The 2022 Nebraska gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the next

governor of Nebraska The governor of Nebraska is the head of government of the U.S. state of Nebraska as provided by the fourth article of the Constitution of Nebraska. The officeholder is elected to a four-year term, with elections held two years after presidential ...

. Incumbent Republican governor

Pete Ricketts John Peter Ricketts (born August 19, 1964) is an American businessman and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from Nebraska since 2023. A member of the Republican Part ...

was term-limited and unable to seek a third term. In the general election, Republican

Jim Pillen James Douglas Pillen (born December 31, 1955) is an American politician, veterinarian, and livestock producer serving as the 41st and current governor of Nebraska since 2023. A member of the Republican Party, Pillen served on the University of ...

won the gubernatorial election by a 23-point margin. Nebraska's primary elections were held on May 10. Pillen, the former

University of Nebraska A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

Board of Regents chair, won the Republican nomination, while

state senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

Carol Blood won the Democratic nomination. The race took on increased importance in October 2022, when U.S. senator

Ben Sasse Benjamin Eric Sasse ( ; born February 22, 1972) is an American politician and higher education administrator. He represented Nebraska in the United States Senate from 2015 to 2023, resigning to become the 13th president of the University of Flo ...

announced he would resign and Ricketts said he would allow the winner of the gubernatorial election to appoint Sasse's replacement. In the end, Pillen appointed Ricketts to Sasse's seat.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominated

, member and former chair of the

Board of Regents ** Running mate: Joe Kelly, former

U.S. Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

for the District of Nebraska

Eliminated in primary

*Donna Carpenter, contractor *Michael Connely, educational advisor, quality assurance director, small-scale agribusiness,

USMC The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionary ...

veteran * Charles Herbster,

agribusiness Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy, in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-enterprise. The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit ...

executive and candidate for governor in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

* Brett Lindstrom, financial advisor,

and candidate for in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

** Running mate: Dave Rippe, real estate broker and former director of the Nebraska Department of Economic Development *Lela McNinch *Breland Ridenour, information technology manager *

Theresa Thibodeau Theresa Thibodeau (born June 9, 1975) is an American politician who served as a member of the Nebraska Legislature from 2017 to 2019. In November 2021, Thibodeau entered the Republican primary for Governor of Nebraska. Early life and career ...

, former

and former chair of the Douglas County Republican Party ** Running mate: Trent Loos, agriculture advocate and podcast host

Declined

Don Bacon Donald John Bacon (born August 16, 1963) is an American politician and retired military officer who has served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Nebraska's Nebraska's 2nd congressional district, 2nd congress ...

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

for ''( successfully ran for re-election)'' *

Deb Fischer Debra Lynelle Fischer (; born March 1, 1951) is an American politician and former educator serving as the senior United States senator from Nebraska, a seat she has held since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Fischer is the third woman t ...

U.S. senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

* Mike Flood,

, former Speaker of the Nebraska Legislature, and candidate for governor in

* Mike Foley,

Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska The lieutenant governor of Nebraska is the highest-ranking executive official in the State of Nebraska after the Governor of Nebraska, governor. According to the Constitution of Nebraska, Nebraska State Constitution, in the event a governor dies, ...

, former

Nebraska State Auditor The auditor of public accounts of Nebraska, more commonly known as the "state auditor", is an elected constitutional officer in the executive branch of the U.S. state of Nebraska. Twenty-five individuals have held the office of auditor of public a ...

, and candidate for governor in

''(successfully ran for State Auditor; endorsed Herbster)'' *

Jeff Fortenberry Jeffrey Lane Fortenberry (born December 27, 1960) is an American politician. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 2005 to 2022, representing as a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party. In Octo ...

, former

for *

Dave Heineman David Eugene Heineman (born May 12, 1948) is an American politician who served as the 39th governor of Nebraska from 2005 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he was the 39th treasurer of Nebraska from 1995 to 2001 and 37th lieutenant gove ...

, former governor * Mike Hilgers, Speaker of the Nebraska Legislature ''( successfully ran for Attorney General)'' * Greg Ibach, former U.S. Under Secretary of Agriculture for Marketing and Regulatory Programs and former Nebraska Director of Agriculture *Dave Nabity, financial adviser, talk show host, and candidate for governor in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

*Bryan Slone, president of the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and candidate for governor in

Adrian Smith Adrian Smith may refer to: * Adrian Smith (basketball) (born 1936), American basketball player *Adrian Smith (architect) (born 1944), American architect *Sir Adrian Smith (statistician) (born 1946), English statistician and academic *Adrian Smith (m ...

for ''( successfully ran for re-election)'' * John Stinner,

Jean Stothert Jean Louise Stothert (née Wolf; born February 7, 1954) is an American politician and former nurse who served as the 51st mayor of Omaha, Nebraska from 2013 to 2025. She was first elected in 2013 and is the first woman to hold the office. She was ...

Mayor of Omaha This is a list of mayors of Omaha, Nebraska, United States. List of mayors See also * Government of Omaha * History of Omaha References

{{Omaha Lists of mayors of places in Nebraska, Omaha Mayors of Omaha, Nebraska, * Omaha, Nebrask ...

''(endorsed Lindstrom)''

Endorsements

Polling

Graphical summary

Results

Pillen, Herbster, and Lindstrom all won their respective home counties – Pillen won Platte County with 66.3% of the vote, Herbster won Richardson County with 55.7% of the vote, and Lindstrom won Douglas County with 39.5% of the vote. Lindstrom won the

Omaha metropolitan area Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

and came close to winning Lancaster County, home to state capital

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...

, losing to Pillen by about 2.1%. Pillen and Herbster won parts of more rural Nebraska. While Herbster won most of the Sandhills region, Pillen won most of northeastern Nebraska and counties along the

I-80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one of the ori ...

corridor.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominated

* Carol Blood,

** Running mate:

Al Davis Allen R. Davis (July 4, 1929 – October 8, 2011) was an American professional football executive and coach. He was the managing general partner, principal owner and ''de facto'' general manager of the National Football League (NFL) Oakland Rai ...

, former

Eliminated in primary

* Roy A. Harris

Withdrew

* Bob Krist, former

and nominee for governor in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

''(endorsed Lindstrom)''

Declined

* Sara Howard, member of the

Omaha Public Power District Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) is a public electric utility in the state of Nebraska. It is wholly owned by the Nebraska state government, and controlled by a special district. OPPD serves more than 855,000 people in Omaha and 13 surroundin ...

board and former

Steve Lathrop Steve Lathrop (born April 1, 1957) is an American attorney and Democratic Party politician from the U.S. state of Nebraska. From 2007 to 2015, he served as a member of the Nebraska Legislature, representing an Omaha-area district. https://jour ...

*Alisha Shelton, behavioral health clinical supervisor and candidate for

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

''( unsuccessfully ran for U.S. House)'' * Tony Vargas,

''( unsuccessfully ran for U.S. House)''

Endorsements

Results

Libertarian primary

Candidates

Declared

*Scott Zimmerman, businessman, comedian, founder of Z-Trak Productions and nominee for lieutenant governor in

**Running mate: Jason Blumenthal

Results

General election

Predictions

Post-primary endorsements

Polling

Results

By congressional district

Pillen won all 3 congressional districts.

Notes

Partisan clients

References

External links

Official campaign websites
Carol Blood (D) for Governor

Jim Pillen (R) for Governor

Scott Zimmerman (L) for Governor
{{2022 United States elections

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

Gubernatorial A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

November 2022 in the United States