Ready to run for office? The Nebraska Democratic Party’s guide gives you a step-by-step process to see what offices you are eligible to run for based on your address, how to see who currently holds the seat, how to file, and lastly, all the filing deadlines.
Our team can always meet with you to answer questions and help ge you get started. Just email info@nebraskademocrats.org and a team member will get back to you.
Step 1: Verify you are registered to vote at your current address. If you are registered to vote, this will tell you what offices you are eligible to run for based on your district. If you are not yet registered, please register to vote now!
Step 2: Take the list of offices in your district and see which ones are open in 2020. There are two places you need to look depending on the office.
Check with your local election commission office to see which local-area races are up in 2020. The staffs are helpful and can answer questions.
- Mayor
- City Council and Village or Township Boards
- County Commissioner
- County Level Offices (clerk, register of deeds, sheriff, treasurer, etc.)
- School Board
Check with the Secretary of State to see which state and federal races are up in 2020. There are super-helpful maps in this link as well.
- U.S. Senate
- U.S. House of Representatives
- Public Service Commission
- Board of Regents
- State Board of Education
- Legislature
- Community College
- Douglas-Sarpy Learning Community Coordinating Council
- Natural Resources District
- Public Power District
- Metropolitan Utilities District
Step 3: See if a fellow Democrat is also running for the office. It is OK for more than one Dem to run, however if a fellow Dem has announced already, we encourage you to see if there is an opening where we do not have a Democrat running yet. We want all those ballot slots filled!
Step 4: Check out the Secretary of State candidate information page. This has more information on everything a candidate needs to file with the state and links to other really helpful guides.
Step 5: Get ready to file your paperwork. All the dates and links are below for the various offices.
Critical Dates
- Filing window for incumbents – Dec 2, 2019 – Feb 18, 2020
- Filing window for new candidates – Dec 2, 2019 – March 2, 2020
- See the official Nebraska Secretary of State important Election Dates. This page will walk you thru all the critical state dates for candidates.
- See the Nebraska Secretary of State Instruction Sheet for candidates. This page will walk you thru all the fees for each office filing.
Filing Requirements by Office
United States Senator and United States House of Representatives
Submit partisan candidate filing form.
Pay the $1,740 filing fee.
No Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission C-1 form is required since this is a federal office.
Contact the Federal Election Commission regarding their disclosure requirements for these offices.
Nebraska Legislature
Submit a nonpartisan candidate filing form.
Pay the $120 filing fee.
Submit the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission C-1 form to the NADC.
Board of Regents and State Board of Education
Submit a nonpartisan candidate filing form.
Pay the $25 filing fee.
Submit the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission C-1 form to the NADC.
Public Service Commissioner
Submit a partisan candidate filing form.
Pay the $750 filing fee.
Submit the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission C-1 form to the NADC.
Community Colleges, Natural Resource Districts and Learning Community
Submit a nonpartisan candidate filing form.
No Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission C-1 form is required.
No filing fee is required
Public Power Districts grossing over $40 million (OPPD, NPPD, Southern, Loup River, Norris and Dawson power districts
Submit a nonpartisan candidate filing form.
Pay $25 filing fee.
Submit the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission C-1 form to the NADC.
Metropolitan Utilities District
Submit a nonpartisan candidate filing form.
Pay the $25 filing fee.
Note: No Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission C-1 form is required.
