Polls are closed, ballots tabulated and the votes are in as Nebraska's May Primary is history.
In a it of a surprising turn of events, political newcomer Kara Eastman narrowly defeated former Congressman Brad Ashford in the Democratic race for the 2nd Congressional District nomination. The race was close most of Tuesday night before Eastman pulled off the victory, beating Ashford by about 1,100 votes.
Eastman now advances to the November mid-term election where she will face freshman congressman Don Bacon, who ran unopposed in the Republican primary on Tuesday. In 2016, Bacon squeaked out the win over Ashford who had served one term in Washington D.C.
In other races, Nebraska State Senator Bob Krist of Omaha defeated two other Democratic candidate to advance to take on Governor Pete Ricketts in November. The veteran state lawmaker campaigned on promises that he would take a less partisan approach to state government than Ricketts.
Jane Raybould won the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate and will square off against Republican Senator Deb Fischer in the general election. State Senator John Murante of Gretna defeated Taylor Royal in the Republican primary for State Treasurer. There were no Democratic challengers so Murante will take over the seat being vacated by Don Stenberg.
Voters on Tuesday also approved a $409 million bond issue for Omaha Public Schools and a $109 million bond for Papillion La Vista Community Schools. The OPS money will be used to address over-crowding issues with a majority of tax dollars going toward building five new schools across Omaha.
The remaning money will go towards renovations and upgrades some existing school buildings. The overall bond will raise the tax levy by about 7 cents. That means a yearly tax increase of about $105 on a home assessed at $150,000. For Papio-La Vista, the biggest improvements will be closing open classrooms and providing better security for schools.