LINCOLN — A grassroots advocate for medical cannabis who is at the center of some Nebraska state officials’ efforts against the use of the drug voters approved is running for governor in 2026.

Jacy Todd of York, 54, who runs a CBD health and wellness retail store in central Nebraska, says he is running to be a “voice of the people.” In part, he said he wants to show it’s not the “richest” people who get into office, that a middle-class family man can as well. 

Todd is the first Republican to challenge incumbent Gov. Jim Pillen ahead of the May 2026 primary. The winner advances to the November 2026 election.

“I want to provide that hope for everybody and let them know that there is an out,” Todd told the Nebraska Examiner. “We can stand together. We can push back.”

Todd is no stranger around the Nebraska State Capitol or in the public eye. In October, Hall County Attorney Marty Klein, Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers and their prosecutors charged Todd with 24 counts of improper notarizations, or “official misconduct” — Class II misdemeanors — on the most recent medical cannabis ballot measure. 

Each count refers to a different date that prosecutors allege Todd notarized a specific circulator’s petitions outside of the circulator’s presence. 

Todd has repeatedly denied those allegations and again told the Examiner he is innocent and that his integrity remains “fully intact.”

‘Grassroot this all the way’

Todd said he probably would have been scared if the state had come after him 10 years ago,. But he says people are tired and frustrated and want change. He plans to travel the state and meet Nebraskans to learn what’s bothering them and see how he can help.

Pillen already had about $3.7 million in campaign cash on hand as of January. But Todd said he will “out voice” Pillen and challenge Pillen to debates. During Pillen’s 2022 campaign, he declined debates but did participate in some candidate forums.

Todd said grassroots Nebraskans are charging forward for change.

“I think that Nebraska is a powerful enough state that we could grassroot this all the way to the Capitol and clean house up there,” Todd said.

Part of Todd’s intention to run is also to root out resistance to the people’s will. He started thinking about running for governor as he saw politicians resist the will of more than 71% of Nebraska voters to legalize medical cannabis and 67% of voters to regulate it.

“I didn’t go fight a war and I didn’t go defend the United States for a select few people to turn back the voice of the 70%,” Todd said.

Medical cannabis focus

A combat medic in Operation Desert Storm in his 20s who later joined the Nebraska National Guard, Todd said he began to question the medical expertise of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as well as the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which suggested he “try” one medication after another to treat his post-traumatic stress disorder, which he said drove him at one point to consider taking his own life.

But when Todd tried cannabis to deal with his pain, he said it led to a “best night’s sleep.” Todd said he continued to research cannabis, which continued to help him.

At one point, Todd said he met cannabis doctors in Colorado and started doing some studies with them. One doctor told Todd that cannabis had saved his life because of interactions with the CB-1 receptors in his brain and endocannabinoid system, so he created his business Herban Pulse to help other Nebraskans find some relief

As a cannabis user for almost 30 years, Todd said he’s told lawmakers he’s “living proof” of being a functional member of society, going on to run Little League Baseball program and be a scoutmaster. He added he can challenge any lawmaker who argues cannabis hurts intelligence.

“If you guys want to have an IQ test with a pothead, let’s have it. I’ll embarrass you guys to no end,” Todd said with a laugh.

Todd said one of his goals as governor is to advance Nebraska’s cannabis industry to be the best in the nation, including with more research.

He said that while Hilgers and others in the state rule by “visions” of what hemp or cannabis should have been legalized, he sees hypocrisy in trying to outlaw “synthetic” marijuana on one hand while trying to forbid, through regulations, the in-state sale of raw marijuana plant flower on the other.

Notary criminal allegations

Todd said he got a call from the Hall County Sheriff’s Office last August or September and immediately knew it was a coordinated, hyper-focused look into the campaign that he had been a volunteer for the past four years.

He expected the pushback but didn’t expect to be a target. Todd said he told an investigator bluntly that he got his notary license to help with medical cannabis and followed all applicable rules, including witnessing the circulator signature of another campaign volunteer who was criminally targeted last fall.

The investigator asked Todd specifically about that Grand Island man, Michael Egbert, who would go on to plead guilty to illegally adding voters to the medical cannabis petitions, including by using a phone book. None of the Egbert-collected signatures were counted.

Todd said Egbert would come into his store on Mondays, where he would witness Egbert’s signature. That’s the detail Egbert and prosecutors alleged Todd did not do on 24 dates.

Todd said he recalls telling the investigator, “You picked the right guy,” of Egbert. At a separate civil trial against the medical cannabis organizers last fall, Egbert said he has a medical condition that impairs his memory, which some of the products from Todd’s shop sought to help.

The civil trial seeking to disqualify the petitions from reaching the November 2024 ballot ultimately failed, and Todd said he told his attorney as he prepared to be a witness in that case: “I tell the truth. I have nothing to hide. Set us up for a deposition.”

“I’ll do depositions as long as they want to keep on doing depositions. I’ll talk to anybody about it. I didn’t do anything wrong,” Todd said. “If you speak of truth, you don’t have to worry about getting caught up in anything.”

Todd said he didn’t plead his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination and answered every question. He was slated to testify at the civil trial, but he was injured just days before after falling through a roof. He has been recovering since.

When investigators reached out to him, Todd said he was angry. But he was also determined to win.

“It brought me probably closer to the situation as far as looking at the corruption in the Capitol, and it’s a select few,” Todd said. “My goal is this: I think if I could cut the puppet strings coming from D.C. into Nebraska, I think that’s a start.”

Headed to trial

The criminal case against Todd was initially dismissed, with his county judge deciding notaries could not be charged in the manner that Todd was. Todd is believed to be the first notary charged with criminal malfeasance for notarial duties in the state, if not the nation, according to Todd’s attorney and multiple court observers.

A Hall County District Court judge reversed that ruling, sending the case back down to trial. The district judge likewise questioned the resources being used to pursue Todd “when looking at the …voice of its residents.”

Todd said he and his attorney plan to “roll the dice” on 12 jurors, instead of one judge, with Todd adding: “I don’t think it’s going to take long at all and that they’re going to find me not guilty.”

Todd’s criminal case heads to trial this September. He retains his notary license.

‘I will fight’

Legal observers see Todd’s charges as a possible test case for criminally scrutinizing notaries involved in petition campaigns or other efforts that government officials might disagree with in Nebraska or other states.

Todd said he plans to win the governor’s race and change the state’s course immediately, including by upholding honesty and transparency. 

He said that includes no closed-door meetings and advocating for the elimination of secret ballots for legislative leadership every two years, a long-held goal by many in the GOP.

Todd said he would continue to address property taxes and end a “pyramid scheme” of shifting taxes between property and sales taxes. He wants to pay for tax relief and reduce government spending by implementing an independent audit team, starting at the Capitol, at the “bread and butter of things,” to find millions upon millions of state spending dollars that he says could be saved.

Pillen has sought to reduce the annual $5.3 billion in property taxes, most to local K-12 schools, since taking office in 2023 by broadening the state’s sales tax base. Lawmakers have balked multiple times.

Todd also plans to meet with governors and state leaders of other states to see what solutions might work in the Cornhusker State.

Of Todd’s message to Nebraskans, he said he wants to work for the people and that “four more years of Pillen will be a bitter pill for all of Nebraskans to swallow,” a dig at Pillen’s comments this spring that he would carry out medical cannabis but make sure the medicine would be a “bitter pill to swallow” so it would not trickle over to recreational marijuana.

“I will fight for what is right for all of us, all of Nebraska,” Todd said. “I don’t pick and choose sides.”