Bob Evnen

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.

Evnen was first elected Secretary of State in 2018, and re-elected in 2022 after winning the Republican primary with 40.89% of the vote. He ran for a third term in 2026, losing the Republican primary to Scott Petersen with 45.36% of the vote.

Legal career 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. He was a partner at the Lincoln, Nebraska law firm Woods & Aitken, LLP for 32 years, where he practiced labor and employment law. He is licensed to practice law in Nebraska, Iowa, and California (inactive). He also served as general counsel to the Nebraska Republican Party and as campaign treasurer for U.S. Senator Deb Fischer.

In the 2018 elections, Evnen ran for Secretary of State of Nebraska. and was sworn into office on January 10, 2019. Evnen supported Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson's decision to sign on to a lawsuit contesting the 2020 United States presidential election. Evnen's office later investigated allegations of voter fraud, saying that they "haven't found any validity or merit" to them.

Evnen ran for a second term in the 2022 election. He won the Republican primary with 40% of the vote, defeating two candidates who had endorsed President Donald Trump's false allegations of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, and won the general election unopposed.

Evnen ran for a third term in the 2026 election. He faced a primary challenge from Scott Petersen, an Omaha businessman, and Petersen defeated Evnen for the nomination.

Electoral history

2018

2022

2026