Chelsea Johnson would work across political lines as county board member
Ask Chelsea Johnson why she decided to run for Lancaster County Commissioner and she'll take you to Nemaha County and the family farm where she grew up.
Her family — nearly all of them either farmers or teachers — engrained in her the values of hard work and giving back. Her grandpa was a school board member and school bus driver, her mom a teacher and member of farm organizations.
"I just love Nebraska," she said. "I love our community and I've always worked hard to make my community a better place to live."
Johnson is serving her second term on the Lower Platte South Natural Resources District and for the last decade has served as deputy director of Conservation Nebraska, an education organization where she said she's worked to bring people together around clean air and safe drinking water. In 2021, she was appointed to the Lincoln Electric System board.
Johnson, 34, a Democrat, is running against Republican David Russell for the District 4 seat, which includes the eastern part of Lincoln and Lancaster County. Incumbent Roma Amundson is not running for reelection.
Her passion for conservation also stems back to her family, who put some of their land in the Conservation Reserve Program, a program run by the Farm Service Agency where farmers are paid to remove environmentally sensitive land from agricultural production.
Her work in conservation is also a big reason she believes people can and do work together, across political lines — despite the divisions in national politics. On the NRD board, she's worked closely with her Republican colleagues, she said, and as a county board member, she'd continue to work to find common ground.
"It goes toward why I also have such a strongly held belief that we have more in common than what divides us," she said. "I know that everyone wants clean air and safe drinking water. Farmers truly are on the front lines of conservation, and that's what I saw growing up, regardless of any political ideology they might hold."
Her endorsements include a number of Democrats — but also Amundson, a lifelong Republican who endorsed Johnson to replace her.
Her other endorsements include Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird, State Sen. Eliot Bostar (who also is executive director of Conservation Nebraska), Democrats on the County Board including Sean Flowerday, who also is a legislative aide for Bostar, other state senators, City Council members and Lower Platte South NRD members.
Some of her largest donors include Flowerday's campaign committee ($12,500); Bold Alliance ($10,000); Lincoln Firefighters Association ($2,500) and Ranger Power, a solar energy company ($5,000).
Johnson, an only child whose father died when she was 7 months old, came to Lincoln to attend Nebraska Wesleyan, where she graduated with a degree in political science. From there, she went to Washington D.C. on a Truman Fellowship and worked on rural economic development for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
"I figured out pretty quickly I didn't want to live in Washington D.C.," she said. "I wanted to live in Nebraska."
Her work in public office, including helping draft a budget for the NRD, would help her as a County Board member, especially tackling what she said concerns everyone: high property taxes.
"I am someone who actually has experience doing that," she said, while making sure the county delivers critical services and plans for the future.
Other priorities are making sure the county has enough safe, affordable housing; programs that address child care and mental health; and public safety. Her endorsements include several law enforcement unions.
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