Lincoln, Nebraska municipal elections, 2015
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The city of Lincoln, Nebraska, held elections for mayor and city council on May 5, 2015. A primary election took place on April 7, 2015. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was March 6, 2015. Four of the seven city council seats were up for election.[1]
Although elections in Lincoln are officially nonpartisan, party affiliations are provided by the Lancaster County Election Commissioner for information purposes.[2] Party affiliations do not appear on the official ballot.
Mayor Chris Beutler faced Andy Stebbing in the general election on May 5. Two incumbents, Doug Emery in District 1 and Jonathan Cook in District 3, did not run for re-election. The District 3 seat is the only one without a contested general election, where the Democratically-affiliated Jane Raybould was guaranteed election to the council.
Major issues that impacted Lincoln's 2015 election cycle were a case of retaliation within the city's fire department and urban development. Retaliation for whistle blowing within Lincoln Fire and Rescue led Andy Stebbing to question Chris Beutler's leadership abilities. A rift also developed between the two candidates over development of downtown at the expense of other areas. You can read more about these issue below.
Mayor
Candidate list
- April 7 Primary election candidates:
- Andy Stebbing
- Affiliated with the Republican Party.
- Chris Beutler - Incumbent Beutler was first elected in 2007.
- Affiliated with the Democratic Party.
- Rene Solc
- No party affiliation.
- May 5 General election candidates:
Election results
| Mayor of Lincoln, General Election, 2015 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
 Chris Beutler Incumbent |
53% | 24,610 | |
| Andy Stebbing | 47% | 21,840 | |
| Total Votes | 46,450 | ||
| Source: Lancaster County Election Commissioner, "Official general election results," accessed May 19, 2015 | |||
| Mayor of Lincoln, Primary Election, 2015 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Chris Beutler Incumbent |
53% | 19,342 | |
| Andy Stebbing |
43.8% | 16,007 | |
| Rene Solc | 3.2% | 1,175 | |
| Total Votes | 36,524 | ||
| Source: Lancaster County Election Commissioner, "Official primary election results," accessed May 10, 2015 | |||
City council
Candidate list
District 1
Note: Incumbent Doug Emery did not run for re-election.
- April 7 Primary election candidates:
- Cyndi Lamm
- Affiliated with the Republican Party.
- Meg Mikolajczyk
- Affiliated with the Democratic Party.
- Mitch Paine
- Affiliated with the Democratic Party.
- May 5 General election candidates:
District 2
- April 7 Primary election candidates:
- Jon A. Camp - Incumbent Camp was first elected in 1999.
- Affiliated with the Republican Party.
- Patte Newman
- Affiliated with the Democratic Party.
- May 5 General election candidates:
District 3
Note: Incumbent Jonathan Cook did not run for re-election.
- April 7 Primary election candidates:
- Jane Raybould
- Affiliated with the Democratic Party.
- May 5 General election candidates:
District 4
- April 7 Primary election candidates:
- Carl Eskridge - Incumbent Eskridge was first elected in 2011.
- Affiliated with the Democratic Party.
- Mairead Safranek
- Affiliated with the Republican Party.
- May 5 General election candidates:
Election results
General election
| Lincoln City Council, District 1, General Election, 2015 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Cyndi Lamm |
51% | 5,391 | |
| Meg Mikolajczyk | 49% | 5,177 | |
| Total Votes | 10,568 | ||
| Source: Lancaster County Election Commissioner, "Official general election results," accessed May 19, 2015 | |||
| Lincoln City Council, District 2, General Election, 2015 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Jon A. Camp Incumbent |
51.7% | 9,140 | |
| Patte Newman | 48.3% | 8,530 | |
| Total Votes | 17,670 | ||
| Source: Lancaster County Election Commissioner, "Official general election results," accessed May 19, 2015 | |||
| Lincoln City Council, District 4, General Election, 2015 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Carl Eskridge Incumbent |
59.6% | 3,121 | |
| Mairead Safranek | 40.4% | 2,117 | |
| Total Votes | 5,238 | ||
| Source: Lancaster County Election Commissioner, "Official general election results," accessed May 19, 2015 | |||
Primary election
| Lincoln City Council, District 1, Primary Election, 2015 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Cyndi Lamm |
45.6% | 3,748 | |
| Meg Mikolajczyk |
36.5% | 2,999 | |
| Mitch Paine | 18% | 1,480 | |
| Total Votes | 8,227 | ||
| Source: Lancaster County Election Commissioner, "Official primary election results," accessed May 10, 2015 | |||
Issues
Retaliation investigation
An investigation into a retaliation case in the city's fire department caused challenger Andy Stebbing to call Chris Beutler's leadership abilities into question. After Captain Troy Hurd reported firefighters abusing recruits, he was disciplined by three different police chiefs in two years and blocked from a promotion that carried a ten percent pay increase. In response to the report, Chief John Huff announced he would not discipline any of the chiefs involved, because too much time had passed since the incidents. Hurd was unhappy with the lack of punishment, alleging that corruption at the top of the chain was causing corruption at the lower end.[3]
Stebbing agreed with Hurd. "This story is very troubling and it may be an indication of other problems within the Beutler administration. As mayor I would never tolerate any of this. The mayor is ultimately accountable and action would have been taken immediately if I were mayor," he said in a news release. Rick Hoppe, Beutler's Chief of Staff, fired back, saying Stebbing's statements showed an ignorance of the facts of the case and how personnel situations are typically handled. "Stebbing’s accusations are just plain ridiculous. They demonstrate he is more interested in scoring political points than dealing with the truth," Hoppe said.[4]
Downtown development
Another point of contention between the two general election mayoral candidates was balancing downtown development with other projects across the city. Beutler was credited with much of the city's downtown development, epitomized by a 57-foot tall glass sculpture installation by artist Jun Kaneko (left). Beutler defended the investment in art and downtown development, saying it was necessary to keep the city's younger demographic happy and attract new people to the city.[5]
Stebbing acknowledged the work Beutler had done in downtown, but said it took too much of the focus away from other areas. "He spent too much time in one section of the town and let the others become neglected," the challenger said. In particular, he felt that roads and police were neglected in favor of downtown development and the arts. Stebbing promised that, if elected, he would spend more money on transportation and hire 20 more police officers.[5]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Lincoln Nebraska Election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
- City of Lincoln
- Lancaster County - Official candidate list
- Lancaster County Election Commissioner - Official primary election results
- Lancaster County Election Commissioner - Official general election results
Footnotes
- ↑ Lancaster County, "2015 Elections," accessed January 6, 2015
- ↑ Email correspondence with David J. Shively, Lancaster County Election Commissioner on March 23, 2015
- ↑ Lincoln Journal Star, "Report: LFR chiefs went after subordinate," April 20, 2015
- ↑ Lincoln Journal Star, "Stebbing says he would have reacted quickly to retaliation report, disciplined chiefs," April 20, 2015
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Omaha.com, "Undisputed front-runner Chris Beutler faces tough foe in Lincoln mayoral race," April 12, 2015
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