Attorney General Challenger Talks Work Experience, Takes Aim at GOP Statewide Officials

by Matt Johnson

(Picture credit Matt Johnson)

OMAHA — Attorney General Mike Hilgers is running for reelection, and unlike his race four years ago, this time he will be facing a Democratic challenger.

In 2022, many statewide seats in Nebraska were left unchallenged by the Democratic Party, including Secretary of State, State Treasurer, Auditor of Public Accounts, and Attorney General. It was a mistake the party vowed not to repeat in 2026.

A New Challenger

Jocelyn Brasher, a graduate of Creighton University School of Law and Auburn University, served as an Assistant Attorney General under both Hilgers and his predecessor, Doug Peterson. She left the office in September 2023 and became a felony prosecutor for the Dodge County Attorney’s Office.

After seven months, she was terminated under contentious circumstances.

“When I was a deputy Dodge County attorney, I brought workplace concerns to the county attorney and less than 24 hours later, I was terminated,” Brasher said during a town hall in Omaha.

Brasher filed a dual NEOC/EEOC Charge of Discrimination on August 28, 2024, alleging sex discrimination, disability discrimination, retaliation, and whistleblower discrimination. On June 25, 2025, the Dodge County Board settled with Brasher for $150,000. The agreement included mutual non-disparagement and barred her from future employment with the county in any capacity.

“I have no regrets about what I did because I know I did the right thing,” Brasher said. “I would do it over again. But it goes to show that even when my job is on the line, I will always stand up and do the right thing.”

The Dodge County Attorney’s Office declined to comment for the story.

Around 10 months later, Brasher began work as a litigation attorney for Lamson Dugan & Murray LLP until she resigned in December 2025. Several months later, she announced her run for Nebraska Attorney General.

Brasher told The Plains Sentinel that run for attorney general was her “full-time job.”

The ‘People’s Priorities’ and Medical Cannabis

Brasher kicked off her campaign in Omaha on March 26 and held several “Restoring Power To The People” meet-and-greet events across Nebraska, including stops in Lincoln, Fremont, Kearney, Alliance, Chadron, Scottsbluff, Hastings, Bellevue, Falls City, South Sioux City, West Point, and Albion.

Brasher wrapped up her tour back in Omaha with a town hall, during which she highlighted what she called the “people’s priorities.” These included support for implementing ballot initiatives, such as the 2024 medical cannabis measure.

“Seventy-one percent of Nebraskans voted saying they wanted medical cannabis, and our attorney general has been fighting Nebraskans on this issue since day one,” Brasher said. “Mike Hilgers is using the power of the attorney general’s office to overturn election results that he does not agree with, whether that’s on a personal level or a political level.”

Hilgers has been a vocal opponent of medical marijuana, challenging the validity of the 2024 ballot initiative in court and opposing legislative efforts to implement it. He has also joined lawsuits and public comments against federal efforts to reclassify cannabis as a Schedule III drug.

“Our attorney general Mike Hilgers seems to have forgotten that he is no longer the former speaker of the legislature,” Brasher said. “He’s now the current attorney general, and he is not supposed to be legislating from the AG’s office.”

Last month, Hilgers approved the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission’s regulations. As to their constitutionality, he said that they “do not clearly violate the state or federal Constitutions on their face.”

Investigating Pillen

Among other issues, Brasher believes that Hilgers may be giving Governor Jim Pillen a pass on certain legal issues — which she spoke to The Plains Sentinel about.

“I think it appears that he [Hilgers] might be skirting some of the responsibilities and duties of the office based on political pressure,” Brasher said. “We have the governor who did a $2.5 million no-bid contract. He violated public records laws. We all know this. We saw Mike Foley’s report. I’ve read Mike Foley’s report. That was turned over to the AG’s office for investigation and prosecution. Why has Mike Hilgers not done anything with this?”

Brasher also believes the death of 17-year-old Zach Panther on April 1, 2024, at Beaver Valley Pork (a hog farm owned by Pillen Family Farms) warranted investigation by the attorney general’s office.

“I’m not in the attorney general’s office right now, so I don’t have all of the facts and evidence in front of me, but we also know that a lot of that got brushed away really, really quick,” Brasher said. “So when there was a death on Jim Pillen’s hog farm, and it appeared to not be investigated thoroughly, and now here we are how many years later, and now it’s too late, because a lot of that evidence is going to be gone. So why wasn’t that done thoroughly? Because that family deserves to have an answer.”

Cooperation with ICE and Voter Data

Brasher told The Plains Sentinel later that while she supports “strong border security,” she believes illegal immigrants should not be detained without the same judicial warrant required for ordinary citizens.

“I think that federal agents should be held to the same standard as local law enforcement,” Brasher said. “So if local law enforcement are required to have a judicial warrant to detain someone, I think federal ICE agents should be required to have a judicial warrant to detain someone. I don’t think there should be a double standard for federal ICE agents.”

Another concern for Brasher was Secretary of State Bob Evnen’s delivery of election rolls and voter information to the Trump administration earlier this year following a lawsuit by Common Cause Nebraska. The data included voters’ dates of birth, the last four digits of Social Security numbers, and driver’s license numbers.

“Your private, sensitive voter data was turned over to the U.S. DOJ by Bob Evnen,” Brasher said. “Our Attorney General, Mike Hilgers, could have sued to prevent that from happening. It is the job, the duty, the responsibility of the Attorney General to protect Nebraska’s rights, but he chose not to do that.”

At a luncheon in October 2025, Evnen noted that much of the data is already held by the federal government. Brasher, however, argued that the data still should not be turned over.

“If you want your data turned over to the Trump administration, turn your data over to the Trump administration, but it shouldn’t be our Secretary of State to allow that to happen. That’s your private, sensitive data information,” she said.

On Toward the General

As the general election heats up, Brasher faces a steep uphill climb. Betting market Prediction Edge currently lists Hilgers’ odds at around 88%, and according to NADC filings, Hilgers has also accumulated a war chest of over $1.5 million compared to Brasher’s $157,000.

Still, Brasher is making her case for change.

“If you want a career politician who is focused on filing partisan political lawsuits that don’t even involve Nebraska, your choice is simple. Your candidate is Mike Hilgers,” Brasher said.

Zoe Ganzman, spokesperson for the Hilgers campaign, responded:

“Attorney General Hilgers is doing the work and delivering on the promises he made four years ago: protecting children from Big Tech, defending farmers and ranchers from unlawful regulations, keeping the federal government in check, and safeguarding Nebraskans’ rights.”

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