From 1969 to 1972, he worked as a high-school science teacher and football coach in Table Rock, Nebraska.

[5][6] Upon his retirement from practice, Hilkemann decided to run for a seat in the Legislature in District 4, located in northwest Omaha.

[2][5][7] Under Nebraska's term-limits law, incumbent Pete Pirsch, a Republican, was ineligible to run for re-election.

[9][10] Hilkemann declared that it was "still necessary for the more heinous crimes," while Ryan stated, "I do not support the death penalty.

[13] Among the most significant[14] actions taken by the Legislature in its 2015 session were three bills that passed over vetoes by governor Pete Ricketts.

[15] LB623 reversed the state's previous policy of denying driver's licenses to people who were living illegally in the United States after being brought to the country as children, and who had been granted exemption from deportation under the Barack Obama administration's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program; Hilkemann abstained in the vote to pass LB623, and voted to sustain the gubernatorial veto.