2025 Omaha mayoral election

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2025 Omaha mayoral election
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←  2021 May 13, 2025 (2025-5-13)
Officially nonpartisan		2029 →
 
Party Nonpartisan Nonpartisan
Mayor before election

Jean Stothert
Republican

Elected mayor

TBD

The 2025 Omaha mayoral election will be held on May 13, 2025, to elect the mayor of Omaha, Nebraska. A primary election will be held on April 1, in which the two highest-placing candidates will advance to the general election. Municipal elections in Omaha are officially nonpartisan.

Contents

Incumbent Republican mayor Jean Stothert is running for re-election to what would be a record fourth term in office.

Background

Incumbent Republican mayor Jean Stothert was re-elected Mayor of Omaha after defeating RJ Neary by a margin of 29.62% in 2021. The last time a Democrat was elected mayor was Jim Suttle in 2009. February 28 was the last day for mayoral candidates to file. [1]

Primary election

Candidates

Declared

Declined

Campaign

Key issues in the campaign included crime, infrastructure, and the future of the Omaha Streetcar project. [9]

Controversy arose when an anonymous Reddit user posted screenshots of an email exchange between Nebraska Democratic Party chair Jane Kleeb and Mike McDonnell's campaign manager, which showed that Kleeb had sent photos of an anti-Jean Stothert ad to McDonnell's campaign several weeks before it was released to the public. Both Democrats in the race, John Ewing and Jasmine Harris, criticized Kleeb's action. Rumors had spread that the Nebraska Democratic Party was supporting the Republican McDonnell's candidacy, possibly in exchange for his deciding vote to preserve Nebraska's split Electoral College vote system. These allegations were denied by McDonnell's campaign and by Nebraska Democratic Party executive director Precious McKesson, who affirmed the party's support for the two Democrats in the race. [10]

Endorsements

Mike McDonnell (R)
State legislators
Local officials
Labor unions
Individuals
Jean Stothert (R)
U.S. Governors
Local officials
  • Kathy Bossman, Omaha Fire Chief [14]
  • Todd Schmaderer, Omaha Police Chief [13]

Debates and forums

2025 Omaha mayoral primary debate
No.DateHostModeratorLink Independent Democratic Democratic Republican Republican
Key:
 P Participant  A Absent  N Not invited  I Invited  W  Withdrawn
BrewerEwingHarrisMcDonnellStothert
1March 11, 2025 WOWT
Omaha Press Club		Brian Mastre [15] PPPPP
2March 16, 2025 KETV Bill Schammert [16] PPPPP

Fundraising

Campaign finance reports as of March 5, 2025
Candidate (party)RaisedSpentCash on
hand
Jean Stothert (R)$325,577$340,653$711,751
Mike McDonnell (R)$115,500$221,906$248,701
John Ewing (D)$35,746$69,639$72,058
Jasmine Harris (D)$19,384$22,407$7,417
Source: Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission [17] [18]

Results

2025 Omaha mayoral primary election results
CandidateVotes %
Terry Brewer
John Ewing
Jasmine Harris
Mike McDonnell
Jean Stothert (incumbent)
Total votes

General election

Polling

McDonnell vs. Stothert
Poll sourceDate(s)
administered		Sample
size [a] 		Margin
of error		Mike
McDonnell		Jean
Stothert		Undecided
Amp Research [19] [A] January 22–23, 2025400 (LV)± 4.9%37.4%34.4%28.2%

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear
Partisan sponsors
  1. ↑ Poll conducted for McDonnell's campaign

References

  1. ↑ John Chapman, Elaina Riley and Jackson Piercy (January 6, 2025). "Filing period opens for 2025 Omaha city election candidates". WOWT . Retrieved February 3, 2025.
  2. ↑ Parsons, McKenzy (February 25, 2025). "Omaha's mayoral race officially has four candidates". KETV .
  3. ↑ Hegarty, Aaron (April 5, 2024). "John Ewing officially challenging Jean Stothert for Omaha mayor". KETV . Retrieved November 20, 2024.
  4. ↑ "Jasmine Harris announces run for mayor of Omaha". Omaha World-Herald . October 1, 2024.
  5. ↑ McKenzy, Parsons (November 20, 2024). "Nebraska State Sen. Mike McDonnell to announce his candidacy for Omaha mayor". KETV . Retrieved November 20, 2024.
  6. 1 2 Sanderford, Aaron (March 26, 2024). "Stothert running for a record fourth term as Omaha mayor". Nebraska Examiner .
  7. ↑ Riley, Elaina (March 26, 2024). "Stothert running for a record fourth term as Omaha mayor". Nebraska Examiner . Festersen said the mayor's announcement 'does not impact my own decision-making' about whether to run.
  8. ↑ Riley, Elaina (October 15, 2021). "Omaha City Council president seeking re-election in 2025". WOWT .
  9. ↑ Anderson, Jake (February 4, 2025). "2025 Omaha election guide: Mayoral, city council candidates". KETV . Retrieved March 6, 2025.
  10. ↑ Bowling, Chris (March 6, 2025). "'Not Normal': Democratic mayoral hopeful irked that party leaders communicated with GOP challenger". Flatwater Free Press. Retrieved March 6, 2025.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Sanderford, Aaron (November 21, 2024). "State Sen. Mike McDonnell says Omaha needs a mayor who listens". Nebraska Examiner . Retrieved November 27, 2024.
  12. ↑ Staff, LAFF Local 385 (March 21, 2025). "That's why we're endorsing Mike McDonnell for Mayor". Instagram .{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  13. 1 2 McLoon, Alex (March 13, 2025). "Omaha police chief and police union split endorsements for mayoral race". KETV .
  14. ↑ Anderson, Jake (March 18, 2025). "Omaha Fire Chief Kathy Bossman endorses incumbent Mayor Jean Stothert". KETV .
  15. ↑ LIVE: MAYORAL DEBATE (March 11, 2025)
  16. ↑ LIVE: MAYORAL DEBATE (March 16, 2025)
  17. ↑ "Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission". Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission. March 5, 2024. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
  18. ↑ Aaron, Hegarty (March 5, 2024). "Stothert keeps big lead in campaign fundraising in race for mayor". KETV . Retrieved March 5, 2025.
  19. ↑ Amp Research Polling
Official websites for mayoral candidates


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