In the race for mayor between incumbent Leiron Gaylor Baird and former state Sen. Suzanne Geist, three issues repeatedly rise to the top: public safety, Geist’s voting record and the amount of money being spent on this race.
Gaylor Baird has attacked Geist’s voting record on a number of controversial issues in the Legislature, saying her views are too extreme and don’t reflect Lincoln’s values. Geist has countered that she would focus on only city business and not social issues that divide the community.
Attack ads supporting Geist paint a picture of rising crime in Lincoln; Gaylor Baird says those are cherry-picked numbers that distort the truth.
On public safety investments and morale, Gaylor Baird says she’s added money for additional police officers, but Geist says the actual number of officers on the street is lower.
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This mayoral campaign is the costliest in the city's history, and two deep-pocketed donors have spent over $1 million to oppose Gaylor Baird. The mayor's supporters have questioned whether Geist will be beholden to her large donors. Geist maintains she will not.
Here’s a closer look:
Public safety
On crime: Attack ads opposing Gaylor Baird say there's been a 37% increase in homicides; 23% increase in car thefts; 10% increase in robberies and a 44% increase in arson.
Those statistics compare crimes in 2022 to those in 2021, but percentages can be deceiving, especially when dealing with small numbers such as homicides, which vary greatly from year to year.
Over the past decade, the number of homicides has ranged from zero in 2017 to 11 in 2016 with an average of six each year over the decade, according to Lincoln Police Department statistics.
Other crimes went down from 2021 to 2022, including rape (10%), aggravated assault (17.7%) and burglary (4.6%).
A 65% increase in vandalism in one ad compares 2018 to 2022 and while vandalisms during that time period have trended upward, other crimes, such as residential burglaries, have trended down.
Violent crime rates in Lincoln have stayed essentially stagnant for 30 years, despite Lincoln's population growing by about 100,000.
Police force: Gaylor Baird has added money for 31 additional police officers and support staff and 28 firefighters and support staff during her tenure. That includes increasing the authorized force of commissioned officers from 348 her first year in office to 366 this year, and by another five officers in the next fiscal year.
The total authorized strength numbers (366) also include grant-funded officers. In 2022-23 that was eight officers, which means the number the city budget would pay for is 358.
That doesn’t reflect the number of officers on the street at any given time.Â
As of February, LPD had 336 commissioned officers on staff (almost 92% of the authorized force), including 10 recruits who had not yet graduated from the academy, according to LPD. Department officials did not respond to a request for an update. Commissioned officers include some positions not regularly on the streets, such as command staff.
Discrimination allegations: Ads from Geist’s supporters allege the city has fired officers who've filed complaints or lawsuits alleging sexual harassment and discrimination. Gaylor Baird hired Police Chief Teresa Ewins, who fired four of the officers who came forward. Ewins has said the firings weren't related to the allegations. The Lincoln Police Union, which endorsed Geist, also endorsed Ewins as the next chief. Gaylor Baird says she has implemented all the recommendations of an outside assessment of the department. Several lawsuits over the allegations are pending.
Geist's voting record
Permitless concealed carry (LB77): Gov. Jim Pillen signed the bill last week, which allows Nebraskans 21 and older to carry concealed weapons without a permit.
Early in the session Geist voted for the bill on first round, part of a compromise she brokered. She was present and not voting on second round. She had resigned from the Legislature when the bill passed the final round of debate. A year earlier, she’d voted to advance a similar bill to second reading, but was present and not voting when the bill’s sponsor failed to end debate with cloture.
Gender-affirming care ban (LB574): The bill would prohibit anyone under the age of 19 from obtaining a range of gender-affirming care.
Geist was one of 33 senators (the minimum needed) who voted for cloture, ending debate on the bill and allowing it to move forward. She also voted to advance it to second reading.
Six-week abortion ban (LB626): Geist resigned before senators passed it on first reading. In the last session, she co-sponsored and voted for cloture on a trigger bill but it didn’t get the necessary 33 votes to proceed. She was among senators who signed a letter in support of a special session once the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade. She has been a sponsor or co-sponsor of other bills that would further restrict abortion.
Campaign finance
Lincoln’s mayoral race has become the most expensive in the city’s history with well over $1 million coming into both candidates’ coffers. Much of the money supporting Geist has come from two deep-pocketed donors: U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts and the Peed family of Lincoln and their company Sandhills Global. In addition to contributing hundreds of thousands to Geist in cash and in-kind contributions, the two families have donated $835,000 to a political action committee that has spent more than $545,000 to oppose Gaylor Baird.
2023 Lincoln City Election Voter's Guide
We reached out to candidates before Lincoln's city election and asked them to provide biographical information and answer questions relevant to the offices they seek.Â
Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird, a Democrat, faces former state Sen. Suzanne Geist, a Republican, in her run for a second term.
This year's city elections will put at least three new faces on the City Council, where the four seats which represent districts are on the ballot.
Two Lincoln Board of Education incumbents face challengers new to politics in this spring’s city elections, while one seat is up for grabs.
There are four candidates competing for two open seats on the Lincoln Airport Authority.