Lex council candidate Diaz gets $6,000 donation from Omaha PAC
A Lexington City Council candidate has received a sizable campaign donation from an Omaha-based group involved in leadership training across Nebraska.
Handy Marin Diaz was one of several candidates for local offices statewide to list a LEAD Nebraska PAC donation in initial state campaign finance reports for the Nov. 3 election.
The group’s $6,000 donation to Diaz was the largest among at least five it gave to local western Nebraska candidates in the first fall batch of Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission reports.
Those initial filings also showed a growing list of statewide and nationwide donors and PACs contributing to the re-election bid of state Sen. Teresa Ibach of Sumner.
Ibach
Candidates for state, multicounty and local offices must file campaign finance disclosure reports if they receive or spend at least $5,000 during a calendar year. Federal candidates must report their donations to the U.S. Federal Election Commission.
LEAD Nebraska Action, formally organized as a nonprofit group in July 2025, says on its Facebook page that it’s “leading the effort to recruit, train and support the next generation of elected leaders in Nebraska.”
Former Lincoln state Sen. Adam Morfeld incorporated the group as Nebraska Leadership Program Action, according to records downloaded from Secretary of State Bob Evnen’s office. It assumed its present name in amended incorporated papers filed in February.
Other local western Nebraska candidates receiving LEAD Nebraska PAC funds include Scotts Bluff County Commissioner Matt Parsley of Gering, North Platte City Council candidate Jim Riewe and North Platte school board candidates Shreya Agrawal and Kyle Nichols.
Ibach, unopposed for a second four-year term in the Legislature’s District 44, is the current vice chairwoman of the Agriculture Committee.
Her first fall campaign finance report listed donations of at least $1,000 from 30 individuals or corporate entities with less than a month before the general election.
Companies or PACs account for all but one of Ibach’s donations at that level or higher, according to his Accountability and Disclosure Commission report.
Olson Farms of Hershey leads Ibach’s overall donation list with $5,000, followed by the state bankers PAC at $3,060 and the Nebraska Insurance Federation PAC at $3,000.
The Dawson County farmer-feeder also has received notable donations from both sides of the historic divide between U.S. railroads and their employee unions. The SMART-TD conductors union has donated $2,000 and Union Pacific Railroad $1,000.
The following are combined total and top individual 2026 donations and spending (including in-kind values) for the listed candidates as of Oct…
