Suzanne Geist resigns from legislature to go ‘all in’ on Lincoln mayor race

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - State Senator Suzanne Geist announced she resigned from the state legislature Wednesday at noon to focus on her campaign to become Lincoln’s next mayor.

In a video message, Geist announced she was stepping down from her current role and had already notified the governor and the clerk of the legislature.

“I’m going all in on this race, spending full time running for mayor of Lincoln,” Geist said.

Governor Jim Pillen plans to announce the appointment of a new state senator to represent District 25 in a news conference Thursday at 1:30 p.m.

Geist and incumbent mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird were the top two vote getters in Tuesday’s City of Lincoln Primary Election, defeating Stan Parker. The unofficial final results show Gaylor Baird has 28,838 votes followed by Suzanne Geist with 19,138 votes. Stan Parker trails with 9,945 votes.

According to the election commission website, approximately 300 early vote ballots and 430 provisional ballots will be counted later this week.