It was a busy day across Nebraska, and a stressful day for many, as the public and candidates for office anxiously awaiting results of the Primary Election on Tuesday.

No matter what side of the aisle you’re on, the one thing we can undoubtedly all agree on is the joy of seeing the inundation of Nebraska gubernatorial political ads finally come to an end! The race for governor has been hotly contested among the Republican party for the past several months. With nine candidates appearing on the Republican ticket, there have been three considered to be the major front runners - Charles W. Herbster, Jim Pillen and Brett Lindstrom. A close race was anticipated and the voters lived up to that expectation.

Custer County Election Clerk Constance Gracey reported that after the polls closed at 8 p.m. and most of the votes had been counted, the Republican race for governor showed Pillen with 951 votes, Herbster with 787 and Lindstrom with 309.

A race that has sparked a great deal of local interest is for the District 7 representative on the State Board of Education. Incumbent Robin Stevens faced off against challengers Pat Moore and Elizabeth Tegtmeier, and the Custer County preliminary results have Tegtmeier with the lead over Stevens, 1,846 to 334. Moore garnered 335 votes in Custer County.

On a more local level, two seats on the Custer County Board of Supervisors are up for grabs in this election. District 1 had four candidates vying for the seat, with incumbent Bobby Myers being challenged by Gregory S. Kissell, Carl French and Anne M. Gibbons. The unofficial results at the time of press had Gibbons in the lead with 147 votes, over Myers with 121.

Meanwhile, District 7 incumbent Douglas A. Stunkel was challenged by Sara Parliament, with unofficial results showing Parliament holding on to a fairly sizable lead of 264 votes to 90. The position of Custer County Assessor was also contested in the primary, as Elise N. Taylor threw her hat in the ring against incumbent Lana S. Lymber. Taylor garnered 1,292 votes to Lymber’s 956.

For University of Nebraska Board of Regents in District 7, which is a six-year term, former Sen. Matt Williams is easily leading in votes with 2,884 over Nolan Gurnsey, 215, and Kathy Wilmot, 1,062.

Remember, all of these results are unofficial. Complete primary election results, along with a look at who we will see on the general election ballot in November, will appear in next week’s Courier.