations, and oversees the Nebraska Department of Education.
Judges in Nebraska are appointed by the governor and then retained by popular vote. It is extremely rare for a sitting judge to be voted out o…
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View the Voter's Guide as it appeared in the Journal Star print edition.