| Bob Evnen | |
| Office: | 27th Secretary of State of Nebraska |
| Term Start: | January 10, 2019 |
| Predecessor: | John A. Gale |
| Birth Name: | Robert Barnett Evnen[1] |
| Birth Date: | 1952-09-29 |
| Birth Place: | Sioux City, Iowa, U.S. |
| 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]