Tony Ojeda and Norman Wallman emerged Tuesday as the two general election candidates for the 30th District Legislature seat now held by Sen. Dennis Byars of Beatrice.

Because of the state's term limits law, Byars, a two-term incumbent, was ineligible to run for re-election.

Ojeda, with 30 percent of the vote, and Wallman, with 22 percent of the vote, outpaced the field in Tuesday's primary election for the officially nonpartisan seat to advance to the Nov. 7 general election.

According to unofficial returns from the Nebraska Secretary of State's office, Ojeda received 2,944 votes, followed by Wallman with 2,186.

Other unofficial vote totals were Ed McClure, 2,007 votes, or 20 percent; Jana Hafer, 1,235 votes, or 12 percent; John DeCamp, 1,216 votes, or 12 percent; Sue Fix, 199 votes, or 2 percent; and Shawn Boyd, 150 votes, or 2 percent.

Fix dropped out of the race earlier this spring but withdrew too late to have her name removed from the ballot.

Unofficial vote totals also showed that Ojeda, a Roca financial consultant, carried Lancaster County by a wide margin, while Wallman, a Cortland farmer, did his best in Gage County.

McClure, a Blue Springs agricultural producer, carried Gage County with 1,787 votes, while Wallman had 1,736 in his home county. Ojeda finished third in Gage County with 1,370 votes, followed by DeCamp with 711, Hafer with 698, Fix with 94 and Boyd with 41.

In Lancaster County, however, Ojeda gathered 1,574 votes, more than 1,000 votes more than his closest competitor. Hafer finished in second in Lancaster County with 537 votes, followed by DeCamp with 505, Wallman with 450, McClure with 220, Boyd with 109 and Fix with 105.

Election results are unofficial until the county's Boards of Canvassers meet later this week to certify the results.

Ojeda attributed his first-place finish to his emphasis on reforming and reducing the size of state government and the early start he had to his campaign.

“Over the last two weeks, I was the one candidate who was talking about government reform and reducing the size of government,” he said.

In addition, he said the fact that he filed last summer gave him time to talk with many people in the district, which stretches from southern Lancaster County to all of Gage County.

“I visited about 1,000 homes and called about 500 others,” he said. “For me, it wasn't just a 30-second ‘hello,' I engaged people in conversation to see what they really thought.”

Wallman said he thought his theme of property tax reform and his listening skills struck a chord with voters.

“I listened to voters and the issues that are important to them,” he said. “I want to do the best job I can for the people of this district.”

He also said he did not spend as much money as some other candidates in the race, which he said might have swayed some voters to cast ballots for him.

“I had a lot of homemade signs,” he said. “I think it showed I could work, and I had a lot of friends and family who helped.”