Lindstrom selects America First Party to revive Nebraska governor bid

LINCOLN — Former state Sen. Brett Lindstrom has found the “pirate ship” he was seeking to revive his bid for Nebraska governor as he hoists a new flag for the America First Party.

Lindstrom registered with the new party Thursday, according to publicly available voter registration data. Lindstrom stuck with his previous running mate — Mike Picard of Omaha, a Navy veteran and club director and head coach of ENVY Volleyball Club.

“Nebraskans deserve another choice in this election,” Lindstrom said in a statement. “They should not be forced to choose between reelecting a governor who, in just three and a half years, has pushed the state to the brink of a fiscal crisis and a political party that has increasingly moved away from our state’s common-sense values.”

Lindstrom, 45, turned in a new batch of signatures seeking to qualify for the ticket. He needs at least 25 valid signatures from new America First Party members to revive his ticket for governor.

As of Aug. 26, Nebraskans could begin registering with that party or the new Nebraska Working People Party. The two parties join the Republican, Democratic, Libertarian and Legal Marijuana NOW entities in the state.

Voter registration began just hours after the Nebraska Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s ruling against objections from the state’s Republican and Democratic parties.

The Omaha World-Herald had reported Lindstrom was searching for a “pirate ship” on Aug. 15, just one day after Lindstrom’s nonpartisan petition bid fell short of qualifying for the ballot.

“Nothing has changed other than the vehicle we’re using to reach the ballot,” Lindstrom said, according to the Omaha World-Herald. “We still have a plan, and we still have a message of moving beyond the extremes of both political parties that still matters to many Nebraskans.”

Election officials confirmed Lindstrom fell short of obtaining at least 4,000 valid signatures for the ballot in his first effort. He turned in 5,765 signatures. Of those, 3,358 were valid.

Lindstrom fails to qualify nonpartisan bid for Nebraska governor; many signatures flagged for fraud

In Lancaster County alone, just 24.6% of the 2,210 signatures Lindstrom turned in for the county were accepted. An undisclosed number were flagged as possibly fraudulent. State and local election officials denied a public records request for the Nebraska Examiner to review the petition pages last week, citing an active criminal investigation.

Six out-of-state petition circulators have so far been arrested on suspicion of gathering fraudulent signatures in Lincoln on proposed amendments to the city charter. Three of those circulators also helped Lindstrom’s campaign.

Lindstrom said he would pursue “every legal avenue available” to hold those responsible for wrongdoing accountable.

At the same time, Lindstrom left open the door for future service. He said he was “open to any and all avenues that allow me to continue doing what I believe is right for Nebraska.”

“I did not begin this effort simply to run for an office,” Lindstrom said in an Aug. 14 statement. “I began it because I believe our state needs a different direction and because this moment is too important to sit on the sidelines.

“The ballot may have changed. The mission has not.”

A spokesperson for Republican Gov. Jim Pillen of Columbus and Legal Marijuana NOW’s Rick Beard of Omaha had no immediate comment Tuesday. The campaign for Democratic state Sen. Lynne Walz of Fremont declined to comment.

The Republican and Democratic campaigns for Nebraska governor had already sought to portray Lindstrom as either more conservative or more liberal than his former nonpartisan label would suggest. Lindstrom had repeatedly said he didn’t want to play “spoiler” in the race, and it wasn’t clear whether his bid, if qualified, would have taken more votes from Walz or Pillen.

Lindstrom had been a lifelong Republican up until March, when he became a registered nonpartisan. He ended his GOP run for Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District in January; he told the Examiner at the time he didn’t feel like he “fit in this political environment.” 

He previously ran for the GOP nomination for Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District in 2014 and for governor in 2022, losing to Pillen. He served in the Legislature between 2015 and 2023.

Lindstrom has summarized his platform under what he calls the “Nebraska Doctrine.” The doctrine gives broad strokes to how Lindstrom, if elected, would address property taxes and valuations, housing, public power, economic development, artificial intelligence and more.

This is a developing story.