By Marisa Dawson, Courtesy Photos

Living in Bennington means staying informed about the candidates who will represent our community in the Nebraska Legislature. This year, three candidates are running for Legislative District 18: Derek Schwartz, Jess Goldoni, and Taylor Royal. To help voters make an informed decision, The Bennington Buzz sat down with each candidate and asked them the exact same ten questions about the issues that matter most to our district. The profiles below are presented in alphabetical order by first name and highlight their backgrounds, key priorities, and positions on the top challenges facing our community.

The Buzz will also host a Candidate Meet & Greet on Saturday, April 25th at 3:00 PM at the Bennington Fire Station. This free community event is open to everyone and will give residents a chance to meet the candidates in person, hear directly from them, and ask questions. Community members may submit questions in advance through this form: Submit Questions Here! Questions will be screened, and Mayor Clint Adams will moderate the discussion. Light refreshments will be served. Please RSVP on our Facebook event page so we can plan accordingly: Bennington Town Hall: LD18 Meet the Candidate

Derek Schwartz

Derek Schwartz, a Bennington resident, brings a background rooted in Northeast Nebraska farm life, business ownership, and law enforcement to his candidacy for Legislative District 18. A Stanton High School graduate who participated in wrestling and football, he attended college in Storm Lake, Iowa, and at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. At 26, he bought his first franchise business and grew it 400% over seven years. He later started an owner-operator trucking company before becoming a police officer in 2020. A father of two young girls and married to his wife for nearly 11 years, Schwartz describes himself as “just an all around regular guy, you know, not a politician. I’ve never run for anything in the past. I don’t want to be a career long politician; I just want to get involved, solve some problems and get back to regular life.”

Schwartz was inspired to run because Nebraskans “are struggling to afford everyday cost and live comfortably. The government continues raising taxes and failing to address the issues that matter to families.” He wants to fight out-of-control spending, reduce burdensome taxes, especially high property taxes, and make Nebraska more affordable while supporting good schools, infrastructure, and public safety.

His qualifications center on “real world common sense experience.” From successfully growing businesses and making high-pressure decisions as a police officer, with zero uses of force and zero formal complaints in six years, he emphasizes problem-solving, building rapport, and fiscal responsibility. “I’m able to build relationships, build rapport, find commonality and solve problems,” he said.

The biggest challenges facing LD18, particularly Bennington and northwest Omaha, are property taxes and overall affordability. The area sits in the state’s second-highest tax bracket, and Nebraska ranks among the worst states nationally for property taxes. Public safety and daily living costs are also major concerns.

For property tax relief, Schwartz supports a multi-pronged approach: growing the economy through agriculture, energy, and new jobs while increasing revenue and decreasing spending. He notes that 60% of property taxes fund schools and advocates for greater efficiency, business incentives, and retaining young residents. “We need to increase revenue while also decreasing spending,” he explained.

On K-12 education in fast-growing districts like Bennington, he supports collaboration among the state’s roughly 240 school districts to pool resources and reduce duplication. He also favors better informing voters on bond issues and incentivizing economic development to ease the residential tax burden with more commercial growth.

For balancing the state budget, Schwartz calls for “hard conversations” similar to family budgeting: prioritize infrastructure, public safety, education, and economic development, then address social services with efficiency and compassion. He wants to eliminate special interest unfunded mandates.

To improve affordability and attract young families, he champions investing in skilled trades starting in high school to reduce debt and increase housing supply. “Let the capitalistic Nebraska way take over,” he said.

Schwartz’s top three priorities are property taxes, public safety, and affordability. He plans to lower costs by growing the economy and cutting unnecessary regulations while ensuring law enforcement has needed resources.

In the nonpartisan Legislature, Schwartz, who has sworn an oath to the Constitution as a police officer, will work across the aisle by building relationships. “I’ll work with anybody, regardless of party affiliation, so long as it furthers the interest of Nebraskans and making Nebraska more affordable and a better place to live.”

Jess Goldoni 

Jess Goldoni, who has lived in District 18 for over a decade, brings extensive experience in business, public relations, marketing, and community leadership to her candidacy for Legislative District 18. Born and raised in Omaha, she attended District 66 schools, then graduated from the University of Nebraska at Omaha with a Bachelor of Science degree. She is the daughter and granddaughter of veterans and was raised by her single pharmacist mom, who later married a middle school science and math teacher. That background shapes her work in advocating for the public including working families and public service. Her 20-year career spans public relations, advertising, and building businesses for law firms, healthcare technology companies, and nonprofits. She most recently launched Nebraska AI, an education company partnering with chambers of commerce, local governments, and small businesses to prepare Nebraska’s workforce and schools for the future and position the state to lead in “AI-readiness across agriculture, healthcare, finance, and manufacturing, while protecting our energy, water, and land.”

Goldoni was inspired to run after knocking on over 3,000 doors. She sees this as a real moment for District 18; not just frustration, but an opportunity to deliver grounded hope and practical solutions for hardworking Nebraskans focused on everyday affordability rather than political noise. “People are just frustrated and exhausted and they don’t feel like their voice matters anymore.” She wants to restore hope through practical solutions and focus on daily issues like affordability rather than division.

Her qualifications include strong communication and pragmatic problem-solving across diverse groups. “I’ve sat across from people I deeply disagreed with and still had to get a deal done to protect our employees and business,” she said. What sets her apart is that she’s had to find common ground with people she deeply disagreed with and still deliver results. She brings a business mindset that values listening, compromise, and common-sense approaches to government.

The biggest challenges in LD18 are property taxes, affordability, government waste, and political division. Bennington residents face some of the state’s highest local property taxes paired with flat state revenue, a combination that signals a system that isn’t working for families.

For property tax relief, Goldoni supports balancing the state budget, pausing certain high-earner tax breaks during shortfalls, examining how statewide mandates shift costs to local governments, and increasing state education funding while preserving local control. She also favors homestead exemptions for fixed-income residents and smarter revenue strategies.

On K-12 education for fast-growing districts like Bennington, she backs the bipartisan education review and is open to more state support for infrastructure and operations if districts retain control. She notes the recent high school bond addressed overcrowding but emphasizes ongoing needs.

For budget balancing while investing in affordability, public safety, and growth, she calls for a full audit, cutting waste, smarter use of incentives (such as reviewing the ImagiNE Act), and responsible targeted taxes only if funds are spent well. “We need to take a magnifying glass to everywhere that we are collecting a fee,” she said.

To make District 18 more affordable and attractive to young families, Goldoni champions AI innovation for job creation, remote work incentives, stronger pathways to trades, and better marketing of Nebraska’s opportunities. She wants to create economic paths so young people can build futures here without heavy debt.

Goldoni’s top three priorities are balancing the budget, eliminating government waste, and strengthening school pathways to trades for the modern economy.

In the nonpartisan Legislature, she works across the aisle by seeking common ground: “We have more in common than we have apart… Let’s find one common ground. We all want life to be more affordable.” She emphasizes open-minded listening and treating others with respect regardless of party.

Taylor Royal

Taylor Royal, a Nebraskan with 18 years in Bennington, brings financial and tax expertise to his candidacy for Legislative District 18. He graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with degrees in accounting and finance, earned a master’s at Southern Methodist University, and worked in international tax at Deloitte as a CPA and CFA charterholder. He returned in 2015 and is now a partner at Royal Wealth Partners with his father, serving clients in 47 states. His wife was formerly an elementary teacher in the district. Royal focuses on tax policy, family finances, and economic competitiveness.

He was inspired to run because state senators directly shape daily family issues: “The Nebraskans I talk to are worried about affordability, property taxes, housing, healthcare, and whether their kids are going to have good opportunities.” As a father raising his family in the community where he grew up, he wants to address these kitchen-table concerns.

His qualifications include deep knowledge of taxation, regulatory policy, and budgeting. With Nebraska facing a $500–600 million structural deficit, his CPA and wealth management background equips him to analyze spending, protect priorities, cut waste, and drive responsible growth.

The biggest challenges in LD18 include balancing strong schools and rapid residential growth with high property taxes and affordability pressures on working families and seniors. His own property taxes rose significantly recently, underscoring the burden.

For property tax relief, Royal focuses on growing the economic “pie” by attracting businesses and talent, plus implementing valuation caps, mill rate caps, and more commercial development to share the load. “We need to bring in businesses… so that we can continue to grow our economy and not necessarily just reapportion the pie, but grow the pie,” he said.

On K-12 education for fast-growing Bennington Public Schools, he trusts local teachers and leaders and wants the Legislature to provide proper funding and flexibility so districts can adapt to technology, AI, and future needs while maintaining strong public schools.

For balancing the budget while investing in affordability, public safety, and economic growth, he would protect core priorities (public safety, schools, infrastructure, and healthcare) while cutting fraud, duplicated services, administrative bloat, and ineffective policies through regular audits. “Policies that aren’t working effectively” should be retooled rather than made permanent.

To improve affordability and attract young families, Royal supports reducing burdensome homebuilding regulations (currently 32% of costs versus lower in neighboring states), preventing corporate dominance in housing, streamlining red tape, creating future-oriented jobs, and implementing strong energy policy for low rates and growth.

Royal’s top priorities are affordability (property tax relief and modernizing the tax code), opportunity (jobs in emerging fields), energy policy, and unity.

In the nonpartisan Legislature, he focuses on practical compromise: “I would work across the aisle to find the answers just to move Nebraska forward. With that comes compromise, but not compromising your convictions.” He wants the Unicameral to reflect neighborly cooperation rather than division.