Von Gillern, Maxwell-Ostdiek in rematch for Legislative District 4 in Douglas County

OMAHA — State Sen. Brad von Gillern and Cindy Maxwell-Ostdiek are in a rematch for Douglas County’s Legislative District 4 as both candidates say affordability, taxes and divisiveness ring top of mind for voters.

Four years ago, voters in the west-central Douglas County district elected von Gillern of Elkhorn over Maxwell-Ostdiek of west Omaha. Von Gillern won with 52.4% of the vote, a margin of 802 votes. The senator became vice chair of the Legislature’s Revenue Committee in his first two years and chair the following two years. He’s been asked to consider the speakership in 2027.

Von Gillern, a registered Republican, said he has experience growing and running a business. He said his legislative work has also separated him as a hard worker who listens to his constituents and has passed more than 50% of the bills he’s introduced. He said this has prepared him for another four years.

“I can be far more effective for my constituents than my opponent would be,” von Gillern said.

Maxwell-Ostdiek, a registered nonpartisan, came ahead in the lower-turnout primary this May, with 53.4% of the vote, a margin of 664 votes. She’s hoping for a repeat in November and said she’s looking at results from the past four years. She said her LD 4 neighbors are thoughtful, smart and considerate of their finances as well as those of their neighbors.

“The plans put in place these last four years have us in a $1 billion shortfall,” Maxwell-Ostdiek said. “I’m looking at performance, and I’m not seeing it.”

Both candidates sat down with the Nebraska Examiner in Omaha to discuss how they would approach the budget, tax policy and more if they’re elected to represent Legislative District 4.

Balancing the budget

One of the top issues for lawmakers in 2027 will be balancing Nebraska’s budget through mid-2029. By July 2027, lawmakers face a hole of $209 million. If left unchecked, that deficit would grow to $847 million by mid-2029 under current projections set to be revised next week.

Von Gillern said he sees a path to new revenue by reversing a few sales tax exemptions and adding back a statewide 5.5-cent tax. Current exemptions include taxes for chartered aircrafts, limousine rentals, lawn services and pool cleaning services.

“None of that is negatively impacting people with modest incomes or everyday Nebraskans,” von Gillern said. “I think that’s low-hanging fruit we can get done.”

He also wants the Legislature to try again at increasing tobacco taxes. Together with sales taxes, he said, the new taxes could make up for half to two-thirds of the mid-2027 deficit. 

Maxwell-Ostdiek said there might be some sales tax exemptions that could be removed but that the focus always needs to be on working families.

She said lawmakers saw the current deficit coming from projections and expert analyses in 2023. To now be in a deficit is “so disappointing,” she said, adding it prevents lawmakers from focusing on growing the state’s economy.

“Most of us can see we’re going in the wrong direction, and we’re going to have to really turn things around,” Maxwell-Ostdiek said.

Maxwell-Ostdiek said she would need to get into the Legislature and see what the state is facing before knowing how to address the deficit. She said it’s hard to speculate on what others might suggest, but she would work with any senators. She said nothing should be off the table.

“It’s hurting our state,” Maxwell-Ostdiek added of the deficit. “It’s hurting our neighbors.”

Income tax cuts

One area off the table for von Gillern: any attempt to reverse income tax cuts passed in 2023, his first year. The legislation reduced the tax rate for anyone making $24,760 or more from as high as 6.64% in 2023 down to 3.99% starting Jan. 1, 2027.

He said those cuts are “invisible” but have made a difference for most Nebraskans. He said the difference is how those taxes are paid as opposed to, say, property taxes, where an increase on a tax statement “punches you right in the face when you see the number.”

He’s described reversing the income tax cuts as an “easy button.” But he said, “With the economic environment today, to look somebody in the eye and say, ‘I’m going to raise your taxes,’” is a nonstarter. He’s confident a lawmaker will try to reverse at least some of the tax cuts in 2027.

“You can call it whatever you want,” he said. “It’s raising taxes.”

Maxwell-Ostdiek said nobody wants to pay more taxes, but lawmakers need to ensure the tax system is fair and makes sense. She said the income tax cuts were achieved “without any measures to account for where we’re at as a state.” 

“That was a mistake,” she said. 

Maxwell-Ostdiek said Nebraska needs to take a broad look at its tax structure and build a system to account for when state revenues lag projections.

“That has put us in a very poor position financially in our state, and I think a lot of us are very concerned that we’ll get four more years of that,” Maxwell-Ostdiek said of the 2023 legislation.

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen has pledged to pursue more income tax cuts if reelected this fall. He’s also eyed a broader sales tax base as the solution to property taxes.

DHHS disability services

Both candidates said there are parts of the budget that need to be protected, such as around the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services and services for older Nebraskans or loved ones with disabilities who receive Medicaid-reimbursed care for services.

Maxwell-Ostdiek said she’s talked with constituents harmed by healthcare cuts or about the nation’s ongoing affordability crisis, including parents who have cried and described being worried about providing for their families and receiving essential services.

“I carry those stories with me,” she said.

Von Gillern said he sat down with the family whose 19-year-old daughter has severe disabilities and lives in LD 4. Under DHHS’s revised assessment process for Medicaid services, the family received less funding. The family arrived with an inch-and-a-half-thick folder full of correspondence with DHHS. 

“If it doesn’t work for your family, it doesn’t work for anybody, so that really motivated me to learn more about it and to dive into it further,” von Gillern said.

Von Gillern said the meeting “made it very real for me,” and he has continued to talk with the head of DHHS. He said he’s advocated for the family he met with and others and is “very motivated to make sure that ends up in a place that’s solid for their family and for others.”

Property taxes

Von Gillern is set to spearhead an effort, if reelected, to place harder caps on local spending. A current draft of legislation he said he’s working on would place a 2.5% cap on local spending for all property taxing entities statewide. The bill would include some, as he described, “very thoughtful carve-outs” around education and public safety.

The exemption language “somewhat diminishes” the spending limit, he noted, but he feels taxpayers also don’t want to see those services diminished. He said his bill comes after dozens of meetings with local officials.

“My position has been we’ve got to arrive at something thoughtfully together that you can live with. You might not like it, but you can live with it, or else something is going to happen dramatically that is really going to negatively impact your ability to provide services,” he said.

The Revenue Committee chair has taken a hesitant approach to continually funding property tax “credits” to provide state relief for local spending as well. He said the focus needs to be reform, “because eventually the ability to provide relief is going to go away.”

Maxwell-Ostdiek said she would work from the middle and not exclude any ideas for addressing property taxes. She said the state already has caps on local spending that aren’t working and that the Legislature should defer to voters when they’ve elected their representatives locally.

“We should be making sure that we’re not overriding that control,” Maxwell-Ostdiek said.

She said lawmakers can’t have “blinders” to others’ ideas and is hoping to keep an open mind. Von Gillern, too, said he doesn’t care about the party someone belongs to and has held multiple briefings on his bills to improve them before floor debate.

‘Put your heart into it’

Another quirk in the LD 4 race: Multiple lawmakers have said von Gillern might run for speaker of the Legislature. The top day-to-day position during a legislative session, the speaker sets the daily schedule. If he does not win reelection, that could cause a cascade in reshuffling leadership positions.

Von Gillern said he has one race in front of him and, should he win, he’ll consider next steps.

“I have been asked repeatedly to consider the speakership,” von Gillern said. “If I am honored to be reelected, I will be honored to consider the role of the speaker.”

Von Gillern said being present has accelerated his influence, as has never missing a session day or hearing. He said he came in with many preconceived ideas, notions of which he’s learned to disprove. And over time, he said, the more he learns, the more objective and less polarizing he’s gotten.

“There’s a lot of good people down there with a lot of good ideas, and I have to start my thought process with that,” von Gillern said.

While talking with voters, von Gillern said, he has described his opponent as a “nice lady” who works hard. He says he tells voters that if she hasn’t been to that voter’s door, she likely will be. 

But in the end, von Gillern says he encourages voters to ask lots of good questions and see where the two disagree, particularly on specifics of issues that both agree are important.

“To put your heart into it and really do it well is both an honor and a challenge,” von Gillern said.

‘Move in a different direction’

Maxwell-Ostdiek said she’s tried not to be negative personally against her senator, “I just disagree with the direction he’s taking our state and his votes.” She said she’s heard concern from voters about changes to voter-approved laws, including minimum wage and paid sick leave, or inaction to help implement voter-approved measures, such as medical cannabis.

“They’re disgusted to see the shambles and results of not implementing our will,” Maxwell-Ostdiek said.

Von Gillern said he’s approached ballot measures as what’s “good policy,” which includes medical cannabis. He opposed a 2025 bill that he said went too far against voters’ wishes but then supported a much scaled-back 2026 version to protect physicians who recommend the medicine from legal penalties. Both bills fell short.

Maxwell-Ostdiek supported both bills, as did longtime medical cannabis supporters who placed the measures on the 2024 ballot. She described herself as an “everyday neighbor” who “truly believes that our community is amazing and that we want to work together.”

“We need to move in a different direction, so I’m ready to do that, and I’m not going to be beholden to special interests, and I will stick firm with that,” Maxwell-Ostdiek said. “I’m someone who feels that we need people who are going to stand up and protect our constitution, our votes and our families.”