Independent Political Report · September 1, 2026
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Former state Sen. Brett Lindstrom has found the "pirate ship" he was seeking to revive his bid for Nebraska governor as he hoists a new flag for the America First Party.
Lindstrom registered with the new party Thursday, according to publicly available voter registration data. Lindstrom stuck with his previous running mate -- Mike Picard of Omaha, a Navy veteran and club director and head coach of ENVY Volleyball Club.
"Nebraskans deserve another choice in this election," Lindstrom said in a statement. "They should not be forced to choose between reelecting a governor who, in just three and a half years, has pushed the state to the brink of a fiscal crisis and a political party that has increasingly moved away from our state's common-sense values."
Lindstrom, 45, turned in a new batch of signatures seeking to qualify for the ticket. He needs at least 25 valid signatures from new America First Party members to revive his ticket for governor.
As of Aug. 26, Nebraskans could begin registering with that party or the new Nebraska Working People Party. The two parties join the Republican, Democratic, Libertarian and Legal Marijuana NOW entities in the state.
Voter registration began just hours after the Nebraska Supreme Court upheld a lower court's ruling against objections from the state's Republican and Democratic parties.
The Omaha World-Herald had reported Lindstrom was searching for a "pirate ship" on Aug. 15, just one day after Lindstrom's nonpartisan petition bid fell short of qualifying for the ballot.
"Nothing has changed other than the vehicle we're using to reach the ballot," Lindstrom said, according to the Omaha World-Herald. "We still have a plan, and we still have a message of moving beyond the extremes of both political parties that still matters to many Nebraskans."
Election officials confirmed Lindstrom fell short of obtaining at least 4,000 valid signatures for the ballot in his first effort. He turned in 5,765 signatures. Of those, 3,358 were valid.
In Lancaster County alone, just 24.6% of the 2,210 signatures Lindstrom turned in for the county were accepted. An undisclosed number were flagged as possibly fraudulent. State and local election officials denied a public records request for the Nebraska Examiner to review the petition pages last week, citing an active criminal investigation.
Six out-of-state petition circulators have so far been arrested on suspicion of gathering fraudulent signatures in Lincoln on proposed amendments to the city charter. Three of those circulators also helped Lindstrom's campaign.