Something old, something new.
Voters in Dakota County have decided to go with a new sheriff and give two county board members another four-year term after ballots were counted in Tuesday’s primary election that will determine who voters will choose from in the November general election.
Dakota County will have a new sheriff for the second time in as many years, as deputy Brian Fernau won by a 55-45 percent margin over current Sheriff Tim Decker, who was seeking his first full term after stepping in to fill out the term of longtime Sheriff Chris Kleinberg, who retired at the end of 2025. Decker served as an interim in the position for about a month before being chosen by the Dakota County Board of Commissioners to fill out the final 12 months of Kleinberg’s fourth term as governor.
Decker had been the Chief Deputy of the county law enforcement since Kleinberg was first elected as the county sheriff in 2014. His twin brother, Tim, currently serves as the Dixon County Sheriff.
Fernau has been a deputy in the Dakota County department for 10 years, serving as the department’s evidence technician and as the school resource officer for the Homer school district.
The only other contested race in the county was in the County Commissioners race, where three Republicans were running for two seats.
The two incumbents, Brian VanBerkum and Martin Hohenstein, will advance to the November general election and, barring a write-in effort, will serve another four years on the county board.
VanBerkum received 37.8 percent of the vote in the three-man race, while Hohenstein was right behind at 35.6 percent. The odd man out is former county board member Troy Launsby, who received just under 26 percent of the 1,522 ballots cast for the position.
There were no surprises in the state and federal seats up for grabs. The only race not won by an incumbent on the Republican side in Dakota County was in the Secretary of State contest, where three-term incumbent Bob Enven lost to Scott Petersen on a 549-311 vote. Statewide, Petersen received 55 percent of the vote to Enven’s 45 percent, guaranteeing that Nebraska will have a new person in that position come November. Petersen will face Democrat Sarah J. Slattery in the fall.
Locally, 1,462 of the county’s 10,427 registered voters went to the polls Tuesday. Including the 127 who voted early, election turnout in the county was at 15.24 percent. Statewide, voter turnout was just under 27 percent.
