Omaha, NE — Christian Espinosa Torres, currently assistant director of the Omaha Human Rights and Relations Department, announced his bid this week to become the first newly elected Douglas County treasurer in 20 years.
The post was vacated two months ago when John Ewing Jr. — who was first elected treasurer of Nebraska’s most populous county in 2006 — resigned after 18 years to take the reins of the City of Omaha. Ewing was elected Omaha mayor in May, and in June the Douglas County Board named Tim Cavanaugh, who previously worked in the office, as interim treasurer.
A Douglas County treasurer’s office in central Omaha. (Courtesy of Douglas County)
In tapping Cavanaugh, county board members said he told them he would not seek election to the four-year term.
Espinosa, a Democrat, is the first to announce a run for treasurer, essentially the county’s banker who oversees the collection of taxes. It marks his first bid for elected public office. Whoever wins the treasurer seat in November 2026 will be sworn in the following January.
In an interview with the Nebraska Examiner, Espinosa said he would work to make the Treasurer’s Office and its mission more understood and accessible to the public. For example, he said he wants a more interactive website so county residents understand more fully where their tax dollars go and how they are used.
Espinosa said he wants to find a way to save county residents the transaction fees they pay to companies when they use a credit card to pay county taxes.
“My career has been dedicated to advancing economic development, supporting small businesses and ensuring that public resources serve the entire community fairly and effectively,” Espinosa said. “As treasurer, I will ensure that public funds are managed and invested with the highest standards of integrity, transparency and responsibility.”
Espinosa, 45, has worked in the Omaha Human Rights and Relations Department since 2017. For the past two years, he’s been assistant director, overseeing such initiatives as the Small and Emerging Business Program and the Economic Sustainability Program.
He said his work managing budgets, evaluating contracts and ensuring regulatory compliance reflects the skills needed to oversee public funds.
Espinosa has an undergraduate degree in economics and earned a master’s degree in sociology from the University of Northern Iowa. He said the treasurer job would allow him to put his economic expertise and community service to use in a position with broader reach.
His previous jobs included being a congressional staffer working with small business and economic development for the late U.S. Rep. Brad Ashford, D-Neb. Prior to that, he directed a get-out-the-vote program for the Heartland Workers Center, was a researcher for the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Office of Latino-Latin American Studies and served in the protection department of the Consulate of Mexico’s Omaha office.
His volunteer service includes roles as chair of the Nebraska Early Childhood Collaborative Board, member of the NU Institutional Review Board and as an advisory board member for the Greater Omaha Chamber’s REACH program.
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