Editor’s note: This is the first in a three-part series with Nebraska gubernatorial candidates about their pivot from the May 12 primary election to the Nov. 3 general election.
LINCOLN — As Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen pivots to his reelection efforts, he remains confident in his chances for four more years to continue similar priorities that got him elected four years ago.
In a one-on-one interview with the Nebraska Examiner shortly after the May primary, Pillen, a Republican, outlined what priorities he would push in a second term, almost all of which echo legislative pushes from the past four years, some of which fell short by a handful of votes:
- The “modernization” of state and local taxes, including property, income and sales taxes.
- Slashing state government spending.
- Improving school discipline.
- Further restricting abortion.
- Changing how Nebraska allocates its votes for president.
- Overhauling the state-local funding formula for K-12 schools.
- Ensuring all K-12 students can be in a school that is the “right fit” for them.
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Pillen this fall will face former Democratic state Sen. Lynne Walz of Fremont and Legal Marijuana NOW party candidate Rick Beard of Omaha, a wine professional and private chef.
Former state Sen. Brett Lindstrom of Omaha, a former GOP lawmaker who is now a registered nonpartisan, has also been mulling a nonpartisan bid for governor. As of July 3, the Nebraska Secretary of State’s Office said Lindstrom had not filed paperwork to launch a petition drive. He would need at least 4,000 valid signatures by Aug. 3 to appear on the Nov. 3 ballot.
“I know what it takes to win a statewide campaign for a statewide office,” Pillen said. “Not very many people know that. Certainly, nobody in the field knows what it takes to win.”
More income tax cuts
Pillen, for the first time, suggested he might push to lower income tax rates by another 1%, which he said would be a “very reasonable approach” over the next four years.
“That’s how our economy will grow,” Pillen said, echoing a promise he made in 2023.
Lawmakers at the time approved lowering the top income tax rate from 6.64% to 3.99%, beginning in the 2027 tax year. Nebraska had four tax brackets, but there are now effectively three, as the third and fourth brackets pay the same rate beginning at $24,760 in income.
The 2023 law also lowered the corporate tax rate to a flat 3.99%. Before, it was 5.58% on the first $100,000 of Nebraska taxable income and 7.25% on the rest.
Since the income tax changes, state lawmakers worked to fill major state budget deficits in the 2025 and 2026 legislative sessions. Another deficit appears to be on the way for 2027.
Pillen said paying for government services would require more cuts at the state level and broadening the state sales tax base, such as adding the 5.5-cent state sales tax on currently exempt goods and services. He’s suggested both ideas to also help address property taxes.
“We’ll bring enough people together to be able to make that happen,” Pillen said.
Property tax focus
Pillen said property taxes continue to come up in every meeting, but he thinks messaging around the topic needs to be better and simplified so voters understand. He will also push for hard spending caps to prevent local officials from ramping up costs too much year over year.
Some local officials have said doing so could risk services, but the current Revenue Committee chair said conversations continue on how to have hard caps without such repercussions.
The state is prohibited from levying property taxes, so state action is often to rein in local spending or to backfill spending in hopes of providing relief to taxpayers.
“‘Nebraska nice’ doesn’t work,” Pillen said. “We’re not good at telling our neighbors to stop spending money that we elect.”
The governor made a rare move in 2024 to call a special session to specifically address property taxes. During that summer, he toured the state and urged Nebraskans to pressure lawmakers as he unveiled a plan he said would lower property taxes by 50%.
Ultimately, no new sales taxes were added, and lawmakers went home after minimally increasing tax credits to local taxpayers and changing a 2020 law to automatically give such relief, rather than requiring taxpayers to request the credits one year after paying their taxes.
This summer, Pillen implemented a “hotline” to ramp up pressure on lawmakers ahead of 2027.
K-12 spending
Pillen has suggested lawmakers repeat what they did with property taxes paid to community colleges in 2023, which moved operational costs to state tax rolls. He wants the same to be done for K-12 schools. School property taxes make up about 60% of annual tax statements.
In 2025, lawmakers at Pillen’s request created a commission to review how the state funds local schools and suggest fixes. That work is continuing.
Related to education, Pillen again made a promise to pursue the “right fit” for students’ education, but he said the first step is implementing new $1,700-a-year federal tax credits in 2027. Pillen was the first governor to opt in to the program, and he’s pledged it will be open to all students, whether in public or private school, or those who are homeschooled.
Nebraska voters in 2024 voted against a state law to have the state subsidize attendance costs to private schools. A Pillen-led push to offer “gap” funding for students on the eliminated state funding for this fall, prior to the federal program starting, failed to pass in the spring.
More state spending cuts
If reelected, Pillen also intends to continue a business mindset that has defined his first four years by cutting spending and producing efficiencies, while still maintaining needed services.
“We’ve just touched the tip of the sphere of the opportunity to continue to improve services,” Pillen said. “When you focus on improving services and understand throughput and your costs, we have lots of opportunity to continue to shrink government.”
Pillen and the largest state agency, the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, have faced pushback over certain pushes to save costs, such as the Aged and Disabled Waiver and cost caps for older Nebraskans or those with disabilities wanting to receive care at home.
Some families who provide in-home care for loved ones, and some Nebraskans who receive the care, were among those speaking out.
“The only people that are yelling about it are the people that are getting paid to provide carte blanche service,” Pillen said. He asserted Nebraska only needs a tenth of the services it’s providing over the criticism of a “small vocal minority voice.”
The governor said that of those who are reassessed, some families are getting more services while a fraction are getting assessed for less. Even then, he says, individuals can file an appeal.
“The only people that are upset with that are the people that were getting paid for delivering services they didn’t do,” Pillen said. “That’s not what taxpayers want to do, and that’s not what the families of disabled babies want. They just want the help they need, nothing more.”
Campaign strategy
The first-term governor, who previously served on the University of Nebraska Board of Regents for 10 years, said there is still work to be done before November to “get the message out,” particularly to conservative Nebraskans, to secure the numbers needed for his ideas.
“We got to make sure that they, we, all understand how important it is, that it’s a privilege to exercise our voice in democracy,” Pillen said. “We have to vote. We have to show up.”
Lt. Gov. Joe Kelly will again join Pillen atop the Republican ticket. Kelly was U.S. attorney for Nebraska during President Donald Trump’s first term, and Kelly previously led the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office criminal division and the Lancaster County Attorney’s Office.
Where possible, Pillen said he will spend funds to invest where he says Republicans can win.
“The math is really simple. Republicans show up, we win all those seats,” Pillen said.
The Legislature is officially nonpartisan, meaning there are no official party leaders in the body and a candidate’s party doesn’t appear on the ballot. There are currently 33 registered Republicans, 15 Democrats and one progressive nonpartisan. Twenty-five seats are up in 2026.
Pillen has already called for the Legislature to reduce the number of votes needed to pass legislation around filibusters, from 33 to 30. That could be the difference needed for some of Pillen’s ideas, including a stricter abortion ban after an ultrasound detects embryonic cardiac activity, at about six weeks into a pregnancy, or how the state awards presidential votes. Both of those proposals fell short in 2023 and 2025, respectively.
However, lowering the vote threshold also needs 30 votes. Some Republicans aren’t on board.
‘I’m 100% focused on me’
Pillen, of his opponents, said he’s put together the “best campaign in America” with an “unprecedented grassroots campaign” statewide.
“I think I’m 100% focused on me. I’m not going to pay attention to who’s in,” Pillen said.
The sitting governor had a record $9.5 million in campaign funds by June 16. He’s had a historic fundraising record for a sitting governor, raising about $12.8 million since he took office.
Walz, too, has broken records for Democratic candidates for governor, raising the most at least since 1998. The last Democratic governor was Ben Nelson, who served between 1991 and 1999 before he went on to the U.S. Senate for two terms. Nelson is also the last Democrat to win a statewide race, which was his reelection campaign for Senate in 2006.
Walz has released internal polling showing a closer-than-expected faceoff with Pillen within the margin of error. Pillen’s campaign downplayed any idea that the race is close.
“It should be no surprise that a far-left, East Coast pollster best known for work with Joe Biden, Planned Parenthood and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez conjured up poll results like this,” a campaign spokesman said. “The Walz campaign continues to align itself with socialist progressives who don’t understand the Nebraska values of life, agriculture, affordability and freedom.”
Beard hasn’t reported any campaign financial activity. A campaign committee must be created once a candidate raises or spends more than $5,000.
“What I have done, what I believe in and what our teams have done, is 180 degrees opposite of anyone you’ve mentioned,” Pillen said. “Those records are crystal clear.”
Pillen also confirmed he’ll repeat a strategy he had in 2022: no debates with his opponents.
Said Pillen: “I don’t know why I would ever change that. I’ve been consistent from day one, and that won’t change.”
Pillen said the choice this November will be “very easy for Nebraskans” because when a “public servant” puts themself out there for the state, he says Nebraskans “can’t be duped.”
“We’re a very, very strong conservative state,” Pillen said, “and that puts us in a real good position.”
This story is provided by States Newsroom, a nonprofit state news network and Blox Digital content partner.
