Record turnout for general election

The Antelope County results are in for the 2020 general election.

County clerk and election commissioner Lisa Payne noted 3,615 voters out of the 4,570 registered in the county cast ballots before and on Tuesday, Nov. 3.

The people who turned out for the election voted for candidates who were running for positions at the local, county, regional, state and federal levels.

"We counted 1,340 early voters, leaving 2,275 voting in person on Election Day," Payne said. "I did not hear of any problems on Election Day."

The vote totals for the local and county races came from Payne's office, while the vote totals for the regional, state and federal races came from the Nebraska Secretary of State's Office.

At the local level, there were races for village boards of trustees:

-Clearwater: Incumbent Jay Snider and write-in candidates Kelly Kerkman and Michael Klabenes ran for two four-year seats on the board.

Klabenes earned 87 votes, Kerkman captured 83 votes and Snider earned 59 votes. There were three other write-in votes.

-Brunswick: Incumbents Craig Forbes, Joseph Rumsey and Edwin Wahrer ran for three four-year seats on the board.

Wahrer captured 39 votes, while Forbes and Rumsey each earned 35 votes for the positions. There were 23 write-in votes.

-Orchard: Stephanie Cleveland, incumbent Dennis Clifton and incumbent John Ferguson ran for two four-year seats on the board.

Cleveland captured 147 votes, Ferguson earned 120 votes and Clifton ended up with 77 votes. There were zero write-in votes.

-Royal: Nobody was listed on the ballot as running for two four-year seats on the board.

Incumbent Dennis Bridge finished with 21 write-in votes and incumbent Duaine Brandt ended up with 20 write-in votes. There were two other write-in votes.

At the county level, there were races for the board of commissioners – its members are voted on by district – as well as the weed control authority and the airport authority:

-County commissioner, District 2: Republican incumbent Eli Jacob of Clearwater was the only candidate who ran for the board seat.

Jacob earned 495 votes for the four-year position. There were 26 write-in votes.

-County commissioner, District 4: Republican incumbent Charlie Henery of Neligh was the only candidate who ran for the board seat.

Henery captured 560 votes for the four-year position. There were 16 write-in votes.

-Weed control authority: Incumbent Edward Jensen of Neligh, incumbent William Van Brocklin of Creighton and Robert Willats of Orchard ran for three seats on the board.

Willats earned 1,918 votes, Jensen captured 1,906 votes and Van Brocklin ended up with 1,782 votes for the four-year positions. There were 25 write-in votes.

-Airport authority: Nobody was listed on the ballot as running for two six-year seats on the board.

Payne, the county election commissioner, noted the "Antelope County Airport Authority did not have any write-in affidavits, so we do not have any race results for it."

At the regional level, there were races for the:

-Northeast Community College Board of Governors:

For District 1, incumbent Donovan Ellis of Pierce was the only candidate who ran for the board seat, which has a four-year term.

Ellis earned 2,389 votes in Antelope County and 11,086 votes overall from across the eight-county district.

District 1 covers Antelope, Boone, Cedar, Garfield, Madison, Pierce, Wayne and Wheeler counties.

Incumbent Jeff Scherer of Beemer and Timothy Miller of Norfolk ran for the at-large board seat, a four-year position that was voted on by all 20 counties in the college's service area.

Scherer retained his seat with 30,603 votes – including 1,390 in Antelope County – while Miller ended up with 21,755 votes, including 972 votes in Antelope County.

-Upper Elkhorn Natural Resources District Board of Directors:

For Subdistrict 5, which covers parts of Antelope and Holt counties, Dennis Bridge of Royal and Cody Frank of Brunswick ran for the four-year board seat.

Frank finished with 469 votes – including 389 in Antelope County – to earn the position, while Bridge ended up with 396 votes, including 318 in Antelope County.

Arthur Tanderup of Neligh was the only candidate who ran for the four-year board seat for Subdistrict 6, which covers part of Antelope County. He captured 959 votes.

For Subdistrict 7, which covers part of Antelope County, incumbent Keith Heithoff of Elgin was the only candidate who ran for the four-year board seat. He earned 808 votes.

-Elkhorn Rural Public Power District Board of Directors:

For Subdivision 3, incumbent David Hoefer of Elgin was the only candidate who ran for the board seat, which has a six-year term.

Hoefer garnered 1,615 votes, including 1,252 in Antelope County. The subdivision covers parts of Antelope, Holt and Wheeler counties.

At the state level, incumbent State Sen. Tom Briese of Albion was the only candidate who ran to represent District 41 in the Nebraska legislature.

Briese earned another four-year term by finishing with 15,826 votes – including 2,603 in Antelope County – to continue representing the legislative district.

District 41 covers Antelope, Boone, Garfield, Greeley, Howard, Pierce, Sherman, Valley and Wheeler counties.

At the federal level, there were races for the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. presidency and vice presidency:

-U.S. House, District 3: Republican incumbent Adrian Smith of Gering, Democratic opponent Mark Elworth Jr. of Omaha and Libertarian challenger Dustin Hobbs of Grand Island ran for the seat.

Smith earned another two-year term by finishing with 224,077 votes from across the congressional district – which is made up of 75 mostly rural counties – including 2,990 in Antelope County.

Elworth earned 50,227 votes from across the district, including 358 in Antelope County. Hobbs ended up with 10,818 votes from across the district, including 102 in Antelope County.

-U.S. Senate: Republican incumbent Ben Sasse of Fremont, Democratic opponent Chris Janicek of Omaha and Libertarian challenger Gene Siadek of Omaha ran for the seat.

Sasse finished with 574,901 votes from across Nebraska, including 2,828 in Antelope County, to earn another six-year term.

Janicek captured 221,568 votes overall, including 354 in Antelope County. Siadek ended up with 54,088 votes overall, including 184 in Antelope County.

-U.S. presidency and vice presidency: Republican incumbents Donald Trump and Mike Pence, Democratic opponents Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, and Libertarian challengers Jo Jorgensen and Jeremy Cohen ran for the respective positions.

While Biden, a former U.S. vice president, has obtained enough votes nationally to be declared the president-elect and earn a four-year term, Trump was the favorite candidate in Antelope County.

Across the county, Trump and Pence earned 3,093 votes, Biden and Harris garnered 452 votes, and Jorgensen and Cohen ended up with 38 votes.

Statewide, Trump and Pence captured 548,480 votes, Biden and Harris gained 366,910 votes, and Jorgensen and Cohen finished with 19,842 votes.

Trump won four of Nebraska's five electoral votes. Biden earned the other electoral vote in the state's 2nd Congressional District, which covers the Omaha area.

The 2020 general election was held Tuesday, Nov. 3, but Biden was not declared the projected victor of the presidential race until Saturday, Nov. 7, after he reached the 270 electoral votes to win the White House.