(Picture credit Governor Pillen campaign)
OMAHA — Democratic candidate Lynne Walz told her supporters late Tuesday night that they should go home and wait for votes to continue being counted overnight as Nebraska’s gubernatorial race has still not been called.
“A year ago I set out across Nebraska to listen… and everywhere I went, from Democrats, Independents, and Republicans, I heard the same thing: the government is not working for people anymore,” Walz said Tuesday night at her election night party. “That’s the spirit I’m asking for tonight. Be patient, be kind to each other, and to the folks on the other side who are waiting up just like we are. Tomorrow morning, we are all still Nebraskans.”
“The folks counting those ballots tonight are our neighbors… they’re doing careful, honest work, and we’re gonna give them the time to do it right,” she added.
Walz comments came as incumbent Republican Governor Jim Pillen took the lead in the vote count around 11 pm. At time of publication, Pillen leads Walz 49-44%.
Pillen took the stage in Lincoln a little after midnight to declare victory. “We the people made our voices heard in this election,” Pillen said. “I will make sure the politicians and lobbyists hear your voice loud and clear.”
The governor said his team ran “one of the best campaigns in the United States of America.”
Race Closer Than 2022
Pillen’s election night lead was far less than his 23-point triumph over Carol Blood in 2022 as the GOP faced strong headwinds nationwide this cycle.
While public trading markets heavily favored Pillen, polls leading up to election day showed Walz within striking distance. The Democrat raised over $2 million from mid-June to September. Cook Political shifted the race from “Solid Republican” to “Lean Republican” just a week before election day.
Pillen campaigned heavily on public safety and tied himself closely to the Fairness for Girls Constitutional Amendment – which comfortably passed – in addition to an ongoing commitment to “run government like business” via tax reform.
Pillen ran firmly in the Republican lane, appearing with President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance in their respective visits to Nebraska and touting extensive public safety endorsements in addition to the NRA.
Walz’s campaign leaned heavily on her promise to expedite prior successful ballot initiatives like medical marijuana, minimum wage, and paid sick leave. She had chiefly attacked Pillen for the state’s ongoing budgetary issues following a Ricketts-era surplus.
She also ran on bipartisanship, choosing a former Republican in Ben Steffen as her running mate and touting endorsements from other former Republican state legislators Mark Koltermann, Tim Gragert, John Stinner, and John McCollister.
With the win, Pillen survived a dangerous election season in the reliably-red Midwest and Great Plains states, with Democrats winning the gubernatorial race in neighboring Iowa and leading in Kansas.
— Lewis Thune is a College Fix writing fellow with The Plains Sentinel.