LINCOLN- Two small business owners and one union leader are set to vie for a northwest Lancaster County legislative seat next week in the 2024 May primary election. Incumbent Sen. Beau Ballard is running for the seat for the first time after his January 4th, 2023 appointment to the Legislature.

Ballard will be faced by Seth Derner, a Democrat, and Bryan Paseka, a Democrat. Two of the three candidates will advance to the 2024 general election in November. Derner, a co-founder of the Nebraska Future Farmers of American Foundation, said he decided to run after witnessing the tumult of the 2023 legislative session. If elected, he said he would work to change the culture of the Legislature.

Paseka, who is currently employed as a railroad worker and union officer, said he believes there's an "appetite" for more progressive politics in the district, including women's rights, LGBTQ rights, and public school funding. An issue shared among all three candidates is property taxes, which Ballard argued is because the state has had a problem of spending "beyond our means."

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