LINCOLN — Gov. Pete Ricketts said Thursday that he expects to name a replacement for Omaha State Sen. Rich Pahls before possibly calling a special session on abortion.

Pahls died April 27, not quite halfway through his term in office, leaving a vacancy in the Nebraska Legislature. By state law, the governor must appoint a replacement within 45 days.

Ricketts said he will follow his usual process of taking applications, reviewing them and doing interviews. In the past, the governor has not confined his searches to the pool of applicants. He said he does not have a timeline for starting the process. However, he said he will have the vacancy filled before any special session might be called in response to a potential U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. The decision is expected late in June. Speaker of the Legislature Mike Hilgers has said he would work with Ricketts to call a special legislative session on abortion if the court rules as anticipated.

Whoever is appointed to replace Pahls now may not keep the seat for long. That person will have to run for the office and be elected in November to finish out the last two years of Pahls’ term. To get on the ballot, the appointee and other interested candidates must submit at least 2,000 valid petition signatures from registered voters in the district by Sept. 1. Pahls represented District 31, which encompasses the Millard area.

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