Lincoln Sen. Suzanne Geist announced her bid for mayor on Wednesday, becoming the first candidate to officially enter the field for the 2023 race.
A Republican state lawmaker who has represented District 25 in the Legislature since 2016, Geist made the announcement in a packed room full of family, friends and supporters at MoMo Pizzeria and Ristorante Wednesday afternoon.
“I imagine leading an administration that serves the city of Lincoln,” Geist said during a short speech kicking off her campaign, “an administration that works for the people; not an administration that the people work for.”
Geist said she’ll also work to bring “all voices to the table,” and would place value on “diversity of thought,” listening to everyone from large business executives to small business owners, factory workers to land developers.
Though she did not name Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird — the incumbent mayor is expected to announce a bid later this fall to seek a second term — Geist identified several positions where she said her experience would be a better fit for the city than the Democratic leader.
That could be a tall task in Lincoln, however, which has become a reliable blue dot in a conservative-majority state in recent years.
Even though voters chose to implement term limits keeping Democrat Chris Beutler from seeking a fourth term as Lincoln’s mayor, they chose Gaylor Baird as his replacement on a 54.5%-45.3% margin in the 2019 city election.
The last time a Republican was in the mayor’s office was Mike Johanns, who served from 1991 to 1998.
Democrats have also expanded their majority on the Lincoln City Council, and now occupy six of the seven seats.
But Geist has also seen electoral success in Lincoln. In her 2020 reelection bid, Geist won 66.7% of the general election vote. In 2016, she won her initial term over Jim Gordon by a margin of 12,899-10,258 votes.
Geist said she believes voters in the city want new leadership that would operate in a less divisive way — she did not say what the source of division was — and said she believes she can bring unity to the city.
“Governmentwise, we’re going a direction I’d like to see be different, otherwise I wouldn’t be running,” she said.
A wife, mother, and grandmother, as well as a business owner and volunteer, Geist said Lincoln has a reputation as a “city that’s hard to do business with,” and said she would work to make Lincoln “a city that says ‘yes’” to companies looking to locate and expand here.
Geist also said she would stand “shoulder-to-shoulder” with law enforcement, firefighters and EMTs, and touted her support for those groups in her work as a state senator.
“I will not waver or cower in my support for them,” she said.
A member of the Legislature’s Transportation and Telecommunications Committee, Geist also said she would work on ensuring Lincoln has “safe and smooth streets and thriving infrastructure.”
Lincoln voters approved a quarter-cent sales tax in 2019 to collect more revenue for street repair and construction; Geist said she would study how that money was being spent and other budget priorities to see if money could be reallocated to speed up that work.
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While she did not have specific proposals on Wednesday, Geist said she would study the city’s budget in the coming months as the campaign heats up: “Citizens deserve an administration who prioritizes their quality of life in these specific ways.”
Even before her announcement on Wednesday, Geist was already facing attacks, albeit from an unexpected direction.
The Nebraska Freedom Coalition, which ousted several members of the Nebraska GOP at the party’s state convention in July, criticized Geist for not being conservative enough in a news release on Tuesday.
Specifically, the coalition criticized Geist for not supporting a bill (LB773) that would have allowed Nebraskans to carry a concealed weapon without a permit, calling it an “absolute slap in the face to essentially every true conservative.”
The so-called “constitutional carry” bill fell two votes short of breaking a legislative filibuster in April; Geist was among six senators who did not cast a vote.
On Wednesday, Geist said she told the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon, that she would not support the bill unless an amendment backed by both the Lincoln Police Department and the Omaha Police Officers Association was included.
The amendment, which would have maintained a limited handgun registry, failed to be attached to LB773.
“Since I worked so closely with (law enforcement), I couldn’t in good conscience vote for something that makes them less safe,” Geist said. “So that was my hesitation, and I was clear that if that was not added, I would not vote for the bill.”
Geist, who has sponsored or co-sponsored several pieces of anti-abortion legislation as a state senator, said she has been and remains a solid Republican.
“I have a record that I’m proud of,” she said. “In my perspective, we don’t have to agree on everything, and yet I think we should still support each other.”
State Sen. Julie Slama was present at Wednesday's event with her husband, former state Sen. Andrew La Grone. Other prominent Republicans, including Secretary of State Bob Evnen, Attorney General Doug Peterson, Speaker Mike Hilgers, Nebraska GOP Chairman Eric Underwood and Lancaster County GOP Chair Samuel Lyon, were also at the announcement.
Geist, who has two years left as a state senator, will be running for mayor while continuing to serve the residents of southeast Lincoln and Lancaster County at the Capitol.
The city’s primary election is scheduled for April, while the general election will take place in May. The Legislature will meet for a 90-day session beginning in January that could continue into June.
While legislative sessions require an immense amount of work, Geist said she’s ready to tackle both challenges, and looks forward to meeting with voters in Lincoln.
“I believe if we can imagine it, we can accomplish it,” she said. “We can accomplish all these things better if we accomplish them together.”
State Sen. Suzanne Geist of Lincoln is cheered on by her husband Mark Geist as she announces her bid to be Lincoln's next mayor on Wednesday at MoMo Pizzeria & Ristorante.
WATCH: To see video of Sen. Suzanne Geist announcing her bid to become Lincoln's mayor, point your smartphone camera at the QR code, then tap the link.