Lindstrom turns in signatures, releases ‘Nebraska Doctrine’ for nonpartisan governor bid

LINCOLN — Former state Sen. Brett Lindstrom of Omaha submitted more than 5,700 signatures Monday in his bid to appear on the ballot as a nonpartisan candidate for Nebraska governor this November.

Over the weekend, he also unveiled his policy platform, which he calls the “Nebraska Doctrine.”

Lindstrom, 45, would need more than 4,000 valid signatures, of which at least 750 signatures apiece must come from each of Nebraska’s three congressional districts, to qualify for the ballot. If so, he and running mate Mike Picard of Omaha, a Navy veteran who is club director and head coach of ENVY Volleyball Club, would be the fourth gubernatorial ticket this November.

“Nebraskans signed these petitions because they know something is wrong and they’re tired of being told everything is fine,” Lindstrom said in a statement.

“In three and a half years, this administration has spent through a historic cash reserve, raided cash funds and made billions in commitments with no sustainable way to pay for them,” Lindstrom continued. “Now Nebraskans are being handed the bill.”

Local election officials will verify county-specific voter signatures in the coming weeks.

If qualified, Lindstrom would face 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, private chef and Legal Marijuana NOW nominee.

The Nebraska Secretary of State’s Office must certify the Nov. 3 ballot by Sept. 11. Finalized ballots must be mailed to overseas and military voters by the following week.

Opponents respond

The Republican and Democratic campaigns for Nebraska governor this year have each portrayed Lindstrom as either more conservative or more liberal than his nonpartisan label would suggest. Meanwhile, Beard, the existing third-party candidate, has welcomed Lindstrom.

Taylor Sliva, Pillen’s campaign manager, said in a Monday statement that Pillen is the “only commonsense conservative in this race” and is working “relentlessly” to deliver “real” property tax relief, keep communities safe, protect babies and make life more affordable.

“Lindstrom’s record aligns more with liberal policies — raising gas taxes, supporting giveaways for illegal aliens and his friends and supporting soft-on-crime policies — than Nebraska’s conservative values,” Sliva told the Nebraska Examiner. “He’s a failed career politician who will do and say anything to see his name on the ballot again and again.”

Pillen talks priorities, pivot from Nebraska primary election to Nov. 3 faceoff

Walz’s campaign a few weeks ago had blasted Lindstrom as a “lifelong conservative Republican” whose “record speaks for itself: he is no moderate.” But on Monday, Walz took a more measured tone.

“Even though more candidates are entering the race, my focus is staying the same,” Walz said. “It’s always been about lowering costs for working families and growing our state.”

Beard told the Examiner that he thinks it’s “great” that Lindstrom got the signatures. Beard hopes Lindstrom pushes “out-of-the-box thinking” and embraces the “massive revenue” that a functional medical cannabis program could bring, for instance.

“Nebraska is in DEEP trouble financially and the more ideas and concepts we have about fixing it the better,” Beard said in a Monday email. “I also look forward to having  a candidate that will debate me and push new thinking for leadership that is currently failing us.”

Lindstrom, speaking with the Examiner shortly before the May 12 primary, had said part of his calculus for jumping into the race at the time was what he viewed as an uphill climb for Walz as a Democrat, worried that it “probably still mathematically isn’t there in the state.”

The last non-Republican to represent Nebraska was former Gov. Ben Nelson, a Democrat who served between 1991 and 1999 and then served two terms in the U.S. Senate, between 2001 and 2013. He was the last Democrat elected statewide, too, in his 2006 reelection bid.

Walz has said she hasn’t heard concerns about her political party, while Pillen’s team has leaned into Nebraska’s conservative record.

The ‘Nebraska Doctrine’

Lindstrom said in his policy documents released in the past couple of days that he believes Nebraska’s problem has never been a shortage of land, work or ambition but that the good life is unaffordable for those who grew up in Nebraska.

“Government’s job is to fix the conditions causing that — not to win the argument about it,” the “Nebraska Doctrine” states.

Walz talks priorities, pivot from Nebraska primary election to Nov. 3 faceoff

His main ideas, if elected, are to take pressure off property taxes and make property valuations possible to plan around, build housing where jobs already are, protect public power and expand the energy grid before demand outruns it, keep more of what Nebraska grows getting processed in Nebraska and finish deploying broadband for rural internet.

“Nebraska can be the best place in America to build a life — not by becoming another state, but by becoming the strongest version of itself,” the platform states. “The Nebraska Doctrine rejects grievance, division and short-term politics, and chooses opportunity, stability and long-term thinking instead. It is a call to build.”

Property taxes and property valuations

Property taxes remain a key component of Lindstrom’s platform, with him calling for direct changes to how county assessors could value property and how schools could levy taxes.

Lindstrom suggests moving all major classes of property toward rolling valuation averaging, which his documents state would “damp volatility” while remaining compliant to the Nebraska Constitution’s requirement that all property be valued uniformly. He also wants to reduce the maximum property tax authority for school operating expenses from $1.05 per $100 of property valuation to 50 cents over time, while increasing state support “as fiscal capacity allows.”

Specifically regarding agricultural valuations, Lindstrom also calls to transition to a system that places greater emphasis on productive value. 

Beard talks priorities, pivot from Nebraska primary election to Nov. 3 faceoff

The long-term objective would be to value ag land instead of at 75% market value to approximately 80% of productive net income and 20% market value. Land categories could be valued accordingly, such as for row crop, irrigated and dryland production, pasture, grazing land, hay ground, horticultural uses and specialized classifications.

Lindstrom said using data models, such as from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the University of Nebraska, would also introduce predictability.

“Reform of this kind is a transition, not an event,” Lindstrom’s doctrine states. “Each step should be tested for constitutional compliance, fiscal sustainability, and real taxpayer relief, and paced to growth and budget discipline rather than promised on a schedule that cannot survive a downturn. That is slower than a slogan. It is also the only version that lasts.”

Other proposals

Lindstrom also wants to grow Nebraska by aggressively recruiting former Nebraskans home and encouraging industries to choose the Cornhusker State, while also building homes near existing infrastructure and jobs and investing in regional growth hubs.

He would also encourage coordination among K-12 schools, community colleges, apprenticeships and employers to serve as “one coordinated pipeline.”

Lindstrom said recruitment should come where the state has “real advantages rather than chasing whatever is fashionable,” specifically naming agriculture and food processing, advanced manufacturing, logistics, insurance and financial services, energy, digital infrastructure, healthcare, and defense-adjacent industries.

Lindstrom says artificial intelligence also deserves “neither panic nor hype” but should be governed by transparency, privacy and accountability and be adopted where it “demonstrably helps” and left alone where not.

His doctrine suggests that state government should rebrand talks away from data centers as a headline to discuss digital infrastructure, secure cloud services, advanced computing capacity, cybersecurity and AI infrastructure.

Lindstrom also has a broader goal, which he calls “The Arena Project,” to identify and support “emerging leaders” across business, agriculture, education, nonprofits, local government and public service.

“The Arena Project should encourage people to participate constructively rather than remain silent or disengaged,” the Doctrine states.

Nonpartisan candidates

Lindstrom filed his petition effort July 13, becoming the sixth nonpartisan Nebraskan to launch an effort for the 2026 cycle. He’s the third to submit signatures, following Dan Osborn of Omaha for U.S. Senate and Mark Cohen of Lemoyne for Nebraska’s 3rd Congressional District.

The deadline for anyone wishing to submit signatures for partisan races was 5 p.m. Monday. 

The deadline for candidates wishing to petition to be on the ballot for nonpartisan races, such as the Legislature, State Board of Education and University of Nebraska Board of Regents, is 5 p.m. Sept. 1. No one is running signatures for those races, at least as of yet.

Lindstrom has repeatedly said he doesn’t want to play “spoiler” and repeated Monday he isn’t running a “protest campaign” or seeking to pull votes from anyone.

“Neither party is willing to tell Nebraskans the truth,” Lindstrom said. “You cannot cut your way to prosperity, and you cannot spend your way to growth. Nebraska doesn’t just have a budget problem — we have a leadership problem. Nebraska’s future is still ours to shape and the time to change course is now.”

The general election is Nov. 3.