Nebraska Public Service Commission election, 2016
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May 10, 2016 |
November 8, 2016 |
Mary Ridder (R) Rod Johnson (R) |
Jerry Vap (R) (Chair) Rod Johnson (R) |
None Down Ballot Public Service Commission |
February 16, 2016 |
March 1, 2016 |
May 10, 2016 |
July 15, 2016 |
August 1, 2016 |
November 8, 2016 |
TBD |
TBD |
Nebraska held elections for two seats on the Public Service Commission on November 8, 2016. Incumbent Rod Johnson (R) of District 4 and Republican nominee Mary Ridder of District 5 were both unopposed in the general election. Republicans maintained their 4-1 majority on the commission.
Overview
Public service commissioners are responsible for regulating a variety of public utilities. The exact regulatory scope of the commissions varies from state to state. The Nebraska Public Service Commission regulates railroads, household goods and passenger carriers, telephone companies, grain warehouses, and the construction of manufactured homes.[1]
The Nebraska Public Service Commission has five members who are elected from five districts across the state in partisan elections.[1] Heading into the 2016 elections, Republicans had had a 4-1 seat majority on the commission for several years. Previous elections had favored Republicans in Districts 1, 3, 4, and 5, while Democrats had won District 2 for at least the past 20 years.
Districts 4 and 5 were up for election in 2016. These two districts cover 81 of Nebraska's 93 counties.[2] District 4 has been held by incumbent Rod Johnson since he was first elected commissioner in 1992. He ran for a fifth term on the commission. District 5 has been held by incumbent Gerald L. Vap since his appointment in 2001. He was elected to full terms in 2004 and 2010 and ran unsuccessfully for a third full term on the commission. No Democratic candidates filed to run in either district, ensuring that Republicans held their 4-1 majority on the commission after the 2016 elections.
Candidates
District 4
Rod Johnson (R)
Incumbent Public Service Commissioner - District 4 (since 1992)
| Click show to view candidates who were defeated in the primary | |||||||
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District 5
Mary Ridder (R)
Cattle rancher
| Click show to view candidates who were defeated in the primary | ||||
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Results
District 4
Rod Johnson ran unopposed in the Nebraska public service commission, District 4 election.
| Nebraska Public Service Commission District 4, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Rod Johnson (unopposed) |
100.00% | 115,546 | |
| Total Votes | 115,546 | |||
Incumbent Rod Johnson defeated Tammy Cheatum and Dakota Delka in the Republican primary for Public Service Commissioner, district 4.
| Republican primary for Public Service Commissioner, district 4, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Rod Johnson Incumbent |
65.23% | 23,978 |
| Tammy Cheatum | 21.37% | 7,856 |
| Dakota Delka | 13.40% | 4,926 |
| Total Votes (404 of 404 precincts) | 36,760 | |
| Source: Nebraska Secretary of State | ||
District 5
Mary Ridder ran unopposed in the Nebraska public service commission, District 5 election.
| Nebraska Public Service Commission District 5, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Mary Ridder (unopposed) |
100.00% | 123,335 | |
| Total Votes | 123,335 | |||
Mary Ridder defeated incumbent Gerald Vap in the Republican primary for Public Service Commissioner, district 5.
| Republican primary for Public Service Commissioner, district 5, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Mary Ridder |
50.07% | 21,818 |
| Gerald Vap Incumbent | 49.93% | 21,761 |
| Total Votes (384 of 384 precincts) | 43,579 | |
| Source: Nebraska Secretary of State | ||
Context of the 2016 elections
Primary elections
A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. In Nebraska, a top-two primary system is used for the nonpartisan legislature and some other statewide races. All other primaries are semi-closed.[3]
For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.
Campaigns
Campaign finance
| Gerald L. Vap Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| Campaign finance report | January 1, 2016 - April 5, 2016 | $27,721.73 | $11,532.24 | $(19,148.05) | $20,815.97 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $11,532.24 | $(19,148.05) | ||||||||
| Rod Johnson Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| Campaign finance report | January 1, 2016 - April 5, 2016 | $9,758.23 | $5,897.00 | $(7,850.19) | $8,405.64 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $5,897 | $(7,850.19) | ||||||||
Campaign media
Declared candidates' campaign and social media sites:
Tammy Cheatum campaign website
Incumbents
The incumbents were:[4]
| District | Commissioner | Party |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Frank E. Landis, Jr. | (R) |
| 2 | Crystal Rhoades | (D) |
| 3 | Tim Schram (vice chair) | (R) |
| 4 | Rod Johnson | (R) |
| 5 | Gerald L. Vap (chair) | (R) |
Authority
The Nebraska Constitution establishes the Public Service Commission in Article IV, the Executive Department.
Under Article IV, Section 20:
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There shall be a Public Service Commission, consisting of not less than three nor more than seven members, as the Legislature shall prescribe, whose term of office shall be six years, and whose compensation shall be fixed by the Legislature.[5] |
Not known as the Public Service Commission until 1972, the PSC's roots date back to the Montana Railway Commission of 1885, created to regulate railroads. The railway commission lasted until 1887, when the Nebraska Legislature created a state board of transportation. The law creating the board was found unconstitutional by a 1901 supreme court ruling. The legislature took over regulating railroads until the passage of a constitutional amendment in 1906 creating a three-member elected railway commission, with members serving six-year terms. Membership was increased to five in 1964, and the state was divided into five districts, each to elect a commissioner. The name was changed to the current Public Service Commission by a general election vote in 1972.[1]
Qualifications
Qualifications for members of the Public Service Commission are outlined in the revised state statutes:[6]
- Be resident citizens of the state
- Registered voters
- If members of or practitioners in any profession, in good standing according to the established standards of such profession
- Be a resident of the district from which he or she seeks election
- Be a resident of the district from which he or she is elected, removal from the district shall cause a vacancy in the office
- Cannot be directly or indirectly interested in any common carrier or jurisdictional utility in the state or out of it or who is in any way or manner pecuniarily interested in any common carrier
- Not hold any other office under the government of the United States, of Nebraska or any other state and shall not, while such commissioner, engage in any other occupation
Past elections
Public service commissioners are elected to six-year terms.
2014
| Nebraska Public Service Commissioner, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Crystal Rhoades |
56.6% | 46,405 | |
| Republican | John Sieler | 43.4% | 35,519 | |
| Total Votes | 81,924 | |||
| Election results via Nebraska Secretary of State | ||||
2012
Incumbents Frank Landis (R) and Tim Schram (R) ran unopposed in both the primary election and the general election on November 6, 2012.
| Nebraska Public Service Commission District 1 General Election, 2012 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Frank Landis Incumbent |
100% | 114,019 | |
| Total Votes | 114,019 | |||
| Election results via Nebraska Secretary of State | ||||
| Nebraska Public Service Commission District 3 General Election, 2012 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Tim Schram Incumbent |
100% | 127,390 | |
| Total Votes | 127,390 | |||
| Election results via Nebraska Secretary of State | ||||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Nebraska Public Service Commissioner election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
State profile
| Demographic data for Nebraska | ||
|---|---|---|
| Nebraska | U.S. | |
| Total population: | 1,893,765 | 316,515,021 |
| Land area (sq mi): | 76,824 | 3,531,905 |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White: | 88.1% | 73.6% |
| Black/African American: | 4.7% | 12.6% |
| Asian: | 2% | 5.1% |
| Native American: | 0.9% | 0.8% |
| Pacific Islander: | 0.1% | 0.2% |
| Two or more: | 2.2% | 3% |
| Hispanic/Latino: | 10% | 17.1% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate: | 90.7% | 86.7% |
| College graduation rate: | 29.3% | 29.8% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income: | $52,997 | $53,889 |
| Persons below poverty level: | 14.6% | 11.3% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Nebraska. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | ||
Presidential voting pattern
- See also: Presidential voting trends in Nebraska
Nebraska voted Republican in all seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.
Pivot Counties (2016)
Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, one is located in Nebraska, accounting for 0.5 percent of the total pivot counties.[7]
Pivot Counties (2020)
In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nebraska had one Retained Pivot County, 0.55 percent of all Retained Pivot Counties.
More Nebraska coverage on Ballotpedia
- Elections in Nebraska
- United States congressional delegations from Nebraska
- Public policy in Nebraska
- Endorsers in Nebraska
- Nebraska fact checks
- More...
See also
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Nebraska government: |
Previous elections: |
Ballotpedia exclusives: |
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Nebraska Public Service Commission, "History of the Commission," accessed April 24, 2011
- ↑ Omaha.com, "World-Herald editorial: Two deserve another term on Nebraska Public Service Commission," accessed May 6, 2016
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures Website, "State Primary Election Types," accessed April 18, 2023
- ↑ Nebraska Public Service Commission, "Commissioners," accessed January 8, 2015
- ↑ Nebraska state legislature, "Nebraska state constitution," accessed Aug. 13, 2015
- ↑ Nebraska Revised Statutes, " Chapter 75-101 Public Service Commission," accessed December 22, 2012
- ↑ The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
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