Nebraska State Board of Education election, 2024

	2026 → ← 2022
Nebraska State Board of Education
Election details
	Filing deadline: ; February 15, 2024 (incumbent); March 1, 2024 (non-incumbent)
	Primary: May 14, 2024; General: November 5, 2024; Pre-election incumbent(s):; Patsy Koch Johns (District 1); Lisa Fricke (District 2); Patti Gubbels (District 3); Jacquelyn Morrison (District 4)
How to vote
	Poll times: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Central time zone); 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (Mountain time zone); Voting in Nebraska
Ballotpedia analysis
	Federal and state primary competitiveness; State executive elections in 2024; Impact of term limits in 2024; State government trifectas; State government triplexes; Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2024
Nebraska; executive elections
	Board of Regents (4 seats); State Board of Education (4 seats); Public Service Commissioner (2 seats)

Nebraska 2024 elections

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Nebraska held an election for four of eight seats on the Nebraska State Board of Education on November 5, 2024. The primary was May 14, 2024. The filing deadline for an incumbent was February 15, 2024. The filing deadline for non-incumbent candidates was March 1, 2024.

Kristin Christensen won election in the general election for Nebraska State Board of Education District 1.

Maggie Douglas won election in the general election for Nebraska State Board of Education District 2.

Lisa Schonhoff won election in the general election for Nebraska State Board of Education District 3.

Liz Renner won election in the general election for Nebraska State Board of Education District 4.

Candidates and election results

District 1

General election

General election for Nebraska State Board of Education District 1

Kristin Christensen defeated Liz Davids in the general election for Nebraska State Board of Education District 1 on November 5, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Kristin Christensen (Nonpartisan)	58.3	51,497
	Liz Davids (Nonpartisan)	41.7	36,790

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 88,287
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Nebraska State Board of Education District 1

Kristin Christensen and Liz Davids advanced from the primary for Nebraska State Board of Education District 1 on May 14, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Kristin Christensen (Nonpartisan)	61.1	22,079
✔	Liz Davids (Nonpartisan)	38.9	14,078

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 36,157
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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District 2

General election

General election for Nebraska State Board of Education District 2

Maggie Douglas defeated Linda Vermooten in the general election for Nebraska State Board of Education District 2 on November 5, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Maggie Douglas (Nonpartisan)	52.8	52,826
	Linda Vermooten (Nonpartisan)	47.2	47,292

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 100,118
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Nebraska State Board of Education District 2

Linda Vermooten and Maggie Douglas defeated Karen Morgan in the primary for Nebraska State Board of Education District 2 on May 14, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Linda Vermooten (Nonpartisan)	45.1	14,112
✔		Maggie Douglas (Nonpartisan)	34.9	10,915
	Submit photo	Karen Morgan (Nonpartisan)	20.0	6,269

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 31,296
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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District 3

General election

General election for Nebraska State Board of Education District 3

Lisa Schonhoff defeated Bill McAllister in the general election for Nebraska State Board of Education District 3 on November 5, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Lisa Schonhoff (Nonpartisan)	63.1	66,822
	Bill McAllister (Nonpartisan)	36.9	39,080

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 105,902
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Nebraska State Board of Education District 3

Lisa Schonhoff and Bill McAllister advanced from the primary for Nebraska State Board of Education District 3 on May 14, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Lisa Schonhoff (Nonpartisan)	59.9	23,884
✔	Bill McAllister (Nonpartisan)	40.1	15,989

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 39,873
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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District 4

General election

General election for Nebraska State Board of Education District 4

Liz Renner defeated LeDonna White Griffin in the general election for Nebraska State Board of Education District 4 on November 5, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Liz Renner (Nonpartisan)	62.9	42,609
	LeDonna White Griffin (Nonpartisan)	37.1	25,185

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 67,794
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Nebraska State Board of Education District 4

Liz Renner and LeDonna White Griffin defeated Stacy Matula in the primary for Nebraska State Board of Education District 4 on May 14, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Liz Renner (Nonpartisan)	47.0	11,296
✔	LeDonna White Griffin (Nonpartisan)	28.7	6,900
	Stacy Matula (Nonpartisan)	24.3	5,842

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 24,038
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Education ballot measures

On November 5, 2024, 11 education-related ballot measures were on the ballot in 10 states. To read more about education ballot measures on the ballot in 2024, click here.

In Nebraska, there was one education measure on the ballot.

Nebraska Referendum 435, Private Education Scholarship Program Referendum

What would this measure do?

A "retain" vote supported upholding Legislative Bill 1402, which authorizes the state treasurer to administer an education scholarship program with a $10 million budget beginning in fiscal year 2024-2025 for eligible students to cover all or part of the cost of attending any nongovernmental, privately operated elementary or secondary school in the state that fulfills all accreditation requirements.

A "repeal" vote supported partially repealing Legislative Bill 1402, which authorizes the state treasurer to administer an education scholarship program, but would not repeal the part of the bill that repealed Legislative Bill 753, which enacted a tax credit for taxpayers who contribute to education scholarships.

Support for retaining LB 1402

Supporters

Officials

U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts (R)
U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith (R)
Gov. Jim Pillen (R)
State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan (R)

Organizations

American Federation for Children
Nebraska Family Alliance
Omaha Catholic School Consortium

Arguments

State Senator Lou Ann Linehan (R): "No matter how much money opponents of school choice spend or how many signatures they collect, supporters of school choice won't stop fighting for parents rights and for our kids."
State Sen. Dave Murman (R): "Others have argued LB 1402 defunds public schools. Those who make this claim either haven’t done the math or simply know they are lying. In the 2022-2023 year, K-12 schools received about $4.7 billion in taxpayer funds. Since my time as chair of the Education Committee, we have additionally appropriated over $1.6 billion for our public schools. Compare this spending with the $10 million cost of LB 1402, and we see that it is only about 0.2 percent, or two one-thousandths, of our total education funding. Compared to most school choice programs across the country, LB 1402 is amongst the humblest and most meager in the nation."

Support for repealing LB 1402

Support Our Schools Nebraska is leading the campaign to repeal the law.^[1]

Supporters

Political Parties

Democratic Party of Nebraska

Unions

National Education Association
Nebraska State Education Association

Organizations

League of Women Voters of Nebraska
NAACP Lincoln Branch
Nebraska Civic Engagement Table
OpenSky Policy Institute
Parent-Teacher Association of Nebraska

Arguments

Jenni Benson, Support Our Schools Nebraska sponsor and president of the Nebraska State Education Association: "Since last summer we’ve collected more than 200,000 signatures from Nebraskans who believe voters should decide whether public funds should be used to pay for private schools. The incredibly short timeline was a huge challenge, but Nebraskans wanted to sign this petition – many were appalled that LB1402 was passed to block citizens from voting on the issue and to impose a costly new voucher scheme on taxpayers."

Voting information

See also: Voting in Nebraska

Election information in Nebraska: Nov. 5, 2024, election.

What was the voter registration deadline?

In-person: Oct. 25, 2024
By mail: Postmarked by Oct. 18, 2024
Online: Oct. 18, 2024

Was absentee/mail-in voting available to all voters?

Yes

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot request deadline?

In-person: Oct. 25, 2024
By mail: Received by Oct. 25, 2024
Online: Oct. 25, 2024

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot return deadline?

In-person: Nov. 5, 2024
By mail: Received by Nov. 5, 2024

Was early voting available to all voters?

Yes

What were the early voting start and end dates?

Oct. 7, 2024 to Nov. 4, 2024

Were all voters required to present ID at the polls? If so, was a photo or non-photo ID required?

N/A

When were polls open on Election Day?

8:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. (CST)

Past elections

The section below details election results for this office in elections dating back to 2018.

2022

See also: Nebraska State Board of Education election, 2022

District 5

General election candidates

Kirk Penner (Incumbent) (Nonpartisan) ✔
Helen Raikes (Nonpartisan)

= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey
Primary candidates

Kirk Penner (Incumbent) (Nonpartisan) ✔
Helen Raikes (Nonpartisan) ✔

= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey

District 6

General election candidates

Danielle Helzer (Nonpartisan)
Sherry Jones (Nonpartisan) ✔

= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey
Primary candidates

Danielle Helzer (Nonpartisan) ✔
Sherry Jones (Nonpartisan) ✔

= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey

District 7

General election candidates

Robin Stevens (Incumbent) (Nonpartisan)
Elizabeth Tegtmeier (Nonpartisan) ✔

= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey
Primary candidates

Robin Stevens (Incumbent) (Nonpartisan) ✔
Pat Moore (Nonpartisan)
Elizabeth Tegtmeier (Nonpartisan) ✔

= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey

District 8

General election candidates

Deborah Neary (Incumbent) (Nonpartisan) ✔
Marni Hodgen (Nonpartisan)

= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey
Primary candidates

Deborah Neary (Incumbent) (Nonpartisan) ✔
Marni Hodgen (Nonpartisan) ✔
John Sieler (Nonpartisan)

= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey