LINCOLN- Former State Sen. Al Davis, a Sandhills rancher with a second home in Lincoln, was picked Sunday by Democratic gubernatorial candidate State Sen. Carol Blood as her running mate.
Blood, of Bellevue, said she was seeking a lieutenant governor who would be “servant-hearted, hard-working,” who had past political experience, and who had “the same fire in his or her belly.”
The 69-year-old Davis, Blood said, brings “exceptional experience to the table,” as well as a background in agriculture and environmental and tax issues. Davis, a native of Hyannis, served in the Legislature from 2013-17 before being defeated for re-election by Gordon Sen. Tom Brewer. Davis was a registered Republican at that time but had been a registered Democrat prior to that, and he has returned to the Democratic Party. In the Legislature, Davis was known for working to lower property taxes, especially as they impacted farmers and ranchers, and for getting a law passed to obtain a firefighting airplane in western Nebraska to respond quickly to wildfires.
Prior to being elected to the Legislature, Davis was a founding member of the Independent Cattlemen of Nebraska, a group dedicated to restoring fairness to the marketing of beef. He had been a school board member in Hyannis and had operated his family’s OLO Ranch, one of the largest in the state. It was homesteaded in 1888.
For more on Blood’s running mate click HERE
Former State Sen. Theresa Thibodeau of Omaha announced her running mate Thursday in the Republican primary race for governor. She picked a name familiar to many in Nebraska’s sprawling, largely rural 3rd Congressional District.
Thibodeau tapped Trent Loos, a bombastic central Nebraska rancher known for his rural radio show and conservative political podcast. Loos served on former President Donald Trump’s agricultural advisory board. On his podcast, he often speaks passionately about perceived threats to rural ways of life, including a favorite target of his: environmentalists. He has argued alongside Gov. Pete Ricketts against conservation easements.
For more on Thibodeau’s running mate click HERE