Bob Evnen | |
---|---|
27th Secretary of State of Nebraska | |
Assumed office January 10, 2019 | |
Governor |
Pete Ricketts Jim Pillen |
Preceded by | John A. Gale |
Personal details | |
Born | Robert Barnett Evnen
[1] September 29, 1952 [ citation needed] Sioux City, Iowa, U.S.[ citation needed] |
Political party | Republican |
Education |
Michigan State University (
BA) University of Southern California ( JD) |
Robert Barnett Evnen (born 1952) is an American attorney and Republican politician in the state of Nebraska. He is the 27th Secretary of State of Nebraska, serving since 2019. [2]
Evnen graduated from Michigan State University with a bachelor's degree in social science in 1974 and from the University of Southern California's Gould School of Law with a Juris Doctor in 1977. [3] He was a partner at the Lincoln, Nebraska law firm Woods & Aitken, LLP for 32 years, where he practiced labor and employment law. [2] [4] He is licensed to practice law in Nebraska, Iowa, and California (inactive). [5] [1]
Evnen served as a member of the State Board of Education, [2] following his appointment by Governor Dave Heineman in 2005 and he was elected to a full term in 2008. [6] He also served as general counsel to the Nebraska Republican Party and as campaign treasurer for U.S. Senator Deb Fischer. [7]
In the 2018 elections, Evnen ran for Secretary of State of Nebraska. [6] He won the election, defeating Spencer Danner, the Democratic Party nominee, [8] and was sworn into office on January 10, 2019. [9] Evnen supported Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson's decision to sign on to a lawsuit contesting the 2020 United States presidential election. [10] Evnen's office later investigated allegations of voter fraud, saying that they "haven't found any validity or merit" to them. [11]
Evnen ran for a second term in the 2022 election. [12] He defeated two Republican opponents in the primary election, both of whom had endorsed President Donald Trump's false allegations of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, [13] and won reelection without opposition from the Democratic Party. [14]