Political Career and Party Switch
Witek began her career as a Republican, winning election to the nonpartisan unicameral Nebraska Legislature in November 1992 from District 31 in southwestern Omaha. She was the elected Republican nominee for Lt. Governor in 1994 and ran as a team with Gene Spence, the unsuccessful Republican candidate for Governor. After the 1994 election the legislature changed the Nebraska Constitution from an elected Lt. Governor to an appointed position. She was reelected to the Legislature in 1996, and resigned from the District 31 seat in the legislature upon her swearing-in as the first woman elected Nebraska State Auditor in January 1999. She was reelected State Auditor in 2002.
After running as the Lt. Governor candidate with unsuccessful Governor candidate Dr. Tom Osborne, Republican Witek decided to switch parties in August 2006, citing concerns about a Republican Party that, in her own words, "...was only looking at controlling all the offices instead of looking at resolving the problems challenging this state."
Witek had initially decided to forgo reelection in 2006, but after she switched parties the Nebraska Democratic Party nominated her as their candidate for Auditor at their State Convention in Grand Island, Nebraska.
Read more about this topic: Kate Witek
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