(Picture credit Matt Johnson)
OMAHA — With the Republican supermajority hanging in the balance in the Nebraska Legislature, there are few seats in the nominally nonpartisan body potentially open to flip from blue to red this year.
One long shot for Republicans may be District 10 in northwest Omaha, which runs roughly from 90th and Maple to 156th and State Street. The district went for Kamala Harris in 2024 by over 8%. It’s also the home of former state senator Bob Krist, who ran as a Republican in 2010 and 2014.
Democrat Wendy DeBoer has served in that seat since, winning by less than a percent in 2018 and then by nearly 7% in 2022. Termed out, she now hopes to pass the torch to Cindy Johnson in 2026. Rebecca Rens, a Republican, hopes to flip the seat in a tough environment for the GOP.
The Plains Sentinel was able to sit down with both Johnson and Rens to talk about their campaigns.
Cindy Johnson, an Audiologist who Wants to Listen
Johnson grew up on a farm north of Crofton in Knox County and has lived in Omaha since 2010. She was appointed to serve in the Learning Community in District 1 and considered running for election to the same seat.
“I went to talk to some folks about running, because I’ve never run for office, and we got to chatting, and they heard about my background where, you know, I grew up on a farm, I’ve worked in a hospital. I had a private business. I started a small business. And they all looked at me and said, ‘Have you ever thought about running for the Legislature?’”
As an audiologist for 35 years, Johnson says that listening to others has been a priority that she plans to bring into the legislature.
“I do not have an agenda. I don’t have anything that’s burning a hole in my pocket right now. I want to listen,” Johnson said. “I’ve been teaching people about hearing and listening for 35 years, so I think I can translate some of that into the Legislature, so that everyone feels like they’re being heard.”
For committee assignments, Johnson said her background in healthcare and education might make her a good fit for committee assignments in health and human services or in education.
“As a freshman senator, I know I can request, but it’ll be wherever I go, and I’m going to do my best wherever I land,” Johnson said.
One of the pressing issues before the Legislature is the projected deficit over the next biennium, Johnson wants to work with other senators on a solution.
“Nobody wants to say they wanna raise taxes, and nobody wants to shift taxes either, because then you can end up hurting people that way,” Johnson said. “So I’m still learning. That’s something I want to work on when I get there. I’m not going into this with my own agenda. I think the most important thing is to be a good listener and to make sure that we’re being good stewards of the money that we do collect in taxes.”
Overall, Johnson anticipates it will be a learning experience.
“I always say if somebody comes in and tells you they know everything about everything, I’m a little suspicious of those folks,” she said. “I want to learn from everybody. I think everyone’s going to have their own strengths. And so I think it’s going to be a huge opportunity to just learn and grow as a person.”
Rebecca Rens: From Laying Concrete to Passing Legislation
Rens was the owner and president of a concrete construction company for 30 years. After starting the business with an old truck and under $800 in tools, her company grew to bid and perform major infrastructure projects.
During that time, she also spent three years operating a 25-ton slipform street paving machine.
“I actually built roads with my crews for three years,” Rens said. “That experience was so instrumental in helping us build our business, because when I would go on to bid these projects and work with engineers and work with owners ... I could build it in my head because I’d already done it with my hands.”
Rens also has a doctorate in Business Administration with a leadership cognate and wrote her dissertation on leadership adaptability in complex environments. Rens anticipates that her business experience will help her with the negotiations needed to tackle the looming budget deficit in the legislature.
“I’ve lived on very tight budgets,” Rens said. “I’ve had to bid projects and then live within the parameters of my bid, where you’re not able to just change. You’re not able to overspend ... You have to be discerning. You have to be fiscally responsible. There are times when you have to say no.”
While focused on budgets and cost-cutting, however, Rens said she has an empathetic side. Her mother went through Alzheimer’s before passing away, and her father passed away a few years later. Rens now serves on the board of the Alzheimer’s Association, Nebraska Chapter.
“I was able to journey with both of them through that aging process, which can be so difficult,” Rens said. “In District 10, I knock on a lot of doors, and I have a lot of seniors who are concerned about their future and what that looks like. I truly empathize, and I want to see quality of life maintained and enhanced for our aging population.”
Uphill Toward Election Day
Rens has already faced Johnson once in the primary this year, where Johnson pulled ahead by nearly 20 points. Rens is hopeful, however, that Republicans will turn out for her in November.
“It was a little discouraging the night of the primary,” Rens said. “Then we started crunching numbers and realized that if our people showed up at the same rate [as the Democrats had], we had a good race on our hands. So, you know, everything I’m hearing has been positive since then.”
Republicans currently have a 33 out of the 49 seats in the Unicameral, meaning Democrats only need to flip one seat to end the GOP supermajority. Democrats have nearly half a dozen seats, most in the Omaha metro area, where they are looking to flip Republican-held seats.
District 10 is one of the only seats this cycle that Republicans are attempting to flip, but most political insiders say it is a long-shot.
Rens has a slight edge in door knocking. Johnson reported having knocked on around 4,000 doors in this campaign cycle, while Rens has knocked on approximately 8,500—about 5,000 before the primary and 3,500 since.
Johnson, though, has a major cash advantage having out raised Rens nearly 2-1 according to Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission.
— Matt Johnson is a freelance reporter with The Plains Sentinel.