LINCOLN — State Sen. Carol Blood of Bellevue on Monday formally launched a bid for the Democratic nomination for governor in 2022.

She’s the first Democrat to enter the race to lead a state that’s been led by Republicans for the last two decades, and she centered her message on overcoming partisan divides.

On the State Capitol’s steps in Lincoln on Monday, Blood praised the state’s unique one-house legislative body, in which she serves. It works, she said, because it depends on collaboration among policymakers.

Unlike the state’s cooperative unicameral, Blood said “many” in Nebraska’s government have taken an “us vs. them” stance similar to what has been seen across the U.S., which she said is “killing our democracy.”

“I know we can do better and see opportunities for effective change,” she said. “We can begin to make things better by building relationships and bridging these divides. We can transform division and contempt into understanding and connection.“

Jane Kleeb, chair of the state’s Democratic Party, told The World-Herald that she’s not aware of any other Democrats who plan to seek the nomination.

“As I travel across the state of Nebraska, the one thing I hear over and over again from rural and urban Nebraskans is that they want somebody that is gonna govern again,” Kleeb said.

Current Gov. Pete Ricketts is term-limited and cannot run for reelection in 2022.

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