Lynne Walz is a former state senator and realtor from Fremont, Nebraska who launched her campaign for governor in January 2026 after a two-month statewide listening tour. She represented Dodge County (conservative-leaning) in the officially nonpartisan Nebraska Legislature from 2017-2025, winning reelection by double digits in 2020. She is a former fourth and fifth-grade teacher, former live-in caregiver, and former worker at 3M and local grocery stores. Walz is married to Chris (a registered Republican) and has three adult children and seven grandchildren. She chaired the Legislature's Education Committee (2021-2022) and was honored as Legislator of the Year by the Fraternal Order of Police. She was the Democratic lieutenant governor nominee in 2018 (lost to Pete Ricketts). She describes herself as a moderate focused on bipartisan solutions.
Walz graduated from Long Pine High School in north-central Nebraska. She earned bachelor's and master's degrees in education from University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She worked as a fourth and fifth-grade teacher, live-in caregiver for women with developmental disabilities, 3M employee, and Hinky Dinky deli employee before becoming a realtor and serving in the legislature. She is involved in her local church and served on the Fremont School Board. As a state senator, she was elected chair of the Legislature's Education Committee and honored as Legislator of the Year by the Fraternal Order of Police.