Budke told the Examiner it was “clear” she wouldn’t hit the signature threshold to be on the ballot before next month’s deadline. She said the biggest issue for her waslogistics, as collecting valid signatures across the 3rd district is “a heavy lift without a party machine, paid circulators, or a full-time campaign operation.”
“We had voter interest … we just did not have the infrastructure,” Budke said. “Our campaign is volunteer-run, and most of us are balancing this with full-time jobs and family responsibilities.”
According to theSecretary of State’s office, a candidate who wants a November ballot line for the U.S. House race in Nebraska needs “at least 20% of registered voters in the applicable district who voted for President in 2024” — or 2,000 valid signatures.
Budke said in a statement that the move “isn’t a retreat.”
“It’s a more focused campaign, and it is a direct challenge to a politicalsystem that makes it far easier to run with a party than to run independently,” Budke said.
Budke is one of two nonpartisan candidates in the state’s most conservative congressional district. The other nonpartisan candidate is Mark Cohen, who is still collecting signatures to get on the ballot. The deadline to turn in signatures is Aug. 3.
Becky Stille is the Democratic Party’s nominee in the race and David J. Else is running on the Legal Marijuana NOW Party line.
They are all challenging incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith.
The state’s 3rd Congressional District includes central and western Nebraska and much of the state’s northeastern and southeastern edges. It’s one of the nation’s most conservative congressional districts by political party registration advantage and voting record.
