LINCOLN — Pete Ricketts elbowed his way out of a six-candidate scrum four years ago to win the Republican nomination for governor.
Now all the incumbent governor has to do to advance from the May 15 GOP primary is outpoll a freelance writer running on a pro-marijuana platform.
The three candidates on the blue side of the primary ballot share at least one thing in common: None have been registered Democrats for long. One doesn’t even appear on the candidate list published by the Nebraska Democratic Party.
State Sen. Bob Krist of Omaha, a Republican during nine of his 10 years in the Nebraska Legislature, has the Democratic Party’s blessing and holds a clear advantage to make it to November.
The three other candidates in the 2018 gubernatorial primary face nearly impossible odds against better-funded, more recognizable front-runners. But they are using the platform to offer their ideas and encourage voters not to automatically back the candidate with the biggest campaign bank account.
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The Democrats
Given the title of Vanessa Ward’s autobiography — “Somebody Do Something” — it’s not all that surprising that the community activist from north Omaha would aim high in her first run for public office. While she’s been a registered nonpartisan in the past, Ward said she has long identified with many aspects of the Democratic Party. Her late husband, K.D. Ward Sr., used to tell her she was truly a Democrat.
While the 65-year-old mother of four and former Christian pastor is known for leading grass-roots efforts to combat violence and crime in Nebraska’s largest city, Ward described herself as an “inner-city girl with a rural heart.”
She said she would support policies that protect farmers and ranchers and preserve a healthy environment. She also said she would work to encourage strong families and improve public education and job growth with the goal of boosting the economy.
“Education is the key to climb out of poverty, oppression and depression,” she said.
Some Democrats have questioned whether Ward would extend her concerns to families led by same-sex couples, stemming from her opposition to Omaha’s ban on workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Ward said while she has raised concerns about the ordinance, that doesn’t mean she supports discrimination against anyone, be it for race, gender, sexual orientation or any other reason.
Some also have questioned the partisan bona fides of Tyler Davis, another Democratic candidate. In an interview, he admitted he switched his affiliation from Republican to exploit what he saw as a political opportunity.
When Krist originally planned to run as an independent, third-party candidate, Davis said it was realistic for a Democrat to win with 40 percent of the vote in a state where Republicans hold a significant voter registration advantage. Now that Krist has been allowed to run as a Democrat, that opportunity no longer exists, Davis said.
The party does not list Davis as one of its candidates for governor.
The 33-year-old college instructor and security technology entrepreneur from Omaha described himself as a conservative with a populist streak.
Tax breaks should be directed at individuals, not corporations, he said. As the son of a veterinarian and the grandson of a Missouri farmer, Davis said he supports the Nebraska ballot initiative to create $1.1 billion in tax credits to offset property taxes.
If he were governor, the husband and father of two said he would focus on encouraging more startup companies and raising Nebraska’s profile on the Silicon Prairie. And he said he wouldn’t embroil the state in divisive issues such as abortion.
“We have to come together as a country and especially as Nebraskans,” he said. “If we don’t figure out new streams of revenue, the state is in trouble.”
Krist’s entrance to politics came through an appointment to the Legislature in 2009 by then-Gov. Dave Heineman, one of Nebraska’s conservative standard-bearers. But it didn’t take long for the retired Air Force lieutenant colonel to start aiming fiery floor speeches at the man who appointed him. Krist continued his role as one of the governor’s sharpest thorns after Ricketts took office.
Krist said voters can look at his record in the Legislature and see he was focused on dealing with some of the top challenges the state faced over the past 10 years.
He pointed to his work on juvenile justice reforms, addressing problems with the child welfare system and assisting with legislative oversight of the Department of Correctional Services. As the chairman of the Executive Board, Krist said he helped institute much-needed safety and security measures at the Capitol.
If elected governor, Krist said he would work to try to bring together all political, urban and rural perspectives in the Legislature with the goal of addressing property tax problems while maintaining strong funding for public education, from kindergarten through the university level.
“What I hope they will find is at the completion of my four years as governor, we will have turned this tax system around, and we will have solved our corrections problem once and for all,” he said.
The Republicans
Medical marijuana and industrial hemp could grow a new industry in Nebraska, create thousands of jobs, diversify the stagnant farm economy with an eco-friendly cash crop and provide millions of dollars in new tax state revenues, said Krystal Gabel, who is running to dethrone Ricketts in the GOP primary.
But first, hemp cultivation and medical cannabis would have to be legalized in Nebraska.
Still, the 33-year-old freelance writer and editor from Omaha said she’s serious about her pro-cannabis platform. She pointed to other states that have reaped tax dollars and economic development from legal marijuana as proof it could help Nebraska’s budget woes.
Her priorities, she said, would be funding public education, repairing roads and bridges, fixing the beleaguered corrections system and helping the poor. In the past, Gabel has made unsuccessful bids for election to the Metropolitan Utilities District and the Omaha City Council.
Ricketts — who has opposed legislative proposals to legalize medical cannabis — pointed to Nebraska’s place in national rankings in support of a second term as governor. The state has the fourth-lowest unemployment rate, leads in economic development projects per capita, is Forbes magazine’s fourth best state for business and is the seventh best state overall, according to U.S. News and World Report.
A former executive with TD Ameritrade and current co-owner and board member of the Chicago Cubs, Ricketts frequently talks about making state government operate more like a business. As an example, he mentioned his program that requires those seeking unemployment benefits to meet with job coaches and write searchable résumés with the goal of finding new jobs more quickly. The program helped businesses save nearly $20 million in unemployment taxes in 2017, he said.
The governor also touted his work on helping to open new international markets for Nebraska agricultural products and standing for the “fundamental dignity of all innocent human life” by pushing for budget language that blocks federal Title X money from being used by health clinics that provide or refer for abortion. The provision was sharply opposed by those who argued that it targeted Planned Parenthood.
In a second term, Ricketts said his top priority would be to reduce property taxes, in part, by continuing his efforts to reduce state spending.