(Photo credit Matt Johnson)
Bob Krist is no stranger to crossing party lines, and in a year with two new political parties joining the ballot, he is switching again.
Krist was a Republican when he served in the Nebraska Legislature, representing District 10 for ten years between 2009 and 2019. Governor Dave Heineman first appointed him to replace Mike Friend, who stepped down to become Nebraska’s first director of the Office of Violence Prevention. Krist then won full terms in 2010 and 2014.
In 2018, Krist left the GOP, first running as an independent for governor against incumbent Republican Pete Ricketts. He then switched parties and ran as a Democrat with running mate Lynne Walz, who is now the Democratic nominee against Governor Jim Pillen.
The Plains Sentinel spoke with Krist the same day the America First Party announced its slate, which also includes Brett Lindstrom for governor, Chuck Conboy for U.S. Senate, John Knight for state auditor, and Dan Hartong for the 1st District congressional seat.
The Switch to America First
Krist had long been rumored to be considering an independent run for secretary of state. He told The Plains Sentinel he did not want to run outside the structure of a formal political party.
“Those other two have gone through a party—they’ve gone through a convention, they’ve been nominated, and they’ve been through the primary election,” Krist said. “What’s happened in the meantime is that we have people who have been disenfranchised, or basically not happy with either the Democrat or Republican Party.”
Two new parties have since formed. Krist said he stands behind the America First platform.
“It’s fiscally conservative. Conservatism is balancing budgets, which we desperately need in Nebraska, and it is, as I would like to put it, back to a conventional adherence to the Constitution and the rule of law.”
Asked whether the name “America First” would confuse voters who associate it with President Trump, Krist rejected the premise.
“The name is not reflective of Trump. Trump basically wants to Make America Great Again—MAGA, right? He wants to do things that we don’t want to do as an American,” Krist said. “There’s no adherence to the rule of law in this administration. And the Constitution and the division of responsibilities in the different branches of government have disappeared.”
Krist said the secretary of state’s office should not be partisan.
“The current Democratic and Republican candidates are doing what their parties want them to do,” he said. “I’m telling people, if you want an alternative, look at my record—look at 10 years in the Legislature, look at my service record with the Air Force, look at my business record in small business, and realize that I am the alternative.”
A Look at the Current Choices
Krist has disagreed with Secretary of State Bob Evnen on several issues, including what he described as Evnen’s failure to advocate for implementing medical cannabis after a petition measure passed with 72% of the vote. He also objected to Evnen providing voter data to the Trump administration.
“I would not have given him [Trump] the information about the individual voters and their addresses and all that stuff that is part of our voter registration, and I will never do that as a secretary of state,” Krist said. “We have seen the repercussions of that, because now this administration is trying to say mailmen are part of the voting process.”
Overall, Krist said he was satisfied enough with Evnen’s tenure that he would not have run had Evnen won the Republican primary. He is also seeking Evnen’s endorsement.
“Overall I think he should get a B. He’s done good work.”
A chief concern for Krist in the race is Republican nominee Scott Petersen’s opposition to widespread use of mail-in ballots.
“I believe in the institution of mail-in votes,” Krist said. “It goes back to 2005, and my colleague then, State Senator Deb Fischer, now Senator Fischer, introduced a bill that allowed for counties to do 100% voting. And that’s important. It’s important to some geographic areas. It’s important to some areas both to save money on the county side, and she did a good job of presenting that. I don’t want to go backwards.”
A Potential Spoiler?
Asked whether a third-party run could make him a spoiler, Krist said both major parties had already tried to recruit him for that role—in another race.
“I was actually recruited to be a spoiler by both the Republican and Democratic Party to enter races that they needed to divert votes to elect their people,” Krist said. “In the Senate race between Ricketts and Osborn, I was asked to join that race and be the spoiler. And I said, ‘No, that’s not the way I do business.’ If I don’t have a party, if I don’t have somebody endorsing and I don’t have somebody bringing me forward, then I’m not going to enter a race at this point and just be a spoiler.”
Krist casts his time in both parties, and as an independent, as an advantage.
“I’ve been a lot of things. I’ve been in the inner circle in the Democratic Party, inner circle in the Republican Party in Nebraska. I’ve seen what it looks like to be a nonpartisan independent. And I’ve made decisions based upon what I can do to look in the mirror in the morning and know that I’ve done the right thing.”
— Matt Johnson is a freelance reporter with The Plains Sentinel.