Shortly after announcing his campaign for Attorney General, Nebraska Speaker of the Legislature Mike Hilgers visited with the Alliance Times-Herald to discuss some of the issues he believes the state is currently facing.
Hilgers noted that he is campaigning to replace current Attorney General Doug Peterson, who recently announced he would not seek re-election.
“The Attorney General has played a really critical role over the last 10 years, but, in particular, the last year or two, really fighting back and making sure the federal government stays in its constitutional lane,” said Hilgers. “We’ve seen the Biden administration, from vaccine mandates to eviction moratorium, to a host of other things, really try to impose its will in a way that I think is unconstitutional on states and Nebraskans.
“Our current AG has done an outstanding job, and had Doug decided to run again, I would have supported him,” Hilgers said. “He’s a good friend. With him not running, it couldn’t be more critical to have a strong Attorney General, and that’s why I’m running.”
Hilgers, who currently represents Legislative District 21, said he was born and raised in Nebraska. He attended college and law school out of state. He also practiced law in Texas. He and his family moved back to Nebraska more than 10 years ago.
Hilgers owns a private law practice in Lincoln that he started 11 years ago, which hosts more than 60 lawyers, he explained. He said the practice lends itself well to the work of the Attorney General, especially working on multi-state litigation. He said he was inspired to run for legislature because of his family and his business.
“The direction of the state matters to them and to our neighbors,” said Hilgers. “I ran for the legislature in 2016, and I won. I won a re-election in 2020, and I’ve been Speaker since the beginning of 2021.”
Hilgers believes that he has seen success while in legislature. He described some of the accomplishments during that time.
“We’ve had, according to the Governor, the most significant tax cut in the last 25 years, and maybe ever,” Hilgers said. “So, that was a significant accomplishment. Also, my personal priority in 2021 was to do a significant expansion of broadband, which we know is so important. We had 40 million additional dollars spent for broadband construction out west. Personally, I’ve had a few road construction bills that have taken red tape out of getting our roads built faster and for less money.
“I’ve also done some things, less on the fiscal and more on the social side,” said Hilgers. “We banned dismemberment abortions and got Title X funds taken away from abortion providers. I’ve introduced a bill to make sure we have a state standard for gun regulation, and take away some of the more restrictive standards from Lincoln and Omaha.”
Hilgers hopes to continue Peterson’s work if he is elected as Attorney General. He emphasized that Peterson has a laid a strong foundation for the office moving forward. When Hilgers announced his campaign, he received many endorsements, including from Governor Pete Ricketts, Congressman Adrian Smith, and Senator Deb Fischer.
“(The endorsements) mean a great deal to me, personally,” Hilgers said. “Those are relationships I’ve built over the last six or more years. Those are people who have had a lot of success in our state. Governor Ricketts has been an outstanding governor. Senator Fischer has done an amazing job, first as a state legislator, and now as a senator. Congressman Smith might be the next Ways and Means Chair. I think it personally means a lot because I hold those individuals in high regard. They’ve done a lot of good things for our state. When it comes to the campaign, I think it’s a good reflection of the work we’re going to put into this race. I’m honored by the trust they’ve put in me.”