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OMAHA — Former Omaha State Sen. Brett Lindstrom abandoned his Republican label late last month.
Lindstrom, a former GOP U.S. House candidate in the Omaha-based 2nd Congressional District who withdrew from the race in January, switched his party registration from Republican to nonpartisan. He did so before the filing deadline for non-incumbent candidates to run for office.
He has been a registered Republican since at least 2000 and has no record of being registered with any other party, according to Douglas County Election Commission records.
The Omaha financial adviser had been approached last year by donors to consider leaving the House race to challenge Gov. Jim Pillen, after having finished third in Pillen’s 2022 GOP primary that set spending records. Lindstrom had called rumors of him changing races “wishful thinking.”
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When asked why he switched parties, a Lindstrom campaign staffer pointed to the former state senator’s January exit interview with the Examiner, in which he said he no longer wants to deal with the divisiveness of modern politics.
In that interview, Lindstrom said he didn’t feel like he fit into this political environment. The legislative moderate with a conservative bent said he didn’t want to be a part of “a litmus test” and defend things that he didn’t “believe” in.
In the Legislature, Lindstrom was known for pushing bills that reduced state income taxes, including on Social Security income. He also voted to repeal the death penalty in 2015, which was reinstated through a ballot measure in 2016.
He was one of the Republican lawmakers in the officially nonpartisan Legislature to survive what pundits called the “blue wave” of 2018.
In 2026, Lindstrom had campaigned on a “pragmatic” approach to governance in his House bid. He was running against Omaha City Councilman Brinker Harding, now the GOP nominee after no one jumped into the race.
Lindstrom, reached on Friday, declined to comment about the party switch.
Harding didn’t immediately respond to a request for a comment, nor did Pillen’s campaign.
Retiring five-term GOP U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb, told the Examiner he was “surprised” that Lindstrom had re-registered as a nonpartisan.
“He’s been an active Republican his whole adult life,” Bacon said.
Examiner Editor-in-chief Aaron Sanderford contributed to this report.
