Democratic challenger calls on Lancaster County Attorney to step aside from petition case

The Democratic challenger for Lancaster County Attorney has suggested that the current attorney should recuse himself from the investigation and appoint a special prosecutor to look into alleged fraudulent petition signatures.

Randal Ritnour on Thursday called on Lancaster County Attorney Pat Condon to recuse himself from the case because of ties to Republican consultants who were involved in the petition effort.

The case involves more than 13,000 signatures on three petitions seeking to make changes to Lincoln’s elections that were flagged as potentially fraudulent.

Those petitions were sponsored by the Good Government Lincoln Group, which is led by former state tax commissioner and state Sen. Tony Fulton. However, three others listed as part of the group – Jessica Flanagain, Daniel Bass and Zoe Ganzman – work for Axiom Strategies, a political consulting firm that works with Republicans.

Ritnour said Condon, who’s a Republican, endorsed Lancaster County Deputy Ben Houchin for Sheriff. Houchin received $500 from the Nebraska Highwater PAC in November 2025, which lists Bass as its treasurer.

Condon has also received a contribution from the leadership PAC sponsored by Rep. Mike Flood, for whom Flanagain has worked as a campaign consultant. According to filings, Condon received $1,000 from the PAC back in August 2025.

Condon has not paid Axiom Strategies for any consulting services, according to disclosure filings.

“My concern is not with the people doing the work; it is with who should make the prosecution decisions, given certain publicly documented political relationships,” Ritnour said.

Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers, whose office could eventually become involved in the petition investigation, is a client of Axiom Strategies, spending over $57,000 with the company since 2021.

An hour after Ritnour’s news conference, Lincoln City Council member and chair Brodey Weber discussed his concerns and questions he’s heard from Lincoln residents.

He called on Flanagain and the Good Government Lincoln team to answer questions regarding who is circulating new petitions.

“Is Good Government Lincoln using the same signature gathering firm responsible for the alleged fraud? Good Government Lincoln has refused to clearly answer whether they have rehired the same firm who submitted thousands of fraudulent signatures,” Weber said.

Nebraska Public Media spoke with a petitioner who said he worked for On the Ballot, LLC.

Good Government Lincoln confirmed its partnership with On the Ballot after releasing a statement with On the Ballot’s Chief Executive Officer Jordan Brownstein.

Brownstein said his organization is working with law enforcement to ensure any bad actors involved are “justice, and whoever directed this sabotage is identified and exposed.”

"The fraud that was discovered is heartbreaking,” Brownstein said. “The individuals identified and arrested have been part of successful ballot access drives for candidates ranging from mayors to presidents, nationwide. We trusted these individuals, we cared for them, and despite this, they chose to defraud us and our clients.”

Currently, Vanguard Field Strategies is the defendant in a lawsuit brought by Community Schools Initiative, a political action committee, that was working to break up a Nevada school district. The lawsuit alleges Vanguard engaged in fraud and a breach of contract regarding signature collection for the 2022 ballot initiative. Vanguard subcontracted with On the Ballot to gather signatures.

In a previous statement, Flanagain mentioned successful petitions in Nebraska, like “Institution of Voter ID” and "Protecting Women and Children.” Those ballot initiatives utilized Vanguard Field Strategies, which is a subsidiary of Axiom Strategies, for signature collecting and field work.

Vanguard recently did field services work for the Fairness for Girls petition, according to filings with the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission.

In total, Vanguard has been paid nearly $6 million from Nebraska ballot initiative campaigns since 2024.

Weber reiterated Ritnour’s sentiment regarding connections between officials leading the investigation and prosecution of the cases.

“I'm not saying I'm concerned about the interference, but I'm concerned about the connection, and I think that the process needs to be followed appropriately. And I think if anyone is too closely connected to the individuals that they're investigating, they need to do the right thing and step away,” Weber said.

In a press release from Condon’s office, he said he’ll continue to investigate the alleged fraud.

“The county attorney's role is not to play politics; it is to enforce the law fairly. I see no conflicts, only politics in this unnecessary call for costly outside counsel,” Condon said.

Houchin said a political contribution does not have any bearing on how he does his job.

“As chief deputy, my duty is to the people of Lancaster County, and every decision I make reflects that. My focus remains where it has always been: on keeping this community safe and holding people accountable who break the law,” Houchin said in a statement.

In a previous press conference, Houchin said he didn’t suspect political motivation as the driver for the alleged fraudulent petitions — a statement that Weber believes is too early to declare.

“Before out-of-state suspects were even extradited to Lincoln, Deputy Sheriff Ben Houchin and County Attorney Pat Condon publicly declared that Good Government Leaders, Good Government Lincoln's leaders, were blameless. How can that even be determined before the conclusion of an investigation?” Weber said.