Could Pillen Face an Independent Challenger in the Gubernatorial Race?

by John Gage

(Screenshot from The Dan Parsons Show)

A second former Republican has publicly teased a potential run as an Independent for Nebraska’s gubernatorial seat in 2026. Former State Sen. Brett Lindstrom, who announced earlier this year he was leaving the Republican party, said he sees a potential path for a nonpartisan run for governor.

“There is a path. It is possible,” Lindstrom told The Dan Parsons Show when asked if he is considering running for governor in 2026. “But I haven’t made a decision on that yet.”

Lindstrom, who works as a financial advisor in Omaha, confirmed rumors that he had been approached by supporters who wanted him to run again against Governor Jim Pillen in the 2026 Republican primary. Lindstrom had previously run in the 2022 GOP primary, placing third behind Pillen and Agra-businessman Charles Herbster.

Lindstrom said he was approached over a year ago to run for governor, but initially declined because he wanted, at the time, to run for the second congressional seat following Congressman Don Bacon's announcement of his retirement. Lindstrom said he dropped out of the Republican primary not because he thought he was going to lose but because he did not feel comfortable in the direction the primary was headed.

When it comes to running as an Independent, he said “mathematically” he would have a shot at winning if he decides to run. Lindstrom said people should not be surprised to see petitioners out getting signatures to get him on the ballot while he makes a final decision.

“If you catch wind of a petition,” he said. “I still probably haven’t decided.” Lindstrom said he has at least a month and a half to make a final decision. “I’ll just continue to have more conversations,” he added.

The news comes after the Democratic challenger Lynne Walz, a former state senator and colleague of Lindstrom, released a poll showing her campaign within five points of Pillen in a general election matchup. Walz made the claim in her polling memo that Pillen was the “least popular governor in the country.”

Pillen’s campaign dismissed the polling results from Walz. A spokesperson for the campaign said the poll does not “accurately reflect” their own polling as well as “the truth.”

Lindstrom is the second former Republican to tease a run for governor as an Independent. Former head of the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce, Brian Slone, said in an interview last month that he had not fully closed the door on running for governor in 2026.

“I’ll never say never,” Slone said when asked if he would run. Slone previously ran for governor as a Republican in 2014.

Pillen Piles Money as General Election Approaches

An Independent challenge will face an uphill battle if someone ends up jumping into the race to run against Pillen. The incumbent governor entered April with over $9.3 million cash on hand. In contrast, Walz had just over half a million cash on hand.

During the 2022 gubernatorial primary, Lindstrom was able to raise three million dollars while Herbster mostly self-raised $13 million and Pillen raised nine million.

Lindstrom dropped out of the second congressional race at the end of January with $150,000 cash on hand. He said he believed he still could have won the primary but did not want to participate in the “philosophy” that is driving the Republican primary.

In the latest interview, Lindstrom expounded on why he left the Republican party and took up the nonpartisan label.

“We are about as polarized of a position politically as we’ve been in some time, at least in my experience, and I just didn’t feel comfortable participating in that type of philosophy,” he said, explaining his decision. “The transition for me going from Republican to nonpartisan, it was already what I was feeling, and then it was affirmed by all the conversations I was having and coffees with people that really sat all across the political spectrum.”

Lindstrom said one of the books that got him interested in a potential run for governor was “The Fourth Turning” by Neil Howe and William Strauss, which posits that America is on the cusp of a fourth crisis similar to the War for Independence, the Civil War, and World War II.

In 2017, the book, originally published in 1997, vaulted up the book charts again after former strategist for President Trump, Steve Bannon, promoted the work — telling his supporters that America was entering a fourth crisis.

Lindstrom said he was inspired by the books call for “generational change.” He pointed to Baby Boomers being “in charge at the highest levels” while contrasting himself as being on the edge of both the Millennial and Gen X generational divide.

If he runs, Lindstrom said it will not be to play “spoiler” but to bring his “philosophical change” that he says “people are ready for.”

John Gage is the executive editor of The Plains Sentinel.