Jocelyn Brasher of Omaha announced Wednesday her candidacy for Nebraska Attorney General in the state capitol rotunda. (Chase Porter, KLIN News)
LINCOLN — Jocelyn Brasher, an Omaha attorney and former assistant Attorney General, announced Wednesday her intention to challenge her former boss, incumbent AG Mike Hilgers, for his seat.
A Nebraska native, Brasher will run as a Democrat against Hilgers, a member of the state’s Republican triplex since 2022. Her announcement in the state capitol rotunda featured several prominent officials of the Nebraska Democratic Party, making her the first AG candidate backed by the state party since 2014.
A 2018 Democratic candidate, Evangelos Argyrakis—who was not recruited by the state party—withdrew before the general election. No Democrat ran in 2022.
Brasher, 35, earned her law degree from Creighton University School of Law. Since becoming licensed in 2016, she has practiced law in Dawson and Douglas Counties and spent five years in the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office in the Consumer Protection Bureau—a financial watchdog for fraud, deception, and unfair business practices. She worked under Hilgers for nine months after he got elected.
“When Doug [Peterson] decided not to run for reelection [in 2022], this was something I could see myself doing back then,” said Brasher. “It just wasn’t the right time for me then. Now is the right time for me. I just could not sit back and watch Hilgers be handed this very important position on a silver platter again… there was not a qualified attorney running against him, and now there is.”
Despite the visible state party support, Brasher called for the office to be depoliticized and criticized Hilgers for focusing on a “partisan agenda” “Washington politics.”
“I know exactly what the Attorney General’s office is supposed to do and what it is not. It is not supposed to be a political playground. But for the past three years, that is exactly what it has become,” she said. “The Attorney General has been busy playing in national politics, filing frivolous lawsuits that have nothing to do with the day-to-day issues and challenges Nebraskans are actually facing.”
Brashers platform, at times, rhymed with that of Dan Osborn, the Independent candidate for U.S. Senate in Nebraska known for his working-class appeal. Her announcement speech had notes of “I’ve lived paycheck to paycheck” and knowing what its like to “budget for groceries.” But she also emphasized stronger antitrust enforcement to “promote competition, prevent monopolies, and crack down on price gouging.”
“Right now, more than ever, it is important for state Attorneys General to step up. This is due to the dismantling of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission, and what we’re seeing happening in Washington,” Brasher said. “I am prepared to lead Nebraska and take a strong, firm antitrust enforcement approach for Nebraska consumers.”
She acknowledged Hilgers’ fundraising lead, saying: “I am not starting this race with an $850,000 war chest. What I do have is something far more powerful: Nebraska voters who are fed up with the current Attorney General playing politics as usual and not supporting the voice of the people.”
Presently, Hilgers and Brasher do not have primary opponents, setting the stage for a faceoff on the Nov. 6 midterm ballot.
