By ASSOCIATED PRESS
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska voters will go to polls June 28 to replace the first sitting member of Congress convicted of a felony in 20 years, the governor said Friday.
Gov. Pete Ricketts announced the election date a day after Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry officially resigned from Congress following his conviction last month of lying to federal authorities about an illegal campaign donation.
The special election creates a highly unusual situation in Nebraska’s 2022 election calendar. Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen said the state will hold three elections this year.
The statewide primary election is scheduled for May 10, when Republican and Democratic voters will choose their nominees to fill Fortenberry’s seat after the end of his current term. Fortenberry’s name will still appear on the GOP ballot, even though he is no longer running.
On June 28, voters will decide who will take Fortenberry’s seat for what would have been the rest of his current term. The Republican and Democratic nominees for that election will be chosen by each party’s leaders.
Nebraska will then hold its regular general election in November 2022, when the winners of the May 10 primary will face off to determine who will take the seat starting in January 2023.
Nebraska state Sen. Mike Flood, of Norfolk, is by far the best-known and best-funded candidate in the Republican primary race, and he has won support from Ricketts and former Gov. Dave Heineman. The other candidates are Curtis Huffman, of La Vista; Thireena Yuki Connely, of Palmyra; and John Glen Weaver, of Omaha.
Nebraska state Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks, of Lincoln, is the best-known contender in the Democratic primary contest. The other Democratic candidate is University of Nebraska-Lincoln student Jazari Kual Zakaria.
A federal jury in Los Angeles convicted Fortenberry on March 24 of concealing information and two counts of making false statements to authorities regarding an illegal $30,000 contribution to his campaign from a foreign billionaire in 2016. Fortenberry will be sentenced June 28.
The trial was the first of a sitting congressman since Rep. Jim Traficant, D-Ohio, was convicted of bribery and other felony charges in 2002.
Fortenberry represented Nebraska’s 1st Congressional District, encompassing Butler, Cass, Colfax, Cuming, Dodge, Lancaster, Madison, Platte, Seward and Stanton counties, and parts of Sarpy and Polk counties.
Evnen said the parties have until April 22 to submit their candidates for the special election.