District details

Feichtinger is a policy consultant/advocate and a program coordinator at Omaha Girls Rock. She built the advocacy and policy program at Together, an Omaha nonprofit dedicated to addressing homelessness and hunger, following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Livingston is a family law attorney. He previously worked as a deputy county attorney.

Feichtinger is endorsed by Hunt, who currently holds the District 8 seat, plus multiple other current and former state senators, the Nebraska Farmers Union, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Nebraska and others. See the full list on her campaign website.

Livingston is endorsed by Teamsters Local 554, the Nebraska State Education Association, the Nebraska Democratic Party Environment and Climate Council, Secular Democrats of Nebraska and the Nebraska Stonewall Democrats, according to his Facebook page.

On the issues

Feichtinger said she is running because she was born and raised in Omaha and she has extensive hands-on legislative experience standing up for issues. She said she has led bipartisan efforts fighting against “harmful and unnecessary” legislation. Livingston said he is running because Nebraskans want leaders to focus on issues that affect them instead of division. He said he wants to use his experience as an attorney, advocate and problem solver to make Nebraska a better place for every family.

Both candidates pointed to affordability as the top issue of the district. Livingston said the solution is to build more affordable housing, support well-paying jobs, make healthcare more accessible and ensure a fair and sustainable tax system. Feichtinger said another issue is frustration that too many elected Nebraska leaders have failed to deliver on local issues. She said she would refocus state government on the needs of working Nebraskans and seniors and protect programs for families. 

Neither Feichtinger nor Livingston said they support Gov. Jim Pillen’s calls to increase sales taxes to help offset further property tax relief. Feichtinger said doing this would prioritize relief for the few while everyday Nebraskans foot the bill. Livingston said other potential tax revenue streams don’t put an extra burden on citizens, and that sales tax increases are regressive for those in need of the most support.

Livingston said he does not support lawmakers’ decision to change recent voter-approved ballot measures. He said the primary responsibility of elected officials is to uphold the will of the voters. Feichtinger said the Legislature should not alter ballot measures unless specifically granted the authority to do so in the ballot initiative language voted on by the people.

Feichtinger said local governments should have the authority to make decisions on data centers, and state government should be proactive in regulating data centers in ways that protect public power and natural resources. Livingston said the state is ignoring the existence of real concerns in its push to establish data centers in Nebraska. He said it is the job of Nebraska residents to research and address concerns about the long-term effects of data centers.

Both candidates said the state should be looking at long-term approaches to fixing the budget deficit. Feichtinger said targeted tax relief that reaches more Nebraskans would be better for long-term stability rather than continuing to deeply cut programs. Livingston said lawmakers need to find recurring revenue streams and focus more strongly on how money is currently being spent.

Feichtinger said state government should return its focus to affordable housing, childcare, food security, job training and good jobs to combat brain drain rather than spending time and energy on “harmful and discriminatory” legislation. Livingston said lawmakers should look for inclusive solutions to improve affordable housing, transportation and policy issues to motivate young professionals to stay in Nebraska.