Taylor Royal has come full circle. The 35-year-old financial advisor first entered the political scene in 2017 with an unsuccessful primary challenge to incumbent Mayor Jean Stothert during her first reelection bid.
A little more than eight years later, in one of her first public appearances since being ousted from the mayor’s office earlier this year, Jean Stothert introduced Royal to a packed room at the Warehouse Grille in Bennington as he kicked off his campaign for state legislature in District 18.
“What Taylor did was something that not too many people do,” Stothert said in her opening remarks. “Immediately after the primary, his mom, his dad, Taylor—they came, and they were there for me, because he knows how to unite people. And he knows how to bring people together. And isn’t that exactly what we need right now?”
The room was filled nearly to capacity with prominent Republican figures from the area. In addition to former Mayor Stothert were Congressman Don Bacon, Charles W. Herbster, former Mayor Hal Daub, Speaker John Arch, state senators Ben Hansen and Kathleen Kauth, CD2 candidate Brinker Harding, and multiple representatives from the NEGOP, including chair Mary Jane Truemper.
Last week, I had the chance to sit down with Taylor Royal and ask him about his plans as his campaign begins. He started by lamenting Nebraska’s self-deprecating slogan for the state—“Nebraska: it’s not for everyone.”
“I think lately for Nebraskans, it’s honestly felt like that—it’s not for everyone,” Royal said. “When you look at seniors, they’re getting squeezed and nickeled-and-dimed; working families are feeling the pinch. And then we are losing, every single day, good quality Nebraskans who are graduating and seeking opportunity elsewhere.”
In his aim to make Nebraska the “good life” again, Royal focused on three big issues: energy needs, education, and property taxes.
Energy Needs and Infrastructure
Royal sees developing new sources of energy in Nebraska as critical to bringing new, high-tech jobs to the state, giving young people a reason to stay after graduating.
“When you look at what is driving growth in America, it is technology, it is AI, it is automation, it is research, and all of that requires a lot of energy,” Royal said. “I don’t think that the currency of the future is going to be Bitcoin, sadly. I think it’s going to be electrons—energy. And so, we as a state need to prioritize how we’re getting as many electrons on the grid as soon as possible. And that’s going to attract businesses.”
That new energy would be powered by innovations in nuclear energy like small modular reactors (SMRs), which are in such high demand that communities that don’t make a commitment early can miss out.
“That whole pipeline for nuclear is completely backing up, and if you don’t get on that list today and make serious heavy commitments, then we’re just going to let that pass us by,” Royal said.
Royal also discussed creating financial incentives for property owners to generate more electricity locally. “Some landowners do want solar, some landowners do want wind, some landowners do want natural gas and SMRs, but the county will kind of usurp that and say that we’re not going to allow that to happen within our county.”
Other needs include basic infrastructure such as roads for new facilities.
“When you study other municipalities, like Des Moines as an example, they have four-lane roads and all the infrastructure laid out to the middle of nowhere, and you’re starting to see businesses and families and warehouses move alongside them,” Royal said. “Here locally, we have two-lane roads among the busiest intersections all across the city … We wait for these businesses to invest around these little strip malls. And then all of a sudden, when it gets too busy, we’ll tear up the intersection and finally put in turn lanes or a four-lane road and harm those exact same businesses.”
Education
Royal emphasized the importance of education, supporting both public and private options, and even homeschooling. His wife, Katie, a former public school teacher, is currently homeschooling their two kids through kindergarten. Royal supports school choice and competition to improve educational outcomes, with funding flowing “bottom-up” to families, students, and teachers.
Royal also supports the idea that a high school education should be career-focused, not necessarily just a first step toward a college degree.
“We need to make sure that that diploma means something when kids graduate,” Royal said. “We’ve lost sight of that with high school … it’s college prep. I care more about ‘life prep,’ especially in high school, and making sure that that diploma leads to a good outcome. And if that means more education, then great, but it shouldn’t be the sole focus.”
This was a sentiment echoed by State Board of Education member Lisa Schonhoff (District 3), who spoke at Royal’s kickoff event yesterday.
“One of the things that he really understands is that we have to keep the trades in the forefront,” Schonhoff said. “We need to let kids know that college is not a ‘must.’ They can go into careers right after high school, and that’s okay. And not only is that okay, but it’s awesome, because they can make good money. And you can bypass a four-year degree if you decide college isn’t for you.”
Property Taxes
This election season looks to be a referendum on property taxes, with multiple ballot initiatives taking center stage as the state legislature waffles on potential solutions. This has not gone unnoticed as Royal goes knocking doors in his district with his two kids.
“When you knock on every single door, the main topic at hand is property taxes,” Taylor said. “People are frustrated with the legislature, because they’ve done very little as far as meaningful tax relief.”
Bob Andersen (LD-49) plans to reintroduce a bill to cap the growth of property taxes in next year’s session, an idea Royal supports.
“I just got a 19% increase on mine. Nebraska GDP is not growing like that, and government spending shouldn’t be growing like that,” Royal said.
Royal sees job growth and economic growth as a “fourth leg of the stool” to provide property tax relief. And while he did not yet have a specific plan on the table to cut property taxes, he does support Nebraska’s “second house” taking action in advance through ballot initiatives.
“I am all for Nebraskans taking the initiative into their own hands to get something done,” Royal said. “And so, if the politicians elected can’t get anything done this session, Nebraskans should have the full right to make that loud and clear in November next year.”
The Battle Ahead
While District 18 leans Republican, with previous candidates Christy Armendariz and Brett Lindstrom winning their races by 12.5% and 7.2%, respectively, it swung for Trump only by 1.7% in 2024.
In her remarks yesterday, Jean Stothert warned her fellow Republicans about being complacent in the midterms next year.
“There’s a lot of new Republicans that are going to have a hard time getting elected because the Democrats want these seats. And they want them bad,” Stothert said. “This is why we have to rally behind these great candidates, and be grateful that we have candidates like this that will run. … [Taylor Royal] has a lot of common sense. He will defend our values. He will be a fierce advocate for legislative district 18. I think that he’s a visionary, and that’s what we need.”
