Case of the Mondays

The citizens of Cornhusker Girls State 2016 awoke early this morning to tackle their first full day of activities. They didn't waste any time getting to work and began city elections at 8:00 this morning. Candidates and citizens alike received ballots, voted and were left to anxiously await the results given at the afternoon assembly.  In the meantime, those running for state and county positions filed for office with the help of several American Legion Auxiliary members.

After everyone had successfully filed for office, the citizens of Pierce, Lincoln, Grant and Garfield hiked to the Nebraska State Capitol Building while the citizens of Buchanan, Johnson, Hayes and Arthur returned to their floors to take the annual current events quiz. This is the first year in which delegates have been able to visit the capitol for tours. Once there, they received an exclusive historical tour of the building and were able to freely visit the rotunda and observation deck to see the view from the tallest building in Lincoln. After the tours, the groups switched places and the citizens who were at the capitol were given an opportunity to take the quiz. The current events quiz consists of questions pulled from local news stations as well as several newspapers.

Lunchtime was anticipated by many CGS citizens after working up an appetite all morning and was a great mental break to continue meeting new people and campaigning. Before long, the delegates were at it again with our short afternoon assembly. The citizens of Pierce provided our opening and closing ceremonies which sandwiched our city election results. The elected officials beamed as their names were announced to the entire girls state! Following closing ceremonies, the citizens split into Nationalists and Federalists to attend their party conventions. The 2015 CGS representatives to Girls Nation Kamryn Sannicks and Kelsey Thomas led the meetings and helped facilitate discussion throughout. During party conventions, delegates elected party officers, voted on party platforms and drew artwork to represent the party.

Citizens spent another afternoon in their activities making music, going on scavenger hunts or writing newspaper articles before eating dinner. Anticipation was high in the air during this time as the delegates awaited their first joint session with Cornhusker Boys State! Dr. JoAnne Owens-Nauslar spoke for her fifth consecutive year for CGS and 21st consecutive year for CBS. She packed a punch of enthusiasm, information and her own personal charm as she led an interactive presentation with all the citizens. Dr. Jo received multiple standing ovations!

To end the evening, county and state candidates for office donned their best campaign tactics and, in some cases, costumes to convince others to give them a vote. The last event on the docket was town meetings led by the elected mayors on each floor. Mayors led open discussion with their fellow citizens, helped find a solution and voted on a town issue.  Even with a very busy day today, there is an equally thrilling day that awaits Girls State tomorrow!

City election results 2016

2016                         2 - CITY OF PIERCE       CITY ELECTION RESULTS MAYOR:

Georgia Chambers

CITY COUNCIL:

Ashtyn Decker

Haley Farr

Courtney Philips

Ciera Shaw

Ana-Alicia Stobbe

SCHOOL BOARD:

Olivia Heard

Sydney A. Lukasiewicz

Rebecca Meusch

Madison Mills

SENATOR:

Darienne Saint Blair

Regan Dierks

Jasmyn Gravitt

Briella Jones

Ragan Pohlmann

Ashley Sweet 2016                         3 - CITY OF BUCHANAN       CITY ELECTION RESULTS MAYOR: Hannah Plasencio   CITY COUNCIL: Logan Connot Emily Doremus Kaitlyn Gamble Kassidy Grosserode Kinzly Macke   SCHOOL BOARD: Skylar Halstead Morgan Harmon Josie Nolte Maria Ockinga   SENATOR: Mikayla Brady Makayla Brockhaus Brook Doke Kristin Meybrunn Shelby Rickett Haylee Sheffield 2016                         4 - CITY OF LINCOLN       CITY ELECTION RESULTS MAYOR: Hannah Donahue   CITY COUNCIL: Rileigh Heller Morgan Leefers Amberly Parker Vanessa Taylor Mackenna Walla   SCHOOL BOARD: Shelby Behnk Mickayla Blender Ashley Guenther Morganne Randles   SENATOR: Casey Frerichs Taylor Goedert Alexandra Larson Savannah Nelson Ashley Turner Alyssa Young 2016                         5 - CITY OF JOHNSON       CITY ELECTION RESULTS MAYOR: Gaby Montanez   CITY COUNCIL: Jordyn Childears Hannah DeStefano Kathy Fuller Amanda Jaixen Courtney Sandell   SCHOOL BOARD: Catherine Applegate Madison McCoy Cassidy Meysenburg Journey Reeves   SENATOR: Jenna Beller Kassidy Goertz Megan Henderson Maisie Kennicutt Sarah Stang Jenna Tederman 2016                         6 - CITY OF GRANT       CITY ELECTION RESULTS MAYOR: Kylie Turner   CITY COUNCIL: Whitney Gappa Bailey Gocke Lauren Steffen Madison Suckstorf Baylee Thiel   SCHOOL BOARD: Riley Boyd Kimberly Brown Mackenzi Edwards Miranda Raymond   SENATOR: Carson Cameron Megan Dormann Karmen Hake Erica Pokorney Brianna Sage Kendra Wollenburg 2016                         7 - CITY OF HAYES       CITY ELECTION RESULTS MAYOR: Makenzie Petersen   CITY COUNCIL: Victoria Gaona Sydney Hall Maggie Morris Elizabeth Selting McKenzie Stefka   SCHOOL BOARD: Katlin Bodlak Riley Nitsch Leslie Sommerhalder Caty Weber   SENATOR: Alyssa Bennett Molly Dane Sydney Havengar Morgan Lowery Kathleen Medill Alyssa Rood 2016                         8 - CITY OF GARFIELD       CITY ELECTION RESULTS MAYOR: Emma Good   CITY COUNCIL: Abigail Borgman Harlee Fischer Allison Hinrichs Hannah Keedy Evin Miller   SCHOOL BOARD: Katie Ellard Hope Hoyer Sidney Svehla McKenzie Wragge   SENATOR: Aly Bangert Ashley Benorden Shelby Essman Morgann Pospisil Shelby Roschewski Lauren Shackelford 2016                         9 - CITY OF ARTHUR       CITY ELECTION RESULTS MAYOR: Aubrey Grasz   CITY COUNCIL: Sarah Barfknecht Taylor Berner Abbie Ellermeier Alyssa Ludwig Joslyn Sharpe   SCHOOL BOARD: Ashley Briggs Ashley Colwell Katie Kleine Shelby Richards   SENATOR: Delia Burger Kelsey Cargill Ann Hunhoff Valerie Keim Rachel Mertz Hunter Pruess Sydney Tlustos