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North Lancaster County Legislative District 21 race features Sen. Beau Ballard and Seth Derner • Nebraska Examiner

Posted on by L. Dreeye
North Lancaster County Legislative District 21 race features Sen. Beau Ballard and Seth Derner • Nebraska Examiner

LINCOLN — The legislative race in northern Lancaster County pits an incumbent looking to address and learn more about the top issues for voters and a challenger looking to bring his life experiences to the Legislature.

State Sen. Beau Ballard of Lincoln, 30, is running for election in Legislative District 21 seat. Then – the governor. Pete Ricketts, along with then-Governor Jim Pillen, appointed Ballard will take office starting in January 2023 to succeed former state Sen. Mike Hilgers of Lincoln, who was elected attorney general.

Ballard is originally from Raymond, where his family owns a vineyard and winery. He opened a bakery in downtown Lincoln with a college-educated friend and worked for Hilgers as a legislative staffer.

His opponent, Seth Derner, 49, is the founder and senior consultant of Vivayic, a company that develops training solutions for other companies and universities. He is originally from the Sandhills near Wheeler County and is a former agriculture and shop teacher.

Beau Ballard

Ballard, born and raised in the district, began his career in politics when, at age 12, he knocked on the door of his grandfather, James Arthur Jeffers, who ran for the same legislative seat in 2008 but narrowly lost to incumbent state Sen. Ken Haaru.

State Sen. Beau Ballard of Lincoln. (Photo courtesy of Ballard’s campaign)

In 2016, when Hilgers first ran for the Legislature, Ballard volunteered to work on his campaign, going to work in his office.

“When Hilgers was elected attorney general, I jumped at the chance,” Ballard said. “I didn’t think I had a chance, but luckily I had an interview with the governor and he chose me to represent my friends, family and neighbors.”

If elected to a full four-year term, Ballard said he would continue to address property taxes, adequate housing, affordable child care, economic development and water issues in his district.

Ballard said his small-town upbringing in a small-business family taught him the values ​​of do-it-yourself, limited government, low taxes and getting out of the way so Nebraska can grow.

Ballard said the first two years gave him the “basics” of what it means to sit in a seat representing about 40,000 people.

“I have a proven track record of what good government is: staying out of people’s way and making sure they have every tool and opportunity to succeed,” Ballard said. “If I am fortunate enough to be elected in November, I will take the same approaches for the next four years.”

Seth Derner

Derner, a fifth-generation Nebraskan, grew up on a ranch in the Sandhills before attending the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to earn a teaching degree. He returned to Antelope County to teach before leaving to pursue some opportunities in Indiana and Washington.

He and his wife moved back to Nebraska in 2005, shortly after launching Vivayic. Derner said he has no political experience.

Seth Derner of Lincoln. (Photo courtesy of Derner Advertising Campaign, photo by Matt Roth)

Doerner is running out of love and pride for Nebraska, his neighbors and family, and because he wants to return to the legislative culture in which he grew up, rather than “hyperpartisan politics.”

“There are just a few things that I feel like I’ve experienced and accomplished, and a lot of mistakes that I’ve made that I’ve learned from that I think are just different than when you go straight from college to graduate school and work. about the purpose of the legislative apparatus,” Derner said, pointing to Ballard’s trajectory.

Haahr and Hilgers were narrowly elected, one as a Democrat and one as a Republican, Doerner noted, and both worked hard to get out there and talk to people.

Derner said the county should elect him as its representative because he cares about them and their future, as well as the future of Nebraska.

“This is not some kind of personal joy. This is not a game of ego. This is not the beginning of my grand plan to build a huge career in politics,” Derner said. “I do this because I just believe that we can do this better, that we can have a Legislature that functions better, that does more, that responds more effectively to what people care about.”

Abortion and medical cannabis

Derner said he and his wife faced difficulties with the birth of their second child and relied on fertility specialists. He said it was an “eye-opening experience” to the problems and risks involved.

At the end of the day, Derner said, reproductive health is a matter of who can be trusted to make those difficult decisions in accordance with one’s faith and with the support of a doctor.

“We’re talking about some kind of fencing,” Derner said. “But for the most part, I think I’m on the side of trusting people to be able to exercise their freedom in a way that benefits them and their families.”

Ballard, who supported the current state law that bans most abortions after 12 weeks of gestational age, said it has exceptions that apply to “the majority of Nebraskans”: life of the mother, sexual assault and incest.

“I think this is a commonsense approach to this issue and voters will have the opportunity to make a decision in November,” Ballard said.

Ballard approves Nebraska Right to Life. He said it was difficult to say whether he would support tighter restrictions in the future without knowing what they would look like. Ballard supported a near-total ban on abortions after about six weeks, which is the point at which ultrasound detects cardiac activity in the fetus.

There are fresh political faces in the Northwest Lincoln and Lancaster District 21 legislative race.

Both candidates said medical cannabis should include proper guardrails, with Doerner strongly backing them based on a loved one’s past experience in Washington.

Ballard said he wants to wait for the federal government’s decision and do more research to develop good policies, although he “fully expects” Nebraskans to vote on whether to introduce medical cannabis this fall.

School choice legislation

Ballard said he wants to educate all children and supported two state projects. latest versions from “school choiceLegislation to reimburse the cost of attending non-public K-12 schools.

He said the state can debate funding sources, but lawmakers can’t ignore supporting students and families in whatever educational settings best meet their needs. Ballard said supporting public schools and these “opportunity scholarships” are not mutually exclusive.

“We’re not defunding public schools, and I just think if we educate kids, I think that’s a win for Nebraska.”

Derner said he will vote to repeal the program this November, questioning whether the Nebraska Constitution would allow it to begin with.

He recalled his time in the Sandhills when a successful Catholic high school partnered with Durner State High School for farming and shopping. Derner also pointed to an enrollment option that allows families to transfer from public school districts with state support.

“We really need to find more solutions that preserve the quality and funding of our schools and find ways to reduce the burden on property owners, especially homeowners,” Derner said.

Current legislative priorities

Derner said he generally supports the search for additional government revenue, with “cautious support” online sports betting or recreational marijuana on the basis of legislation and in the presence of clear barriers.

He said the Legislature’s special session on property taxes showed that cutting taxes isn’t as simple as cutting spending, so he wants to invest time and energy in action, not just talk.

Ballard said property taxes remain a top issue for his constituents. He supports expanding sports gambling, although recreational marijuana gives him “pause,” wondering how best to protect children and curb youth vaping problems.

Like Derner, Ballard agreed that cutting spending may not be the solution because it could deprive the state of needed growth.

Ballard voted to pass legislation to encourage workers to move to the state and said more efforts are needed to make Nebraska family-friendly, with a good tax structure and low cost of living.

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In the 2024 regular legislative session, lawmakers past Legislative Bill 25that Pillen ends up vetoed. This would allow Nebraskans sue schools or other political subdivisions and allege negligence in some cases of abuse or sexual abuse that occurred to a child while in the care of a school or government agency.

Ballard initially opposed the bill and “attended rather than voted” with three votes in favor of moving the bill forward. He agreed with Pillen’s argument about the veto that it “opens up greater liability” to taxing entities such as schools, where the problem may be more difficult to resolve.

“Things are getting very complicated,” Ballard said. “I think there will be significant negative consequences for taxpayers.”

Derner said he would support the legislation, criticizing some opponents for being “a little disingenuous” about concerns about property taxes while supporting legislation that would penalize teachers or libraries for stocking books with which someone disagrees.

“This is a way to make sure that survivors have the opportunity to get justice,” Derner said. “It continues to put a strain on that system to ensure that leaders, community members and teachers, peers, are all aware of the risks and making sure that for young people the risk in the environment is as low as possible.”

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