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The median age of the Nebraska Legislature is decades older than the median age of the people it represents. This year, two young candidates said they're challenging that gap as they campaign for state senate seats this November.
Jayden Speed, 21, is running for Legislative District 2 in Cass County. Nate Ostdiek, 23, is running for Legislative District 6 in Omaha. If Speed wins, he would be the youngest state legislator in Nebraska history. Both candidates argue that the Legislature doesn’t reflect the age of the state it represents.
Generational disconnect
Speed said he grew up poor in rural Nebraska, relying on the Head Start program and Medicaid. At 13, he started showing up to committee hearings at the Legislature. Speed attended first as spectator and eventually testified on bills and worked on campaigns.
He is now finishing an undergraduate degree in political science at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., flying back to Nebraska every two weeks to knock on doors in Cass County.
For Speed, the frustration driving his campaign is personal. He watched his school district in Conestoga shut down its Head Start program last year for lack of staff and resources. He said the decision was made by people who never needed the programs themselves, causing a lack of proper representation.
"I think that a lot of folks in rural Nebraska, especially younger folks, are not seeing economic opportunity; they're not seeing educational opportunity. And oftentimes they don't feel like the folks in power are working for them," Speed said.
Ostdiek came to the same conclusion from a different background. Growing up in Omaha, and attending the University of Nebraska at Omaha, he experienced what government could do through his own involvement in the university’s student governmental body.
During that time, he negotiated a partnership that cut the annual cost of a local bikeshare pass from $156 to $5. He said he became aware of what a governmental body can do for ordinary people, but seldom does. Ostdiek now attends graduate school at UNO while running for the state senate seat.
While the two have different backgrounds, they agree with the sentiment that the current make-up of politics leaves younger people feeling left out. Ostdiek grounds his argument on generational differences.
"Nebraska is actually one of the youngest states in the country... The median age is about 35. Whereas in the Nebraska Legislature, that median age is in the mid-60s,” said Ostdeik. “There's a disconnect that you'll see where there are issues that people are going to focus on, and even just the way that they communicate.”
According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2024 American Community Survey, the median age of Nebraskans is 37.4 – 25 years younger than the median age of the Legislature, which is 63, according to the 2024-2025 Nebraska Blue Book.
Currently, The youngest members of the Legislature are in their early to mid-thirties.
While both Speed and Ostdiek want more representation from a younger population, they made clear that they still believe other voices are valuable, especially experienced ones. Speed said the goal is not to push older legislators out, but to balance state government’s representation.
"I think the Legislature would be at its best when it reflects the makeup of Nebraskans. That doesn't mean that we don't need older representatives as well. But I think we need a diversity of backgrounds and experiences and ages so that we're coming together and bringing all of those voices to the table," Speed said.
Those running against Speed and Ostidek said age is just one factor voters should focus on.
Patrick Leahy, a 42-year-old Democrat also running in District 6, said voters should focus on the candidate, not age.
“In my opinion, voters are right to focus on voting for the person who is running for the right reasons and with the right experience to get what the voters want done. Not about what the right age of the candidate is,” Leahy said.
Caitlin Knutson, 40, a Democrat running in District 2, said the issue is less about age than about life experience. She said the Legislature lacks people in the middle of raising families.
“I do feel like there does need to be more diversity... we don't see many people in the midst of raising a family, which is one of the reasons why I decided to run,” Knutson said. “I think it's great that we have younger people running, too, and I am excited that this year to have three very different candidates at three different age groups.”
Dean Helmick, 63, is a Republican candidate in District 2. He pushed back on the idea that age alone should determine who represents Nebraskans.
"For me, it's not about the age; it's about getting people with the right background and experience that are going to work with dedication and integrity to go after the problems,” Helmick said. "When I look at my grandkids, I understand the affordability, the tax challenges, paying property taxes and the cost of groceries... we’re (legislators) are representing everybody.”
Why young people stay home
University of Nebraska-Lincoln political scientist Kevin Smith one of the reasons there aren’t more young people in the Legislature is that younger people tend to be less likely to vote. When one group votes and another doesn't, elected officials respond accordingly.
"There's a ton of data that suggests very strongly that government responds to constituencies that are active and involved,” Smith said. “Historically, young people have not been active and involved. You just have to look at differentials in voter turnout rates. Historically, younger people have voted in much lower numbers than older people.”
According to KFF, 67% of eligible Nebraska voters voted in the 2024 general election. However, only 41% of 18- to 24-year-olds voted, and only 59% of 25- to 34-year-olds did.
Speed thinks the ballot itself is a part of the explanation for low turnout. He argued that younger voters are more apathetic than uninterested.
"They're looking down their ballots and they're seeing none of these candidates really represent me. None of these candidates really have the same life experience or the same values that I do. And I think that dissuades them from voting, from participating in the process," Speed said.
Nick Stefanik, 20, is the state chairman of the Nebraska College Republicans. He agreed that the age gap is real but said one structural barrier makes it hard to fix. Nebraska state senators only earn $12,000 a year.
"Not anyone can live under a $12,000 a year salary. So then it makes sense that you're getting people in their later 60s running for office because maybe they can live on $12,000 a year," Stefanik said. "I know that when I graduate college, I have not only things to do but things to pay. I know I would never run for that state senate seat."
Stefanik said young conservatives are engaged within politics but tend to take more traditional routes. Engagement in politics, he says, focuses on working on campaigns, staffing political offices, and filling in internship roles.
Move to socials
Speed and Ostdiek are trying to reach the voters who have tuned out, and both are doing it the same way. Neither is running television ads or sending mass mailers. Both are knocking on doors, hosting Q&A’s and posting videos on social media channels.
Ostdiek said his campaign launch video got 50,000 views and did not cost anything to post. He said social media has changed what it takes to run a competitive race.
"It's democratizing because it's shown that you can run a successful campaign that reaches people without hundreds of thousands of dollars being spent on advertising," Ostdiek said.
While Speed utilizes social media, he emphasized the need for more traditional approaches, treating its use as purely supplemental.
"For us, the core to our campaign is canvassing, and it's talking to folks at the doors. You earn the most trust and the most credibility and can really start a good conversation when you stand on somebody's doorstep and listen to their issues. Social media is definitely a supplement to reach folks that otherwise you might not be reaching," Speed said.
Smith said Speed’s approach of focusing on traditional campaigning and supplementing it with social media is the best way to go. Social media grabs attention, but he is skeptical that it can accomplish any more than that
"It's really hard to have a meaningful political exchange or a meaningful political argument, within the confines of a 30- to 90-second TikTok video,” Smith said. “Basically, it's animated bumper stickers... It's a low-information way to engage in politics."
Stefanik noted that young Republicans have recognized the shift and are catching up. He pointed to the 2024 election as the year that he noticed social media becoming integral.
"I think 2024 was a huge turning point in how both parties, especially Republicans, reached out to younger voters. If you look at 2026 already, they (republican candidates) already have Instagram accounts, TikTok accounts, and they're actually going crazy on them," Stefanik said.
What winning would mean
Nebraska's primary is May 12. Smith is careful not to overstate what one or two young candidates winning would mean for the bigger picture. But he said it would be a big deal.
"If a young person gets into office, that stands as proof in the pudding that young people can do this. That they can get involved,” he said. “If nothing else, that has to demonstrate to the peers in their age cohort that it can be done.”
Speed graduates in May and plans to move back to Cass County full-time. Ostdiek is already knocking on doors across Omaha. Both candidates will see how much their strategies work – or didn’t work – with voters in the upcoming primary election in May.