Beau Ballard (left) of Lincoln was appointed by Gov. Pete Ricketts on Thursday to fill the District 21 legislative seat.
JUSTIN WAN, Journal Star
Beau Ballard of Lincoln (center), was nominated to fill the open legislative District 21 seat being vacated by state Sen. Mike Hilgers. Gov.-elect Jim Pillen (left) and Gov. Pete Ricketts announced his appointment on Thursday at the Capitol in Lincoln.
Beau Ballard of Lincoln, a 28-year-old member of Sen. Mike Hilgers' legislative staff, was appointed Thursday to fill the District 21 seat in the Legislature being vacated by Hilgers, who was elected as attorney general beginning next month.
Ballard, a Republican, was chosen by Gov.-elect Jim Pillen after Gov. Pete Ricketts asked Pillen to conduct the process of interviewing and recommending an appointee.
In brief remarks, Ballard said he will support lower taxes, controlled state spending and infrastructure development, including investments in broadband and roads.
Ballard said it is important to "keep young people in the state" in order to "grow Nebraska."
District 21 is "where I grew up," Ballard said, and where he once knocked on doors as a 12-year-old supporting his grandfather James Arthur Jeffers' unsuccessful campaign for the same legislative seat.
The district includes Lincoln residents who live west of North 14th Street and north of Interstate 80, including the Lincoln Airport. It also encompasses Malcolm, Raymond, Davey and Waverly in Lancaster County.
Ballard owns two small businesses, BJB Strategies and the Rabbit Hole Bakery. He served five years as a legislative aide to Hilgers and BJB Strategies helped manage Hilgers' campaign for attorney general.Â
The appointment will become effective on Jan. 4.
Listen now and subscribe: | | | |
Pillen chose Ballard from a field of 10 applicants, conducting the process at the request of Ricketts, who will hand the reins of the governor's office to Pillen next month.
Pillen said he interviewed four of the applicants and determined that Ballard was the best choice based on his support for agriculture, belief in less government and commitment to "stand up for our values."
The brief announcement event was concluded without accepting questions from the media.
In addition to being an aide to Hilgers, Ballard was an aide in the Colorado Senate, performing research on economic, social and agricultural policy, and was briefly an intern in the U.S. House of Representatives.
He was honored last year by the Lincoln Independent Business Association with a Young Business Leader of the Year award.
Ballard earned a bachelor's degree in business from Colorado Christian University and a master's in business administration from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He has assisted in leading Christian mission teams to Nicaragua and Mexico as a volunteer.
Maj. Gen. Daryl Bohac, adjutant general of the Nebraska National Guard, was among the 10 applicants.Â
Others included Karl Elmshaueser, who is director of the Nebraska Environmental Trust; Brodey Weber, who lost the 2020 general election to Hilgers; Phillip Bickford, Alan Critser, Todd Higgins, Jacy Todd, Colin Moore and Daniel Benes.Â
Beau Ballard of Lincoln (center), was nominated to fill the open legislative District 21 seat being vacated by state Sen. Mike Hilgers. Gov.-elect Jim Pillen (left) and Gov. Pete Ricketts announced his appointment on Thursday at the Capitol in Lincoln.