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State Auditor Candidates
Republicans will choose from two candidates running for the Attorney General primary election on May 10. Gene Siadek of Omaha is also running for State Auditor unopposed with the Libertarian Party.
Larry Anderson
Age: 34
Occupation: Project accountant CPA at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Political party: Republican
Currently, Larry Anderson is in Qatar with the Nebraska National Guard, helping Aghanistan refugees. He's a captain Kearney's 734th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion (CSSB). Anderson worked as an auditor in the office from 2012 through mid-2015. If elected, he plans to uphold the performance of the state auditor’s office by supporting staff.
"You're only as good as the people who work underneath you," he said. "So therefore, supporting the auditors themselves, doing the groundwork is really furthering the watchful eye over Nebraska state tax."
Anderson is running for office again after he lost to incumbent Charlie Janssen in 2014. The incumbent was running for state governor first, but withdrew late from the race to run for state auditor, and won. Anderson said he's running because want to take the politics out of the auditor's office.
"Because that's not really the intended purpose of your auditor," he said "I want the job for what it is, and not a stepping stone in my career. I know I can do good things at the state auditor's office. I know I don't want to be a governor or lieutenant governor at a later time. I just want to be your state auditor and do the best I can in that position."
Mike Foley
Age: 68
Occupation: Nebraska Lieutenant Governor since 2013
Political party: Republican
Mike Foley was the state auditor for two terms then ran for governor in 2014, lost to Pete Ricketts, and was appointed by Ricketts as his running mate to become the current lieutenant governor. Foley could’ve run for governor again, but he said he decided to run for auditor because of his skills and interests.
"I enjoyed my work as state auditor when I previously held that position. I was a very aggressive state auditor, worked very hard to expose waste, fraud inefficiency in government operations and root that out of the system," he said.
Foley intends to focus on the largest agency in state government, the Department of Health and Human Services, if elected. He said he’s in the best position to be state auditor because he understands the complexities of state government and has worked there for 22 years, including six years in the Legislature.
"I look forward to returning to that [auditor's] office where I can do some more good work for the people of Nebraska, to protect their hard earned tax dollars from being wasted," he said.
State Treasurer Candidates
Optometrist Katrina Tomsen of Upland is also running for the seat unopposed with the libertarian party.
Paul Anderson
Age: 68
Occupation: Retired US Navy Reserve, BNSF Railway
Political party: Republican
Paul Anderson filed for elective office in the last week because no one was challenging the incumbent. He wanted to at least give Republicans a choice, he said. This will be his 14th try for political office. Anderson said his experience as a landlord and grocery store owner until the late 90s make him qualified for the role.
"As your state treasurer, I pledge and I promise to maintain a high level of trust, integrity, accountability, when it comes to spending, or not spending Nebraskans hard earned tax dollars," he said. "That's my pledge and my promise."
The veteran said “accountability” is his top priority.
John Murante
Age: 40
Occupation: Nebraska State Treasurer since 2019
Political party: Republican
The governor’s and auditor’s office check John Murante's state treasurer books every year, he said.
"And we've gotten a clean bill of health. I believe we've acted very responsibly. So if I'm able to receive their vote and get elected for another four years, we're going to continue with the public trust. We're going to continue being transparent and as open as we can be with the people of Nebraska and with the agencies that evaluate us and scrutinize us," he said. "We'll make sure that those tax dollars are where they're supposed to be in the right amounts, at the right time. And, that the people of Nebraska never have to be worried that their dollars are in the wrong place, or mismanaged in any way.
Murante also promises to upgrade the taxpayer transparency website. Before he was treasurer, Murante was a state senator for the Gretna-based 49th Legislative District in the Nebraska Unicameral, and operated a small family business, Big Fred’s Pizza.
"At a time where we're going to see a lot of overhaul in the executive branch: new auditor, a new attorney general, a new governor, I think it's important to have some stability on the on the financial side of the state," he said.