Bob Krist, a 60-year-old member of the Nebraska Legislature, will leave the Republican Party and challenge Governor Pete Ricketts as a third-party candidate in 2018.
Because Krist is running for governor as a third-party candidate, and not independent, he only needs 5,000 signatures to get his name on the ballot. As an independent, he would have needed the signature of 10 percent of the state's registered voters, which is roughly 120,000 people.
Krist has served the state legislature since 2009.
