Nebraska: Nebraska Sen. Blood takes on Republican Pillen in governor race

By JOSH FUNK
Associated Press

 
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Republican Jim Pillen comes into Election Day the favorite over Democratic state Sen. Carol Blood, as Nebraskans haven't elected a Democrat as governor since 1994.

Pillen emerged from a contentious primary in the spring by beating eight other candidates, including businessman Charles Herbster, who had been endorsed by former President Donald Trump.

The primary highlighted divisions in the Republican Party between activists who support Trump and want to take the party further to the right and more moderate members who backed Pillen, who serves on the University of Nebraska Board of Regents. Most top GOP leaders in the state endorsed Pillen, including former Gov. Kay Orr, former University of Nebraska football coach and congressman Tom Osborne, and current Gov. Pete Ricketts, who couldn't run for reelection because of term limits.

Those party divisions were on display again this summer when Republicans voted to fire their longtime party chairman at their state convention, and Herbster still hasn't endorsed Pillen. But the hog farm owner and veterinarian from Columbus is likely to receive broad support from registered Republicans who account for nearly 49% of the state's voters. Democrats represent 28% of Nebraska voters, and the remainder aren't affiliated with either party.

Blood, who represented the Omaha suburb of Bellevue in the Legislature after serving on its City Council, focused her campaign on what she saw as the need for change after such a long period of Republican control. She wants the state to invest in upgrading its roads and bridges by issuing bonds and take on a larger share of education funding while reducing the unfunded mandates it places on cities and counties across Nebraska.

Pillen argues that Nebraska is thriving as it emerges from the pandemic and continues to recover from historic flooding in 2019, so it doesn't need major changes. He pledged to cut government spending while working to expand access to broadband internet service statewide and reduce regulations, particularly on agricultural businesses.

The topic of abortion wasn’t a major issue in the campaign even after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade in June. Blood said she supported Nebraska’s current ban on abortions after 20 weeks of gestation but opposed further restrictions while Pillen said he would support a ban on abortions starting at 12 weeks.

Pillen refused to debate Blood during the fall, much as he avoided debates during the primary. His campaign has said Pillen preferred to reach out to voters directly.

One of the first big decisions likely to face the winner of the governor's race will be deciding who to appoint to replace U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse, who is expected to resign if the University of Florida chooses him to be its next president. Ricketts, who could be a candidate for the Senate job, said he would leave that decision to his successor.

Nebraska voters will decide minimum wage, voter ID measures
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska voters on Tuesday will have a chance to significantly raise the state's minimum wage, require that voters provide government identification at polling places and increase the ability of airports to expand service.

The wage and voter ID measures will go before voters because of signature-gathering campaigns, while the airport measure was placed on the ballot by the Legislature.

The pay measure would gradually increase the minimum wage from the current $9 an hour to $15 hourly by 2026, with an initial bump to $10.50 in January 2023. The measure comes eight years after Nebraska voters overwhelmingly approved a minimum wage increase to its current level.

Given that Nebraska has one of the nation's lowest unemployment rates and employers have had difficulty finding enough workers, it's unclear how many people will get raises if the measure passes. Supporters of the increase estimate it will raise wages for about 150,000 Nebraska workers.

Gov. Pete Ricketts and some business groups have opposed the move, saying wage levels should be left to the market.

Marlene Ricketts, the governor's mother, bankrolled the voter ID campaign after the Legislature repeatedly failed to approve such a measure, largely because of Democratic opposition. The measure would add a requirement to the state constitution that people show a government-issued photo identification in order to vote, with lawmakers later ironing out the details.

Even supporters of the measure acknowledge that Nebraska has no history of voter fraud, but they contend that a voter ID law is needed to prevent future abuses. Democrats argue that such requirements, which have been approved by Republican-controlled states across the country, are meant to tamp down turnout by minorities and others who are more likely to not have appropriate ID and tend to vote for Democrats.

The Legislature unanimously placed the airport measure on the ballot. It would allow organizations that operate airports to use airport revenue to encourage more commercial plane service by offering to guarantee a minimum amount of revenue to an airline during the first few months of new service at an airport.

Voters won't have a chance to vote on a measure that sought to legalize medical marijuana in the state after advocates failed to gather enough signatures.

Bacon, Vargas locked in tight Nebraska congressional race
By MARGERY A. BECK
Associated Press

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Republican Rep. Don Bacon is again in a tight race to try to hold onto the Omaha-based 2nd Congressional District, which is typically Nebraska's only competitive U.S. House district and is one the GOP has tried to tighten its hold on through redistricting.

In Tuesday's election, Bacon will face Democrat Tony Vargas, a state lawmaker from Omaha who has touted his experience as a former teacher and member of the Omaha Public Schools Board.

Bacon won the seat by defeating an incumbent Democrat in 2016, and he had to work hard to be reelected twice, both times besting Democrat Kara Eastman. Bacon is a retired Air Force brigadier general who has a conservative voting record but has been criticized by former President Donald Trump because he backed an infrastructure bill supported by Democrats.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee named the district as one of its top competitive House districts that are either open or held by Republicans. In an indication of how close the race is, Bacon has largely dropped the folksy campaign ads he previously favored that tended to play on his name — with quips about “bringing home the Bacon,” and “who doesn’t love Bacon?” — and instead turned to ads that called Vargas “Taxing Tony.”

Republicans have twice redrawn district boundaries in an attempt to help their party’s candidates, in part because of embarrassment that under Nebraska’s unusual Electoral College rules, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama won a 2nd District vote in 2008 and Democrat Joe Biden did the same in 2020.

Maine is the only other state that allows its electoral votes to be split between candidates.

In 2011, Republicans successfully redrew the district’s lines to cleave off suburban Bellevue and include more of the conservative suburbs in Sarpy County. GOP lawmakers tried a similar move in 2021, but facing Democratic opposition, they managed to make the district only slightly more conservative, as Biden still would have won with the redrawn boundaries.

Republicans were expected to have less trouble keeping control of Nebraska’s two other congressional districts.

In the 1st District, which includes Lincoln and all or part of a dozen counties in eastern Nebraska, Republican Rep. Mike Flood was favored against Democratic challenger Patty Pansing Brooks. The race was a rematch of the special election earlier this year between the two, in which Flood was elected to replace former Republican Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, who resigned after being convicted of campaign finance violations.

In the largely rural 3rd District, which comprises about three-fourths of the state, eight-term Republican Rep. Adrian Smith was expected to handily overcome a challenge from Democrat David Else.