Legislative Candidate Bounced From Ballot Over Bad Check
by John Gage
OMAHA — Robin Richards, a candidate for Nebraska’s 12th Legislative District, will not make the ballot after a check she tried to pay her filing fee with “bounced.”
Richards released a video “asking for help” from the community this week and announcing she had missed the ballot. “Because of a clerical error in my filing, that I’m not being allowed to correct, my name will not be on the ballot for Legislative District 12,” she said. “I want to say something honestly, I take responsibility for what happened.”
Reached Thursday by phone, the Secretary of State’s office told The Plains Sentinel that Richards was left off the ballot after her check “bounced” when they tried cashing it. The spokesperson said the office had attempted to reach out to Richards in January, but she did not respond. The filing fee to run for the Legislature is $120.
Richards told The Plains Sentinel that there had been a “change in my banking system” and that she had “not made aware from my bank or the Secretary of State about the error.”
She said she tried to work out a solution with the Secretary of State’s office when she eventually found out, but the law was clear that she was ineligible to make the ballot. “My lawyers and I looked over it and didn’t find any way,” she said. “The law is the way that the law is.”
Despite missing the ballot, Richards said she plans to fight on and that the community is “excited” to get behind her. “This community took one of its own daughters and put her up against a political giant,” she said. “We almost won then, and I believe we can finish the job now.”
The news comes as Richards was trying to set up a rematch in District 12 between herself and incumbent State Sen. Merv Riepe. Richards lost to Riepe in 2022 by 500 votes in the general election — now she faces an uphill battle to get out of the primary as she’ll try to mount a write-in campaign.
Christy Knorr and Thomas Kastrup are also running in the District 12 race. The primary election date is May 12.
John Gage is the executive editor of The Plains Sentinel.