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OMAHA — Mark Martinez, the Democratic candidate for Douglas County sheriff, doesn’t qualify to run for the position, the county election commissioner announced late Friday afternoon.
The county’s new lead election official, Danielle Jensen, said she consulted with the Douglas County Attorney’s Office and Secretary of State’s Office and, after further review of a 2024 law, which requires a candidate for sheriff to possess a certificate or diploma from the Nebraska Law Enforcement Training Center before filing for election or being appointed to the job. The word “active” does not appear in the law. It says a candidate shall “possess” the credential or diploma.
The Douglas County Republican Party said in a social media post Friday that the decision was the “right” one. The party filed a complaint with county election officials questioning the sheriff’s candidacy of Martinez earlier this week — pointing to the 2024 law that he didn’t meet the criteria to run for sheriff.
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The Douglas County GOP said Martinez didn’t have an active law enforcement certificate. Martinez was the U.S. marshal for the District of Nebraska from 2010 to 2018 and, before that, served from 1984 to 2009 in the Omaha Police Department, where he reached the rank of deputy chief.
The Martinez campaign said earlier this week that his eligibility to run for sheriff had been reviewed and green-lighted by the Douglas County Election Commission, the Douglas County Attorney’s Office and the Nebraska Secretary of State’s Office.
They argued that Nebraska’s 2024 law “does not specify that a law enforcement certificate must belong to an active law enforcement officer” and Martinez has both “a law enforcement certificate or a diploma.”
Much of the discussion on the broader bill, Legislative Bill 894, focused on an amendment that briefly added the ability of a DACA recipient to serve as a police officer, not the part about changes to sheriff certification. The Martinez campaign said it would hold a press conference after its legal counsel has time to review the decision.
Last month, Martinez announced his entry into the race for Douglas County sheriff’s race, saying he wanted to “restore” community trust. He was likely to face Sheriff Aaron Hanson, a Republican.
Hanson won a tight race in 2022 against retired Omaha Deputy Police Chief Greg Gonzalez, a Democrat. With Martinez out of the race — at least for now — Hanson is running unopposed.
Jensen formerly worked as a communications director and senior policy adviser for U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., before Gov. Jim Pillen appointed her to the county elections job late last year.
Jensen released a statement saying she would make no additional comments on the decision.
