Lincoln City Councilwoman Jane Raybould announced Tuesday she will seek the District 28 seat in the Legislature being vacated by Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks when she is term-limited out of office at the end of next year.
“My priorities will be funding public education, criminal justice reform, mental health services, environmental resiliency and restoring state aid to cities and counties,” Raybould said.
Raybould served on the Lancaster County Board before she was elected to the City Council in 2015. She was re-elected to a four-year term in 2019 to represent District 3 in southwest Lincoln.
In 2018, Raybould was the Democratic nominee for a seat in the U.S. Senate.
She’s the second City Council member to run for a seat in the Legislature in the coming election: Council Chairman James Michael Bowers, who represents District 1 in northeast Lincoln, is running for the District 46 seat now held by Adam Morfeld. Morfeld, who also is being term-limited out of office, is running for Lancaster County attorney.
Raybould is the longest-serving member on what is a largely new city council, with four of its seven members elected in 2019 to their first terms in and its newest member this year.
If one or both City Council members are elected, the mayor would appoint their successors for the remainder of their terms.
That would be challenging, Raybould said, but she’s watched her colleagues grow into their roles as council members.
“I’ve watched my colleagues blossom and turn into these amazing policymakers,” she said.
Pansing Brooks said she will endorse and support Raybould’s election to the Legislature.
“I am excited and proud to endorse my friend, Jane Raybould, to represent my legislative district, where I have been honored to serve for the last seven years,” Pansing Brooks said.
“Jane is a hard worker and respected leader. She will be a tireless advocate not only for our district, but for our entire state.”
City Council approves budget, including using majority of additional property tax revenue Raybould said commitment to the community has always been important to her.
“Now, I feel that my path is leading me to the Legislature, where I can bring my experience with local government to focus on state-level policies that impact us all.”
Raybould said Pansing Brooks has done an amazing job, especially working across the political aisle and taking the time to build relationships with her colleagues.
“That’s so fundamentally important,” she said. “In the unicameral it’s important to preserve and protect these amazing traditions that have made our Legislature so unique.”
Along with her brother, Raybould manages B&R Stores, the family grocery business that her father started 57 years ago.