Lindstrom launches petition drive to qualify nonpartisan bid for Nebraska governor

LINCOLN — Former state Sen. Brett Lindstrom of Omaha is officially jumping into the 2026 race for Nebraska governor as a nonpartisan candidate.

Lindstrom, 45, who served in the Legislature between 2015 and 2023 before being term-limited, would join the ballot against Gov. Jim Pillen of Columbus, 70, a Republican who beat Lindstrom for the GOP gubernatorial nomination in 2022; former Democratic state Sen. Lynne Walz of Fremont, 63, whom Lindstrom served with for six years; and Rick Beard of Omaha, 58, a wine professional and private chef chosen by the Legal Marijuana NOW party.

Pillen is running again with Lt. Gov. Joe Kelly, a longtime prosecutor. Walz and Beard have not yet selected running mates.

In a statement to the Nebraska Examiner, Lindstrom confirmed Monday that “after much encouragement and consideration,” he decided to enter the race.

“Our state is facing a pivotal moment in terms of how we manage our budget and create opportunities for future generations and Nebraskans deserve another choice,” Lindstrom said. “Our immediate focus will be collecting the required signatures to be on the ballot, and once that is complete, we look forward to joining the discussion about the future of our great state.”

Lindstrom would need to gather at least 4,000 valid signatures — including from 750 voters in each of the state’s three congressional districts — by Aug. 3 to qualify for the Nov. 3 ballot. He’s suggested he could still decide not to run later but first needs signatures to have that choice.

In an interview with the Nebraska Examiner shortly before the May 12 primary, Lindstrom had described the possibility of jumping into the race as not “hyper-political” or “politically focused.”

“It’s much more about doing what’s right and doing the right thing,” he said at the time.

The fourth gubernatorial candidate

An Omaha financial adviser, Lindstrom has repeatedly said he doesn’t want to be a “spoiler.”

“The intent is being pragmatic, practical about what this actually looks like — and more about the direction of where the state needs to go and can go,” Lindstrom said in May.

Lindstrom had been a registered Republican and was one of two GOP candidates for the 2nd Congressional District after U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., announced he would not seek reelection to a sixth term. Lindstrom dropped out in January and soon after switched his longtime party registration to nonpartisan.

The former Omaha lawmaker has said a run isn’t personal to Pillen but that he has disagreed with some of Pillen’s language that “has only put gas on the fire,” such as in discussing immigration or describing opponents.

Lindstrom has also disagreed with Pillen’s handling of property taxes, the state budget and economic development, of which he worries Nebraska has been put “behind the eight ball.”

“It’s a combination, and it’s not just one thing,” Lindstrom said before of disagreements with Pillen. “It’s a lot of different things that I just don’t think there’s been a vision articulated on who we are and where we’re going, and there doesn’t seem to be a growth component to this equation of what we need to accomplish.”

The calculus, Lindstrom previously explained, is also what he sees as an uphill climb for Walz, though he cautioned his hesitation doesn’t mean he thinks Walz doesn’t care about Nebraska.

“I would argue that it probably still mathematically isn’t there in the state,” Lindstrom said of a Democrat winning the governor’s office. “That’s not a knock against Lynne or anything else, but it’s just the reality of it.”

Other campaigns respond

Brandon Bayer, a senior adviser to Walz, said in a statement to the Examiner that Lindstrom is a “lifelong conservative Republican” whose “record speaks for itself: he is no moderate.”

“Nebraskans are struggling with rising costs and high property taxes. It’s only going to get worse with the Pillen budget crisis,” Bayer said. “We all know we cannot afford another four years of a failed Pillen administration. Lynne Walz is the only candidate with a viable path to defeat Jim Pillen.”

Walz seeks to be the first Democrat to win the Governor’s Office since 1994, and she’s talked frequently about working on property taxes with Lindstrom in 2018 as an example of her service. She’s surpassed the fundraising of all Democratic candidates running for governor up to this point since at least 2002, including the entire Democratic bids in 2018 and 2022 already.

Pillen, who touted more than $9.5 million in campaign cash on hand by mid-June, told the Examiner in May that he’s “not going to pay attention to who’s in” the 2026 governor’s race. Taylor Sliva, Pillen’s campaign manager, said in a statement that “Pillen has earned the trust of Nebraskans over the last four years,” including from those statewide and across the political spectrum.

“Simply, there’s no path forward for a career politician like Lindstrom,” Sliva told the Examiner. “In the past four years, he lost a governor’s campaign, applied to be a U.S. senator, quit a congressional race, switched parties and is now scheming up a workaround to see his name on the ballot once again.”

Beard, if elected, would be the first third-party governor in Nebraska’s history. He has not reported any campaign finance reports, which are required after a candidate raises or spends more than $5,000. He had no immediate comment regarding Lindstrom on Monday but previously described himself as the right alternative to the Republican and Democratic parties.

“I find heavy faults with both of those parties, and I’m committed to rising above that,” Beard said in a June interview. “I think I have the most realistic, solid, viable plan … than the other candidates.”

The general election is Nov 3.