2018 Nebraska gubernatorial election

See also: 2018 United States gubernatorial elections

The 2018 Nebraska gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2018, to elect the Governor of Nebraska, concurrently with the election of Nebraska's Class I U.S. Senate seat, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states, elections to the United States House of Representatives, and various Nebraska and local elections. Incumbent Republican Governor Pete Ricketts won re-election to a second term.^[1]

2018 Nebraska gubernatorial election

← 2014 November 6, 2018 2022 →

Nominee Pete Ricketts Bob Krist Party Republican Democratic Running mate Mike Foley Lynne Walz Popular vote 411,812 286,169 Percentage 59.0% 41.0%

County results Congressional district results Precinct results Ricketts:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Krist:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Tie:      50%      No votes

Governor before election Pete Ricketts Republican Elected Governor Pete Ricketts Republican

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

• Krystal Gabel, writer, candidate for Metropolitan Utilities District in 2016 and candidate for Omaha City Council in 2017^[2][3]
• Pete Ricketts, incumbent governor^[1][4]

• Running mate: Mike Foley, incumbent lieutenant governor^[4]

Declined

• Mike Flood, former Speaker of the Nebraska Legislature^[5]
• Bob Krist, state senator (running as a Democrat)^[6][7]

Endorsements

Pete Ricketts

• Nebraska Farm Bureau^[8]
• NRA Political Victory Fund^[9]

Results

 

Results by county:

  Ricketts—>90%

  Ricketts—80–90%

  Ricketts—70–80%

  Ricketts—60–70%

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Pete Ricketts (incumbent)	138,292	81.42
	Republican	Krystal Gabel	31,568	18.58
Total votes			169,860	100.00

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

• Tyler Davis, University of Nebraska, Omaha instructor^[10]
• Bob Krist, state senator^[11]

• Running Mate: Lynne Walz, state senator^[12]

• Vanessa Gayle Ward, activist^[11]

Declined

• Chuck Hassebrook, former Regent of the University of Nebraska and nominee for governor in 2014 (running for the legislature)^[13][14]
• Steve Lathrop, former state senator (running for the legislature)^[13][15]

Endorsements

Bob Krist

State legislators

• Burke Harr, Nebraska Legislature 8th District^[16]

Mayors

• Chris Beutler, Lincoln^[16]

Federal Level Politicians

• Brad Ashford, Former Congressman

Results

 

Results by county:

  Krist—70–80%

  Krist—60–70%

  Krist—50–60%

  Krist—40–50%

  Krist—<40%

  Tie

  Ward—40–50%

  Ward—50–60%

Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bob Krist	54,992	59.81
	Democratic	Vanessa Gayle Ward	26,478	28.80
	Democratic	Tyler Davis	10,472	11.39
Total votes			91,942	100.00

Independents

State Senator Bob Krist announced in September 2017 he left the Republican Party in order to mount a third party challenge against Governor Ricketts.^[7] Krist planned to create a new party in order to run, which will require submitting 5,000 signatures to qualify the party for the ballot.^[7] However, in February 2018 he abandoned the independent candidacy and became a Democrat.

Candidates

Withdrawn

• Bob Krist, state senator (running as a Democrat)^[7]

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report^[17]	Safe R	October 26, 2018
The Washington Post^[18]	Safe R	November 5, 2018
FiveThirtyEight^[19]	Safe R	November 5, 2018
Rothenberg Political Report^[20]	Safe R	November 1, 2018
Sabato's Crystal Ball^[21]	Safe R	November 5, 2018
RealClearPolitics^[22]	Safe R	November 4, 2018
Daily Kos^[23]	Safe R	November 5, 2018
Fox News^[24]^[a]	Likely R	November 5, 2018
Politico^[25]	Safe R	November 5, 2018
Governing^[26]	Safe R	November 5, 2018

Notes

1. The Fox News Midterm Power Rankings uniquely does not contain a category for Safe/Solid races

Debates

Host network/sponsors	Date	Link(s)	Participants
			Bob Krist (D)	Pete Ricketts (R)
KMTV-TV	August 30, 2018 3:00 pm MDT	^[27]	Invited	Invited

Results

Nebraska gubernatorial election, 2018^[28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Pete Ricketts (incumbent)	411,812	59.00%	+1.85%
	Democratic	Bob Krist	286,169	41.00%	+1.77%
Total votes			697,981	100.00%	N/A
	Republican hold

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Burt (largest village: Tekamah)
• Saline (largest city: Crete)
• Thurston (largest village: Pender)

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Douglas (largest city: Omaha)

See also

• Nebraska elections, 2018

References

1. Walton, Don (April 21, 2016). "Ricketts ties conservative goals to two terms". Lincoln Journal Star. Retrieved July 7, 2016.
2. "Omaha writer, marijuana advocate announces bid for governor as Republican". Lincoln Journal Star. July 22, 2017. Retrieved September 13, 2017.
3. Kirkley, Sara (August 28, 2017). "Omaha writer says Nebraskans need options in governor's race". NTV News. Retrieved September 13, 2017.
4. Walton, Don (June 4, 2017). "Ricketts embarks on re-election campaign, promises tax relief every year". Lincoln Journal Star. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
5. Duggan, Joe (June 29, 2017). "After Heineman says Mike Flood would make an 'outstanding governor,' ex-speaker says it's not his time". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
6. Hammel, Paul (May 3, 2017). "State Sen. Bob Krist says he's thinking about challenging Pete Ricketts for governor in 2018". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
7. Konnath, Hailey (July 17, 2017). "Nebraska State Sen. Bob Krist to leave GOP, try to challenge Ricketts as third-party candidate". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
8. Koeller, Austin (August 26, 2018). "Pete Ricketts receives NE Farm Bureau endorsement". Grand Island Independent. from the original on August 27, 2018.(subscription required)
9. . NRA-ILA. April 25, 2018. Archived from the original on April 25, 2018. National Rifle Association's Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF) proudly announces its endorsement of Pete Ricketts for Governor of Nebraska
10. Jordan, Joe (October 26, 2017). "Democrats Short List for Governor Slowly Emerging". News Channel Nebraska. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
11. Schulte, Grant (February 12, 2018). "Nebraska Governor hopeful joins Democratic Party". USNews. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
12. Gaardner, Nancy (April 30, 2018). "State Sen. Lynne Walz chosen as Democrat Bob Krist's running mate". Omaha World Herald. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
13. Walton, Don (July 2, 2017). "Good week for Ricketts in political terms". Lincoln Journal Star. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
14. Walton, Don (August 30, 2017). "Chuck Hassebrook seeks seat in Legislature". Lincoln Journal Star. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
15. Hammel, Paul (August 29, 2017). "Ex-State Sen. Steve Lathrop plans to run for his old seat, challenging incumbent Merv Riepe". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
16. Roseann Moring. "Gubernatorial candidate Bob Krist switches to Democratic Party". Omaha World-Herald.
17. "2018 Governor Race Ratings for October 26, 2018". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
18. "The Washington Post's gubernatorial race ratings". The Washington Post. October 16, 2018.
19. "2018 Governor Forecast | FiveThirtyEight". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
20. "2018 Gubernatorial Ratings | Inside Elections". insideelections.com. Retrieved November 15, 2017.
21. "Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball » 2018 Governor". www.centerforpolitics.org. Retrieved November 15, 2017.
22. "2018 Governor Races". RealClearPolitics. October 9, 2018.
23. "2018 Governor Race Ratings". Daily Kos. June 5, 2018.^{[permanent dead link]}
24. "2018 Midterm Power Ranking". Fox News.
25. "Politico Race Ratings". Politico.
26. . www.governing.com. Archived from the original on October 21, 2018. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
27. "WATCH: Ricketts, Krist debate at state fair". KMTV. August 30, 2018. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
28. "Official Results: General Election – November 6, 2018". Nebraska Secretary of State. Retrieved December 9, 2018.

External links

• Candidates at Vote Smart
• Candidates at Ballotpedia

Official campaign websites