DUNBAR, Neb. — A former state senator threw her name into the ring Monday for the Republican-occupied seat of state treasurer, promising she would be a leader who works “tirelessly to deliver conservative wins.”

Former State Sen. Julie Slama, 29, served six years in the Nebraska Legislature between January 2019 and January 2025 representing southeast Nebraska. She said that if elected state treasurer, she would defend Nebraska’s principles in how she does the job: ensuring wise spending, steering how it invests tax dollars and standing up to government waste, fraud and abuse.

“Under my watch, our tax dollars will never go towards radical liberal investments,” Slama said in a campaign announcement. “We’ll focus on growing our economy, helping Nebraskans thrive and ensuring the Treasurer’s Office operates with strong fiscal conservative leadership.”

Nebraska’s state treasurer serves a four-year term with an annual salary of $85,000. The treasurer monitors the flow of public dollars for the state, with nearly $20 billion spread among pots of money from the state and federal governments and more. The office maintains a public database on state spending.

Slama is running in the May 12 GOP primary election that could include State Treasurer Tom Briese. Briese, who, like Slama, is from rural Nebraska, has not yet announced whether he will seek election in 2026. On Friday, he told the Examiner he would announce a decision “soon.” 

The deadline for current officeholders to declare a campaign is Feb. 17, while non-officeholders have until March 2.

Speaking with the Nebraska Examiner on Monday, Slama said it’s important to have a “strong fiscal conservative” as state treasurer. She said she had eyed the position for years, and, in September 2023, she was among 10 applicants to apply for the position after the resignation of then-State Treasurer John Murante. Gov. Jim Pillen appointed former State Sen. Tom Briese.

In Slama’s final two legislative years, she chaired the Legislature’s Banking, Commerce and Insurance Committee, which overlaps with the State Treasurer’s Office, such as in investments. Slama and North Omaha State Sen. Terrell McKinney partnered with the office to improve financial literacy by incorporating it into K-12 classrooms. 

“It was through that overlap that I really gained an appreciation and a strong interest in the office,” Slama said.

At the age of 22, Slama was the youngest female state senator in Nebraska history when then-Gov. Pete Ricketts appointed her to the Legislature. She won election to the seat in 2020 in a Republican-Republican election with Janet Palmtag, who later successfully sued the NEGOP for claims put in election advertisements against Palmtag.

Slama declined to seek reelection in 2024. She said she wanted to begin a “new chapter” as a private attorney and focus on the “joys and responsibilities of being a new mom.”

Slama also highlighted her time in the Legislature in leading the state push for voter ID, fighting for the right to carry firearms without a permit and helping secure nearly $1 billion in annual tax relief. She also led bills to strengthen civic education for K-12 students and fight human trafficking, and she proposed a bill to limit abortion by requiring an ultrasound be performed first.

During a 2024 special session, Slama was also a chief opponent of a Pillen-backed plan to move the state’s tax system more toward sales taxes to offset property taxes, a plan Briese helped develop and has continued to rally support for.

Slama pointed to Murante as a good standard of preventing tax dollars from being used in investments that could financially benefit enemies of the U.S. or Nebraska, which she said includes entities promoting policies she and others deem anti-Israel. She said she would prevent investments that benefit companies or countries working to undermine the state.

If elected state treasurer, Slama would be the first woman elected a constitutional officer in 20 years and the first female state treasurer in more than 30.

Former Auditor of Public Accounts Kate Witek was the most recent woman elected to the executive branch, serving between 1999 and 2007. Former Nebraska Gov. Kay Orr, a Republican, was the first female constitutional officer when she was appointed treasurer in 1981. She was elected statewide in 1982. Nebraskans elected Orr as the state’s first female governor in 1987.

Two women served as lieutenant governor with Orr’s successor, then-Gov. Ben Nelson, in the 1990s: Maxine Moul and Kim Robak. Dawn Rockey served one term as state treasurer between 1991 and 1995.

In December 2024, as Nebraska’s constitutional officers certified the 2024 election, Slama responded to a photo of the moment posted by Pillen on X that the only female in the photo was Nebraska’s first dog, Daisy.

Slama said she isn’t focused on gender, saying she wants the “most competent people in office” who bring an “energy and fresh perspective.” She said as a mom of two and now an estate planning attorney, she appreciates the role the office can have on Nebraskans’ lives.

“I think the State Treasurer’s Office is really unique in that it does so much positive work for the State of Nebraska, and having a high-energy, capable state treasurer is just so important to ensure that those programs are being run well,” Slama said.st

Slama is the first to announce a 2026 bid for treasurer, but she said she’s not focused on other candidates. She intends to “make the case to as many Nebraskans as possible” and criss-cross the state, an emphasis she said helped her stay connected to her constituents in Legislative District 1.

“Every voice in the district mattered,” Slama said. “I plan to make the same effort to cover as much of the state as possible but really bring a fresh perspective, high level of energy and high commitment to fiscal conservatism that I think our Republican-controlled state really would like to have in office.”