Just more than half of the 49 seats in the Nebraska Legislature are up for election next week, with a single matchup in District 4 carrying the potential to alter the balance of power inside the Unicam.
The upcoming vote arrives as voters across the state weigh control of the 49-seat body. While Nebraska operates under a unique nonpartisan system designed to keep party politics out of local lawmaking, Republicans have maintained a firm grip on the chamber, holding a supermajority of 33 seats since 2024.
The intent is for it to be a representation of all the people within the state of Nebraska,
said Jan McKenzie, board president of the League of Women Voters of Greater Omaha.
Shaping the Next Supermajority
The Republican majority that’s existed for the past four years has allowed us to get some good tax policy done and advance some things, but that we work on a bipartisan basis down here,
said Sen. Brad von Gillern of Elkhorn.
Just more than half of the 49 seats in the Nebraska Legislature are up for election next week. One race, in District 4, could change the balance of power inside the Unicam. pic.twitter.com/g3wyHTtV89
Von Gillern is currently up for reelection in District 4. His contest is viewed as a bellwether for what the chamber’s conservative majority will look like after the ballots are counted. I told somebody the other day, we kind of fight like cats and dogs on general file and select, but when we get to final reading and the final vote on a bill, generally we land in a good place and we get good bipartisan support,
von Gillern said.
The incumbent faces registered nonpartisan Cindy Maxwell-Ostdiek in a rematch from 2022.
Diverging Views on Oversight and Affordability
The District 4 candidates offer differing perspectives on the Unicameral and the Republican majority. I believe the unicameral is the best system.
And I am concerned that there’s a lot of attacks regarding the foundation of the nonpartisan nature of the unicameral,
she said.
Maxwell-Ostdiek argues that the current legislative majority has created vulnerabilities in state oversight and constitutional checks and balances. With the Republican majority, we’ve actually seen the senators not assert themselves with the laws they already passed, with the veto overrides. They’ve not been coming back and asserting themselves with the governor on any number of issues. And it’s very disappointing to watch,
she said.
I just feel like most people want us to move past party politics.
They want to get results,
she stated.
Von Gillern points to his legislative productivity over the past four years as evidence of his effectiveness on key concerns such as property taxes and affordability. I’ve been here, worked hard, worked my bills hard. I’ve passed 31 bills in four years,
he said.
Polls across the state open next week as voters decide the outcome in District 4 and more than two dozen other legislative races.
