A Married Couple Battle Each Other, Incumbent in Legislative Race

by Matt Johnson

Sam Landers works as a massage therapist in Scottsbluff. He takes pride in his work, going so far as to compete in a massage therapy competition in Copenhagen last year. Six years ago, he met Jessica, an attorney and a former police officer in Kimball who had thrown her back out while shoveling heavy snow. The two fell in love and got married in November last year.

Now they’re both running for state legislature — for the same seat in District 48.

The seat is currently held by incumbent Brian Hardin, who is running for reelection. Sam told The Plains Sentinel that he and others in his district felt that their concerns had been ignored by the senator, which prompted him to challenge him for his seat.

“He has a track record of, frankly, either ignoring the people out here or voting against our interests. And we are both quite frustrated and think it’s time for a little change,” Sam said.

Both Sam and Jessica also took issue with Hardin’s lack of support for recently-passed ballot initiatives on medical marijuana and funding for school choice in Nebraska.

“He has not been an advocate for the people here who voted for medical marijuana and the school voucher issue,” Jessica said. “I think the role of every senator in Lincoln is to make sure that happens—and Brian [Hardin] has not been an advocate for us in that area.”

Bush Republican and Osborn Independent

The Landers both land outside of the political center of either party. Jessica grew up in Kearney as a Democrat but later switched parties and considers herself a moderate Republican. She voted for Jeb Bush in the 2016 Presidential primary.

“I would call myself a very moderate Republican,” Jesica said. “I definitely would not describe myself like part of the MAGA Republican crowd.”

Sam considers himself as an independent in line with U.S. Senate candidate Dan Osborn.

“I really admire Dan Osborn,” Sam said. “I think his first run against Deb Fischer was so admirable. And the fact that he did it as an independent and came as close as he did, speaking up for the people, it was really an admirable run for US Senate.”

Jessica already had a few key priority bills she would put forth if elected to the state legislature. One is a bill she named “JP’s Law” after a young man who was badly injured during a street racing incident when she was a prosecutor.

“There is no specific provision of the law that covers reckless or careless driving and causing serious bodily injury,” Jessica said. “If somebody is reckless driving and causes serious bodily injury, and is lucky enough not to kill the person, there should still be consequences for that,” Jessica said. She noted the gap left the co-defendant’s aiding-and-abetting charge impossible to pursue, leading to the case’s dismissal.

Another priority for Jessica is Nebraska’s age of majority, which is 19 rather than 18 as in most other states. This creates gaps for 18-year-olds in the child welfare or mental-health systems: they can no longer access juvenile facilities like PRTFs (psychiatric residential treatment facilities) but are not yet eligible for adult services, leaving some youth in limbo until they turn 19.

“That just needs to change. We’ve already whittled away all of the other parts of that age-of-majority statute — about the only thing left is medical care,” Jessica said.

Sam described himself a fiscal conservative, with particular concern over wasteful spending at the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), particularly with funds going to non-profits in Lincoln and Omaha to care for children whose parents live on the other side of the state.

“There are some circumstances where we are shelling out $20,000 a month for a single kid with disabilities,” Sam said. “If we could bring them back to this area and take care of them here with their own families, we could probably save $15,000 to $17,000 per kid — which is an insane amount of money when it adds up.”

Sam is also concerned about the lack of representation in the Panhandle for such things as education funding, with rural schools struggling as urban school districts take in an outsized share of educational spending.

“We are actually not getting a ton of funding for our schools out here whereas Omaha and Lincoln schools are getting a buttload of money,” Sam said. “We have to send our kids to school with Kleenexes because we don’t have the money to buy them.” He pointed to school-owned “corner” properties, whose revenue flows to Lincoln but never returns to western Nebraska schools.

Sam was also upset to learn that a state error in the TEEOSA formula had resulted in Omaha Public Schools receiving a $30.5 million overpayment this year, forcing the district to absorb a roughly $50.6 million budget shortfall next year as the funds are clawed back.

“The amount we could do out here for $50 million is just unbelievable. That’s unheard of money,” he said.

Couple Will Support Winner

Both Sam and Jessica expect that Hardin, as the incumbent, will sail through the primary, leaving one of them to challenge him in the general election. They are both perfectly happy with this outcome.

“We’re assuming Brian [Hardin] and either me or Jessica will continue on to the general election. And at that point we will absolutely support each other,” Sam said. “As long as you’re voting Landers, you’re gonna get two brains on a problem—so either way we’re happy.”

There is a fourth candidate in the race, Kurt Zadina, but Sam does not think he will make it through the primary. He has also found the candidate difficult to reach.

“I have reached out to him multiple times through multiple different ways. And, you know, sadly, he just has not gotten back to me. And I haven’t been able to find him, frankly, anywhere in town or throughout the district,” Sam said.

The Landers have a joint website for their campaign at votelanders.com, and they are currently knocking doors during the final weeks of their late entry into the race.

“So we are absolutely knocking on doors, talking to tons of farmers. We’ve got yard signs out pretty much everywhere,” Sam said. “It’s very much grassroots. We don’t have a whole lot of funding, and we’re just doing what we can with what we have.”

Early voting has already begun, with mail-in ballots being sent out for the primary on May 12, 2026.

— Matt Johnson is a freelance reporter with The Plains Sentinel.