Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska

Nebraska Lieutenant Governor
General information
Office Type:	Partisan
Office website:	Official Link
Compensation:	$75,000
2025 FY Budget:	$160,838
Term limits:	None
Structure
Length of term:	Four years
Authority:	Nebraska Constitution, Article IV, Section I
Selection Method:	Elected
Current Officeholder(s)
Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska Joe Kelly Republican Party Assumed office: January 5, 2023
Elections
Next election:	2026
Last election:	2022
Other Nebraska Executive Offices
Governor • Lieutenant Governor • Secretary of State • Attorney General • Treasurer • Auditor • Commissioner of Education • Agriculture Director • Insurance Director • Natural Resources Director • Labor Commissioner • Public Service Commission • Board of Regents

The Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska is an elected constitutional officer, the second ranking officer of the executive branch and the first officer in line to succeed the Governor of Nebraska. The lieutenant governor is popularly elected every four years by a plurality.

Current officeholder

The current Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska is Joe Kelly (R). Kelly assumed office in 2023.

Authority

The Nebraska Constitution addresses the office of the lieutenant governor in Article IV, the Executive Department.

Under Article IV, Section I:

The executive officers of the state shall be the Governor, Lieutenant Governor...

Qualifications

State Executives
Current Governors
Gubernatorial Elections
2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014
Current Lt. Governors
Lt. Governor Elections
2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014

Candidates for lieutenant governor must be:

• at least 30 years old
• a resident of the state of Nebraska for at least five years
• a citizen of the United States

While serving, the lieutenant governor is ineligible for any other state office.

Elections

Nebraska state government organizational chart

See also: Gubernatorial election cycles by state

See also: Election of lieutenant governors

Nebraska elects lieutenant governors in the midterm elections, that is, even years that are not presidential election years (e.g. 2018, 2022, 2026, and 2030). Legally, the lieutenant gubernatorial inauguration is always set for the first Thursday in the January following an election.

In the event of a tie, the legislature shall choose the winner from two highest vote-getters.

2022

See also: Nebraska gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2022

General election

General election for Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska

Joe Kelly defeated Al Davis and Jason Blumenthal in the general election for Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Joe Kelly (R)	59.2	398,334
		Al Davis (D)	36.0	242,006
		Jason Blumenthal (L)	3.9	26,455
		Other/Write-in votes	0.9	5,798

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 672,593
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2018

See also: Nebraska gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2018

General election

General election for Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mike Foley (R)	59.0	411,812
		Lynne Walz (D)	41.0	286,169

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 697,981 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2014

See also: Nebraska gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2014

Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Pete Ricketts/Mike Foley	57.2%	308,751
	Democratic	Chuck Hassebrook/Jane Raybould	39.3%	211,905
	Libertarian	Mark G. Elworth Jr./Scott Zimmerman	3.5%	19,001
Total Votes				539,657
Election results via Nebraska Secretary of State

Full history

To view the electoral history dating back to 2002 for the office of Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska, click [show] to expand the section.

2010 On November 2, 2010, Rick Sheehy won re-election to the office of Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska. He defeated Anne Boyle in the general election. Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska, 2010 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Republican Rick Sheehy Incumbent 74.3% 351,326      Democratic Anne Boyle 25.7% 121,777 Total Votes 473,103 Election results via Nebraska office of the Secretary of State (dead link). 2006 In 2006, lieutenant governors were included on the ticket with the governors. On November 7, 2006, Rick Sheehy won election to the office of Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska. He defeated Steve Loschen, Terry Richards, and Ron Kellogg in the general election. Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska, 2006 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Republican Rick Sheehy 73.7% 430,578      Democratic Steve Loschen 24.1% 141,091      Nebraska Terry Richards 1.5% 8,953      By petition Ron Kellogg 0.6% 3,782 Total Votes 584,404 Election results via Nebraska office of the Secretary of State. 2002 In 2002, lieutenant governors were included on the ticket with the governors. On November 5, 2002, Dave Heineman won re-election to the office of Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska. He defeated Melany Chesterman and Barry Richards in the general election. Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska, 2002 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Republican Dave Heineman Incumbent 68.4% 325,453      Democratic Melany Chesterman 27.8% 132,348      Nebraska Barry Richards 3.8% 18,294 Total Votes 476,095 Election results via Nebraska office of the Secretary of State (dead link).

Term limits

The lieutenant governor is not subject to term limits.

Vacancies

Details of vacancy appointments are addressed under Article IV, Section 16.

After the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the legislature is next in line to succeed the governor, either temporarily or for the remainder of the term.

Duties

The lieutenant governor has the following constitutional duties:

“

Shall preside over the Legislature Shall be gubernatorial successor in event of vacancy in office (Article IV-16) Shall be acting Governor when current Governor is out of state (Article IV-16) Serve shall serve on all boards and commissions in lieu of the Governor whenever so designated by the Governor (Article IV-16) Shall perform such duties as may be delegated him by the Governor (Article IV-16) Shall devote his full time to the duties of his office (Article IV-16)

”

Divisions

Note: Ballotpedia's state executive officials project researches state official websites for information that describes the divisions (if any exist) of a state executive office. That information for the Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska has not yet been added. After extensive research we were unable to identify any relevant information on state official websites. If you have any additional information about this office for inclusion on this section and/or page, please email us.

State budget

See also: Nebraska state budget and finances

The budget for the Nebraska Lieutenant Governor's office in Fiscal Year 2024-2025 was $160,838.

Compensation

See also: Comparison of lieutenant gubernatorial salaries and Compensation of state executive officers

The salaries of elected executive officials are set by the Nebraska State Legislature as mandated by the state constitution. Article IV, Section 25 states the following:

The officers provided for in this article shall receive such salaries as may be provided by law. Such officers, or such other officers as may be provided for by law, shall not receive for their own use any fees, costs, or interest upon public money in their hands.

2023

In 2023, the officer's salary was $75,000, according to the Council of State Governments.

2022

In 2022, the officer's salary was $75,000, according to the Council of State Governments.

2021

In 2021, the lieutenant governor received a salary of $75,000, according to the Council of State Governments.

2020

In 2020, the lieutenant governor received a salary of $75,000 according to the Council of State Governments.

2019

In 2019, the lieutenant governor received a salary of $75,000 according to the Council of State Governments.

2018

In 2018, the lieutenant governor received a salary of $75,000 according to the Council of State Governments.

2017

In 2017, the lieutenant governor received a salary of $75,000 according to the Council of State Governments.

2016

In 2016, the lieutenant governor received a salary of $75,000 according to the Council of State Governments.

2015

In 2015, the lieutenant governor received a salary of $75,000 according to the Council of State Governments.

2014

In 2014, the lieutenant governor earned a salary of $75,000 according to the Council of State Governments.

2013

In 2013, the lieutenant governor's salary remained at $75,000.

2012

In 2012, the lieutenant governor was paid an estimated $75,000, according to the Council of State Governments.

Historical officeholders

There have been 40 Lieutenant Governors of Nebraska since 1877. Of the 40 officeholders, 30 were Republicans, eight were Democrats and two were Democrat/Populist.

List of officeholders from 1913-Present
#	Name	Tenure	Party
1	Othman A. Abbott	1877-1879	Republican
2	Edmund C. Carns	1879-1883	Republican
3	W. Agee	1883-1885	Republican
4	H. H. Shedd	1885-1889	Republican
5	George D. Meiklejohn	1889-1891	Republican
6	Thomas J. Majors	1891-1895	Republican
7	Robert E. Moore	1895-1897	Republican
8	James E. Harris	1897-1899	Democratic/Populist
9	E. A. Gilbert	1899-1901	Democratic/Populist
10	Ezra P. Savage	1901-1903	Republican
11	Edmund G. McGilton	1903-1907	Republican
12	M. R. Hopewell	1907-1911	Republican
13	Samuel R. McKelvie	1913-1915	Republican
14	James Pearson	1915-1917	Democratic
15	Edgar Howard	1917-1919	Democratic
16	Pelham A. Barrows	1919-1923	Republican
17	Fred G. Johnson	1923-1925	Republican
18	George A. Williams	1925-1931	Republican
19	Theodore Metcalfe	1931-1933	Republican
20	Walter H. Jurgensen	1933-1938	Democratic
21	Nate M. Parsons	1938-1939	Democratic
22	William E. Johnson	1939-1943	Republican
23	Roy W. Johnson	1943-1947	Republican
24	Robert B. Crosby	1947-1949	Republican
25	Charles J. Warner	1949-1955	Republican
26	Dwight W. Burney	1957-1965	Republican
27	Philip C. Sorensen	1965-1967	Democratic
28	John E. Everroad	1967-1971	Republican
29	Frank Marsh	1971-1975	Republican
30	Gerald T. Whelan	1975-1979	Democratic
31	Roland A. Luedtke	1979-1983	Republican
32	Donald F. McGinley	1983-1987	Democratic
33	William E. Nichol	1987-1991	Republican
34	Maxine B. Moul	1991-1993	Democratic
35	Kim M. Robak	1993-1999	Democratic
36	David I. Maurstad	1999-2001	Republican
37	David Heineman	2001-2005	Republican
38	Richard Sheehy	2005-2013	Republican
39	Lavon Heidemann	2013-2014	Republican
40	John Nelson	2014-2015	Republican
41	Mike Foley	2015-2023	Republican
42	Joe Kelly	2023-present	Republican

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Nebraska Lieutenant Governor. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska - Google News

Contact information

Office of the Lieutenant Governor
P.O. Box 94863
Lincoln NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2256
Fax: (402) 471-6031

External links

Suggest a link

• Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska