District details

Comstock is the founder and CEO of BCom Solutions, which markets and advocates for campaigns, businesses and organizations. According to his campaign website, the U.S. House of Representatives awarded him a congressional honor for economic development and job creation in Nebraska. He is a member of the Nebraska Athletics Leadership Society.

Hosein is a neurosurgeon and the division chair of neurosurgery at Bryan Medical Center in Lincoln. He served as a policy adviser to Govs. Mike Johanns and Dave Heineman and is a former White House Fellow. His peers elected him as a Student Regent while in school.

Comstock has endorsements from UNL Chancellor Emeritus Ronnie Green and University of Nebraska Regents Jack Stark and Barbara Weitz. Other endorsers are listed on his campaign website. Hosein is endorsed by Regents Paul Kenney, Rob Schafer, Jim Scheer and Kathy Wilmot. Other endorsers are listed on his campaign website.

On the issues

Comstock said he is running for the Board of Regents because the NU System is “stuck in a cycle of budget cuts and tuition increases.” He said the university should be affordable enough so Nebraskans can choose it and strong enough that they want to. Hosein said he is running for the next generation of students who attend schools in the University of Nebraska System. He and his family have attended schools in the system, he said.

While in school, Hosein said, he was elected as the NU Student Regent and served as president of the UNMC Student Senate and the Housestaff Association. Comstock’s experience in higher education includes serving on the foundation for Lincoln Public Schools board, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill’s Board of Visitors and the UNC Institute for the Arts and Humanities Communications Committee.

If elected, Comstock said he would prioritize the academic core of NU, demand administrative efficiency and the use of shared services, grow revenue and keep NU consistent with its 10-year roadmap. Hosein said he would prioritize balancing the NU System’s athletic investments with strengthening its academics. He said he would create an “NIL for Academics” to recruit “academic all-star faculty and students” using philanthropic dollars and ensure graduates are workforce-ready through curriculum alignments.

Hosein said he would be transparent about the university’s budget-cutting process if elected. He said he would create more opportunities for advancement for those who can solve challenges facing the state. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s campus climate has suffered from a process that made information available to the public too late, Comstock said. As a regent, he said he would push for consultations while decisions are being shaped and provide accessible ways for people to hold him accountable.

Regents were not transparent enough about the Nebraska Medicine deal between NU and Clarkson Regional Health Services, Comstock said. He said he would prioritize expert-led oversight tied to patient care outcomes and rebuild trust with healthcare partners, clinicians and the public. Hosein, similarly, said the deal underscores the importance of the regents’ transparency. Hosein said his background would help him advance Nebraska Medicine’s missions while ensuring public accountability.

The University of Nebraska should remain institutionally neutral on issues that fall outside its core mission, Hosein said. He said its campuses should continue fostering a culture of respectful dialogue and intellectual curiosity. Comstock said instructors should be free to challenge students and put difficult perspectives in front of them. He said academic and personnel decisions shouldn’t turn on partisan viewpoints and students and faculty should get consistent, viewpoint-neutral treatment and due process.

Regents should look to have university campuses collaborate more effectively and operate as a system, Hosein said. If elected, he said, he would consolidate campuses’ administration to direct more resources toward teaching and research. Comstock said he would not support centralizing academic decision-making or erasing campus identities, but he is in favor of consolidating administrative functions that produce savings without weakening what students receive.