LINCOLN — Registered nonpartisan Mark Cohen of Lemoyne will appear on the ballot for Nebraska’s 3rd Congressional District. He’s the second independent to qualify for a Nebraska congressional race this year.
The Nebraska Secretary of State’s Office confirmed Wednesday that Cohen had at least 2,207 valid signatures across the district, enough that local election officials could stop validating petition signatures. State law allows nonpartisans to petition to appear on the general election ballot. In this case, Cohen needed at least 2,000 signatures across the sprawling 3rd District.
Election officials can stop signature validation once a petition exceeds 110% of the requirement.
The most signatures per capita came in Box Butte (4.8% of 6,831 registered voters as of Aug. 1) and Dawes (4% of 4,972 registered voters as of Aug. 1), in the Panhandle. Both counties were also among the top five in counting all validated signatures. That list consists of Box Butte (14.9%), Buffalo (11.2%), Dawson (10.9%), Gage (10.6%) and Dawes (9.3%).
A former Air Force judge advocate and former special assistant U.S. attorney for Nebraska, Cohen officially joins the race against 10-term incumbent U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb.; Democrat Becky Kelly Stille of South Sioux City; and David Else of Overton, the nominee for the Legal Marijuana NOW party. Macey Budke of North Platte is also running a write-in campaign.
The 3rd District isone of the most conservativein the nation, with about 76% of voters backing President Donald Trump in 2024. Smith won reelection that year with 80.4% of the vote.
Cohen is the second nonpartisan to be certified for the Nov. 3 ballot, following Dan Osborn in his race against U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb. Local election officials have not yet announced the results of signature validation for former state Sen. Brett Lindstrom of Omaha, for governor.
