LINCOLN- With around a month to go until the start of Lincoln's mayoral election, the city has already seen its most expensive race in history, with the Peed and Ricketts families dominating the campaign landscape as major Republican donors. Republican state Sen. Suzanne Geist, who is running against incumbent Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird, has already raised $1.1 million in cash contributions, and has spent nearly $742,000, according to the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission.

The incumbent Mayor is not far behind, as Gaylor Baird has raised a hefty $820,000, but has spent only $190,000. More recent mayoral races have topped out at around $600,000 in contributions, so candidates Gaylor Baird and Geist are on track to almost double the previous record. As mentioned, around $900,000 of the early contributions to Geist's campaign have come from Pete Ricketts, former governor and now U.S. Senator, and Tom Peed, owner of Sandhills Global.

Together Nebraska, a conservative PAC that spent around $300,000 to oppose Adam Morfeld in his race against Lancaster County Attorney Pat Condon, raised a hefty $660,000 for Geist's campaign. Most of the PAC's funds came from direct contributions from the Ricketts and Peed families.

For the full article click HERE