<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/11/05/nebraska-voters-reject-state-funding-for-students-attending-private-k-12-schools/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN — Voters on Tuesday resoundingly rejected Nebraska’s new school voucher or scholarship program, steering public dollars spent to public schools.

Supporters of using state tax dollars to offset the costs of a private K-12 education have argued that families unhappy with their public schools need more options.

But rural and urban supporters of public schools, the Nebraska State Education Association and private foundations supporting public schools won the day.

Tim Royers, president of the Nebraska State Education Association, said he was proud to see right- and left-leaning counties agree that vouchers were the wrong choice.

“It confirms what we knew, the majority of Nebraskans don’t want public dollars going to private schools,” Royers said. “What really stood out to me is the consistency.”

Royers said he is hopeful that state senators will follow the will of the voters and move onto other more pressing issues in education that teachers and parents can work on together.

Support Our Schools argued&nbsp;that diverting even small amounts of public money toward private K-12 schools with a scholarship program or vouchers risked long-term support for public education.

They pointed to the experiences in other states with voucher programs, including neighboring Iowa, which has seen the national rankings of its public schools slide since that program began.

They argued that school choice programs typically end up largely benefiting the people already making the choice to send their children to private schools.

And they said such programs risked creating greater concentrations of poverty in some schools by draining them of students who often act as stabilizing force

Lawmakers plan to keep working for choice

State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Omaha and other lawmakers backing “opportunity scholarships” have already said they plan to keep working for school choice regardless of the outcome of Tuesday’s election.

Linehan, in a statement, said the teachers union and Support Our Schools spent two years and $7 million distorting the truth “in their endless pursuit to keep opportunity away from kids.”

“I am confident Nebraskans and the leaders in this state will continue fighting to keep kids first,” Linehan said.

The first version of Nebraska’s school choice law, passed in 2023, provided a tax credit for those donating to a scholarship fund for private K-12 education. After passage, those opposing the law launched a petition drive to put the issue before voters.

Linehan sidestepped that referendum by replacing the law in the 2024 legislative session.

She and other lawmakers transformed the program into a $10 million annual state appropriation for private school vouchers, to be run through the office of State Treasurer Tom Briese, a Linehan ally.

The Support Our Schools campaign, with support from public school proponents, including Omaha Public Schools supporter Susie Buffett, collected the necessary signatures a second time to challenge the law on the ballot.

Royers, new president of the NSEA, and Jenni Benson of Support Our Schools, the previous NSEA leader, have said Linehan should not have tried to avoid letting voters weigh in on an unpopular program.

Families of some children attending private schools through the precursor program, Opportunity Scholarships, or through the latest version have said they can’t afford private school tuition without such financial help.

State Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha, a Democrat who supports school choice, has said parents cannot afford to wait for public school systems to improve. They need help for their kids now, he said.

Jeremy Ekeler, executive director of Opportunity Scholarships of Nebraska, said his group and supporters of the program have focused on helping families who couldn’t wait for school districts and systems to change.

“While tonight we did not see the results that we hoped for, those thousands of Nebraska families who finally have access to the right educational fit for their children thanks to LB 1402 will make their voices heard for years to come,” he said.

It remains to be seen whether other lawmakers will offer a similar proposal in 2025. Linehan and Wayne are both term-limited and won’t return to the Legislature next year.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1730872232176.jpeg" alt=" Jenni Benson, then-president of the Nebraska State Education Association and sponsor of the Support Our Schools ballot referendum, leads supporters in transporting more than 86,000 signatures to the Nebraska Secretary of State. July 17, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)" />
 <figcaption> Jenni Benson, then-president of the Nebraska State Education Association and sponsor of the Support Our Schools ballot referendum, leads supporters in transporting more than 86,000 signatures to the Nebraska Secretary of State. July 17, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)</figcaption>
 </figure>Aaron Sanderford<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/11/05/nebraska-voters-reject-state-funding-for-students-attending-private-k-12-schools/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN — Voters on Tuesday resoundingly rejected Nebraska’s new school voucher or scholarship program, steering public dollars spent to public schools.Supporters of using state tax dollars to offset the costs of a private K-12 education have argued that families unhappy with their public schools need more options.But rural and urban supporters of public schools, the Nebraska State Education Association and private foundations supporting public schools won the day.Tim Royers, president of the Nebraska State Education Association, said he was proud to see right- and left-leaning counties agree that vouchers were the wrong choice.“It confirms what we knew, the majority of Nebraskans don’t want public dollars going to private schools,” Royers said. “What really stood out to me is the consistency.”<h2>Royers hopes state senators move on</h2>Royers said he is hopeful that state senators will follow the will of the voters and move onto other more pressing issues in education that teachers and parents can work on together.Support Our Schools argued&nbsp;that diverting even small amounts of public money toward private K-12 schools with a scholarship program or vouchers risked long-term support for public education.They pointed to the experiences in other states with voucher programs, including neighboring Iowa, which has seen the national rankings of its public schools slide since that program began.They argued that school choice programs typically end up largely benefiting the people already making the choice to send their children to private schools.And they said such programs risked creating greater concentrations of poverty in some schools by draining them of students who often act as stabilizing force<h2>Lawmakers plan to keep working for choice</h2>State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Omaha and other lawmakers backing “opportunity scholarships” have already said they plan to keep working for school choice regardless of the outcome of Tuesday’s election.Linehan, in a statement, said the teachers union and Support Our Schools spent two years and $7 million distorting the truth “in their endless pursuit to keep opportunity away from kids.”“I am confident Nebraskans and the leaders in this state will continue fighting to keep kids first,” Linehan said.The first version of Nebraska’s school choice law, passed in 2023, provided a tax credit for those donating to a scholarship fund for private K-12 education. After passage, those opposing the law launched a petition drive to put the issue before voters.<h2>2023 law replaced in 2024</h2>Linehan sidestepped that referendum by replacing the law in the 2024 legislative session.She and other lawmakers transformed the program into a $10 million annual state appropriation for private school vouchers, to be run through the office of State Treasurer Tom Briese, a Linehan ally.The Support Our Schools campaign, with support from public school proponents, including Omaha Public Schools supporter Susie Buffett, collected the necessary signatures a second time to challenge the law on the ballot.Royers, new president of the NSEA, and Jenni Benson of Support Our Schools, the previous NSEA leader, have said Linehan should not have tried to avoid letting voters weigh in on an unpopular program.Families of some children attending private schools through the precursor program, Opportunity Scholarships, or through the latest version have said they can’t afford private school tuition without such financial help.State Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha, a Democrat who supports school choice, has said parents cannot afford to wait for public school systems to improve. They need help for their kids now, he said.Jeremy Ekeler, executive director of Opportunity Scholarships of Nebraska, said his group and supporters of the program have focused on helping families who couldn’t wait for school districts and systems to change.“While tonight we did not see the results that we hoped for, those thousands of Nebraska families who finally have access to the right educational fit for their children thanks to LB 1402 will make their voices heard for years to come,” he said.It remains to be seen whether other lawmakers will offer a similar proposal in 2025. Linehan and Wayne are both term-limited and won’t return to the Legislature next year.&nbsp;

Nebraska voters reject state funding for students attending private K-12 schools

<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/11/05/red-scare-incumbent-fischer-survives-osborn-in-nebraska-u-s-senate-race/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

OMAHA — Nebraska U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer survived an unexpectedly close race Tuesday with registered nonpartisan Dan Osborn, leaning on her GOP base to secure a third term.

The Associated Press called the race for Fischer late Tuesday. She led by nearly 4 percentage points at 11:30 p.m., with more rural votes coming in. Some early voting ballots returned on Election Day and provisional ballots still need to be counted, but those are unlikely to change the result.

Fischer had voiced confidence during the campaign that Nebraskans would reward her willingness to prioritize their needs, including agriculture and infrastructure, and would worry less about sound bites or national news.&nbsp;

On Tuesday, she said Nebraskans “still vote for candidates who share their values.”

Her defenders had worried that her preference for doing work behind-the-scenes to craft and pass legislation, rather than spending more time promoting herself and her work, cost her with some Nebraskans who follow politics only at election time.

“Nearly $30 million, that’s the amount of money out-of-state Democrats spent trying to buy a Nebraska Senate seat,” Fischer said. “It did not happen. … They wasted their money.”

For several months during the campaign, Fischer would not acknowledge her opponent, rejecting polls that indicated a close race as being flawed and touting her own internal polling showing a big lead.&nbsp;

By late Tuesday, the race appeared headed toward the narrowest margin for any Nebraska GOP Senate candidate since 2000, when Republican Attorney General Don Stenberg lost to former Gov. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., 51%-49%.

Osborn, an Omaha union leader known for his work helping to lead the Omaha Kellogg’s strike in 2021, put a scare into Fischer’s campaign.

He did so largely by painting himself as Nebraska’s version of Pennsylvania’s U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, a gruff, working-class guy interested in focusing Congress on kitchen-table issues.

Osborn avoided giving specific answers about his views on many policy questions until late into the campaign, saying he preferred to hear more from Nebraskans about what they want.

He hammered Fischer for increasing her personal wealth while in office and described her in ads and on the stump as a typical politician beholden to the whims of her largest donors.

The Osborn crowd went from upbeat, swaying along with a live country musician, to somber more numbers came in around 10:30 pm., showing Fischer pulling ahead for the first time all night. Osborn hadn’t yet spoken at his campaign party as of 11:30 p.m.

Fischer served two terms in the Nebraska Legislature before being elected to the Senate in 2012. She served on the Valentine school board before that. Her family owns a ranch near Valentine. She and her husband have moved to Lincoln.

She and her surrogates said Osborn was partly to blame for Kellogg’s announcing the Omaha plant was slated for closure. The union’s current leaders rejected the idea that Osborn was to blame.

Fischer labeled him a Democrat in sheep’s clothing. She and her supporters spent millions on ads seeking to tie Osborn to liberal leaders including U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont.

State and local election records, however, showed Osborn registered as a nonpartisan since at least 2004.

Osborn has said he personally aligned more with Democrats before 2016, but like many in organized labor, he has welcomed the Republican Party becoming more open to union members.

The race brought millions in outside money and interest to a state where registered Republicans outnumber Democrats roughly 2 to 1 and a quarter of registrants align with neither party.

One hint of Fischer’s vulnerability: Ending Spending, an outside group tied to Marlene and Joe Ricketts, which helped Fischer win office in 2012, jumped into the 2024 race after polling indicated potential trouble.&nbsp;

Another sign: The National Republican Senatorial Committee also stepped in to boost her campaign. That group typically spends money on tough races in battleground states and open seats.

One of Fischer’s biggest challenges was shoring up the Republican base at a time when some of them in state and county GOPs spent months divided over supporting the federal delegation.&nbsp;

Local political observers said Fischer smartly emphasized her GOP roots and improved her chances of winning by persuading former President Donald Trump to cut an ad on her behalf.

Fischer, like U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., had frustrated Trump by voting for a bipartisan infrastructure bill under President Joe Biden. She had also criticized some of his comments in 2016. But Trump ultimately endorsed her.

Polling showed Osborn securing a larger slice of the rural 3rd District electorate than most Democrats have in statewide races. He also polled well in Omaha and Lincoln.

Some Democrats said Osborn hurt himself by initially seeking and later declining the endorsement of the Nebraska Democratic Party and some third parties. Osborn and his supporters also worked to keep other names off the ballot, from third parties.

It was part of what Fischer and Osborn both described as a “political science experiment” of a campaign. Osborn ran neither left nor right and would not say which party he’d caucus with if he won.

For Fischer, the win comes at a time of war in the Middle East and Europe, when she says the nation needs her experience as a senior member on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Responding to Osborn criticism that she broke her promise to serve only two terms Fischer said she did so after coming to realize the importance of seniority after serving in the Senate. Osborn pledged to serve only two terms.

Nebraska Examiner Senior Reporter Cindy Gonzalez contributed to this report.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1730872069595.jpeg" alt="U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., faces nonpartisan candidate Dan Osborn in Nebraska’s Senate race this fall. (Candidate photos courtesy of their campaigns. Capitol photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)" />
 <figcaption>U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., faces nonpartisan candidate Dan Osborn in Nebraska’s Senate race this fall. (Candidate photos courtesy of their campaigns. Capitol photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)</figcaption>
 </figure>Cindy Gonzalez<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/11/05/red-scare-incumbent-fischer-survives-osborn-in-nebraska-u-s-senate-race/">Nebraska Examiner</a>OMAHA — Nebraska U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer survived an unexpectedly close race Tuesday with registered nonpartisan Dan Osborn, leaning on her GOP base to secure a third term.The Associated Press called the race for Fischer late Tuesday. She led by nearly 4 percentage points at 11:30 p.m., with more rural votes coming in. Some early voting ballots returned on Election Day and provisional ballots still need to be counted, but those are unlikely to change the result.Fischer had voiced confidence during the campaign that Nebraskans would reward her willingness to prioritize their needs, including agriculture and infrastructure, and would worry less about sound bites or national news.&nbsp;On Tuesday, she said Nebraskans “still vote for candidates who share their values.”Her defenders had worried that her preference for doing work behind-the-scenes to craft and pass legislation, rather than spending more time promoting herself and her work, cost her with some Nebraskans who follow politics only at election time.“Nearly $30 million, that’s the amount of money out-of-state Democrats spent trying to buy a Nebraska Senate seat,” Fischer said. “It did not happen. … They wasted their money.”For several months during the campaign, Fischer would not acknowledge her opponent, rejecting polls that indicated a close race as being flawed and touting her own internal polling showing a big lead.&nbsp;By late Tuesday, the race appeared headed toward the narrowest margin for any Nebraska GOP Senate candidate since 2000, when Republican Attorney General Don Stenberg lost to former Gov. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., 51%-49%.Osborn, an Omaha union leader known for his work helping to lead the Omaha Kellogg’s strike in 2021, put a scare into Fischer’s campaign.He did so largely by painting himself as Nebraska’s version of Pennsylvania’s U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, a gruff, working-class guy interested in focusing Congress on kitchen-table issues.Osborn avoided giving specific answers about his views on many policy questions until late into the campaign, saying he preferred to hear more from Nebraskans about what they want.He hammered Fischer for increasing her personal wealth while in office and described her in ads and on the stump as a typical politician beholden to the whims of her largest donors.The Osborn crowd went from upbeat, swaying along with a live country musician, to somber more numbers came in around 10:30 pm., showing Fischer pulling ahead for the first time all night. Osborn hadn’t yet spoken at his campaign party as of 11:30 p.m.Fischer served two terms in the Nebraska Legislature before being elected to the Senate in 2012. She served on the Valentine school board before that. Her family owns a ranch near Valentine. She and her husband have moved to Lincoln.She and her surrogates said Osborn was partly to blame for Kellogg’s announcing the Omaha plant was slated for closure. The union’s current leaders rejected the idea that Osborn was to blame.Fischer labeled him a Democrat in sheep’s clothing. She and her supporters spent millions on ads seeking to tie Osborn to liberal leaders including U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont.State and local election records, however, showed Osborn registered as a nonpartisan since at least 2004.Osborn has said he personally aligned more with Democrats before 2016, but like many in organized labor, he has welcomed the Republican Party becoming more open to union members.The race brought millions in outside money and interest to a state where registered Republicans outnumber Democrats roughly 2 to 1 and a quarter of registrants align with neither party.One hint of Fischer’s vulnerability: Ending Spending, an outside group tied to Marlene and Joe Ricketts, which helped Fischer win office in 2012, jumped into the 2024 race after polling indicated potential trouble.&nbsp;Another sign: The National Republican Senatorial Committee also stepped in to boost her campaign. That group typically spends money on tough races in battleground states and open seats.One of Fischer’s biggest challenges was shoring up the Republican base at a time when some of them in state and county GOPs spent months divided over supporting the federal delegation.&nbsp;Local political observers said Fischer smartly emphasized her GOP roots and improved her chances of winning by persuading former President Donald Trump to cut an ad on her behalf.Fischer, like U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., had frustrated Trump by voting for a bipartisan infrastructure bill under President Joe Biden. She had also criticized some of his comments in 2016. But Trump ultimately endorsed her.Polling showed Osborn securing a larger slice of the rural 3rd District electorate than most Democrats have in statewide races. He also polled well in Omaha and Lincoln.Some Democrats said Osborn hurt himself by initially seeking and later declining the endorsement of the Nebraska Democratic Party and some third parties. Osborn and his supporters also worked to keep other names off the ballot, from third parties.It was part of what Fischer and Osborn both described as a “political science experiment” of a campaign. Osborn ran neither left nor right and would not say which party he’d caucus with if he won.For Fischer, the win comes at a time of war in the Middle East and Europe, when she says the nation needs her experience as a senior member on the Senate Armed Services Committee.Responding to Osborn criticism that she broke her promise to serve only two terms Fischer said she did so after coming to realize the importance of seniority after serving in the Senate. Osborn pledged to serve only two terms.Nebraska Examiner Senior Reporter Cindy Gonzalez contributed to this report.

Red scare: Incumbent Fischer survives Osborn in Nebraska U.S. Senate race

<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/11/05/former-nebraska-gov-ricketts-wins-first-election-to-u-s-senate-defeating-love/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

OMAHA — Nebraska U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts on Tuesday finished the job he started during his first run for office in 2006, winning election to the U.S. Senate.&nbsp;

Ricketts, an Omaha Republican, comfortably defeated Preston Love Jr., an Omaha Democrat. Ricketts was running as an incumbent because his successor as governor, Jim Pillen, appointed him to the seat in early 2023. That appointment came after former U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse resigned from the seat.

The Associated Press called the race for Ricketts after the first round of election results were announced from early voting.

He appeared likely to win by&nbsp;a larger margin than U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., on Tuesday, although his race was closer than Sasse’s 38-percentage point win in 2020.

Ricketts attributed his success to connecting with Nebraska voters where they are. He said getting out in the state helps him hear what matters. His campaign helped organize a three-day barnstorming tour with the federal delegation.

“People are worried about inflation,” Ricketts said. “It’s putting a squeeze on the pocketbook people don’t like. And the fact, our southern border is open and they’re seeing the impacts on their communities.”

The former governor’s win over Love, a longtime civil rights activist and advocate for North Omaha, followed a race in which Ricketts largely targeted the state’s Republican base.

Some in that base had criticized Ricketts for securing his appointment from Pillen, who was publicly supported by Ricketts during the contested 2022 gubernatorial primary. Pillen called Ricketts the most qualified applicant.

Ricketts pledged to conservative Nebraskans that if elected he would check the worst spending impulses of President Joe Biden and his potential successor, Vice President Kamala Harris.

He also pledged to be a reliable vote for tax and regulatory cuts sought by former President Donald Trump. He emphasized work to make the federal government more effective and efficient.

Ricketts’ record shows him as a fiscal conservative who held the state’s purse strings tightly as governor. In the Senate, he has emphasized national defense, support for Israel and border security.

Ricketts said the Senate needed a stricter immigration bill than the bipartisan border bill proposed by Oklahoma U.S. Sen. James Lankford, which Republicans stopped after Trump intervened.

Love has said he ran in part to give Democrats a choice in the race and to boost turnout among populations that may have lost hope about voting.

He said no family should have as much political influence as the Ricketts family does, as top donors to conservative causes and ballot initiatives, including one this year supporting abortion restrictions.

Ricketts backed Initiative 434, a constitutional amendment that would ban abortion after the first trimester, with some exceptions. Love supported Initiative 439, an abortion-rights amendment that would add a right to abortion to the Nebraska Constitution until fetal viability, the timing of which would be defined by a treating health care practitioner.

Love, in an interview with the Examiner on Tuesday, said he was proud of his campaign for working to connect voters with a better way forward. He said he was “encouraged by the turnout in communities where people have lost trust in the process of voting.”

“I know we did all that we could do,” he said.

With Tuesday’s win, Ricketts will finish the last two years of Sasse’s term and has said he will run again in 2026 for a full six-year term. Sasse left to lead the University of Florida, which he has since resigned.

Ricketts lost his first Senate race in 2006 to former U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., in what was then the most expensive Senate race in Nebraska history. He largely self-financed his bid, and later described that decision as a mistake.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1730861408670.jpeg" alt=" U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., right, ran for the final two years of a U.S. Senate term against Democratic challenger Preston Love Jr. (Candidate photos courtesy of their campaigns. Capitol photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)" />
 <figcaption> U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., right, ran for the final two years of a U.S. Senate term against Democratic challenger Preston Love Jr. (Candidate photos courtesy of their campaigns. Capitol photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)</figcaption>
 </figure>Aaron Sanderford<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/11/05/former-nebraska-gov-ricketts-wins-first-election-to-u-s-senate-defeating-love/">Nebraska Examiner</a>OMAHA — Nebraska U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts on Tuesday finished the job he started during his first run for office in 2006, winning election to the U.S. Senate.&nbsp;Ricketts, an Omaha Republican, comfortably defeated Preston Love Jr., an Omaha Democrat. Ricketts was running as an incumbent because his successor as governor, Jim Pillen, appointed him to the seat in early 2023. That appointment came after former U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse resigned from the seat.The Associated Press called the race for Ricketts after the first round of election results were announced from early voting.He appeared likely to win by&nbsp;a larger margin than U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., on Tuesday, although his race was closer than Sasse’s 38-percentage point win in 2020.<h2>Traveling the state</h2>Ricketts attributed his success to connecting with Nebraska voters where they are. He said getting out in the state helps him hear what matters. His campaign helped organize a three-day barnstorming tour with the federal delegation.“People are worried about inflation,” Ricketts said. “It’s putting a squeeze on the pocketbook people don’t like. And the fact, our southern border is open and they’re seeing the impacts on their communities.”The former governor’s win over Love, a longtime civil rights activist and advocate for North Omaha, followed a race in which Ricketts largely targeted the state’s Republican base.Some in that base had criticized Ricketts for securing his appointment from Pillen, who was publicly supported by Ricketts during the contested 2022 gubernatorial primary. Pillen called Ricketts the most qualified applicant.Ricketts pledged to conservative Nebraskans that if elected he would check the worst spending impulses of President Joe Biden and his potential successor, Vice President Kamala Harris.He also pledged to be a reliable vote for tax and regulatory cuts sought by former President Donald Trump. He emphasized work to make the federal government more effective and efficient.<h2>Record as governor</h2>Ricketts’ record shows him as a fiscal conservative who held the state’s purse strings tightly as governor. In the Senate, he has emphasized national defense, support for Israel and border security.Ricketts said the Senate needed a stricter immigration bill than the bipartisan border bill proposed by Oklahoma U.S. Sen. James Lankford, which Republicans stopped after Trump intervened.Love has said he ran in part to give Democrats a choice in the race and to boost turnout among populations that may have lost hope about voting.He said no family should have as much political influence as the Ricketts family does, as top donors to conservative causes and ballot initiatives, including one this year supporting abortion restrictions.Ricketts backed Initiative 434, a constitutional amendment that would ban abortion after the first trimester, with some exceptions. Love supported Initiative 439, an abortion-rights amendment that would add a right to abortion to the Nebraska Constitution until fetal viability, the timing of which would be defined by a treating health care practitioner.<h2>Love glad he gave voters a choice</h2>Love, in an interview with the Examiner on Tuesday, said he was proud of his campaign for working to connect voters with a better way forward. He said he was “encouraged by the turnout in communities where people have lost trust in the process of voting.”“I know we did all that we could do,” he said.With Tuesday’s win, Ricketts will finish the last two years of Sasse’s term and has said he will run again in 2026 for a full six-year term. Sasse left to lead the University of Florida, which he has since resigned.Ricketts lost his first Senate race in 2006 to former U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., in what was then the most expensive Senate race in Nebraska history. He largely self-financed his bid, and later described that decision as a mistake.

Former Nebraska Gov. Ricketts wins first election to U.S. Senate, defeating Love

<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/virtual-listening-session-on-state-housing-programs-to-be-hosted-nov-8-by-nebraska-ded/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN — A virtual “listening session” is to be held Friday, Nov. 8, on housing programs administered by the Nebraska Department of Economic Development.

The 10:30 a.m. session, hosted by the DED, is to capture feedback, insight and ideas pertaining to the&nbsp;<a href="https://opportunity.nebraska.gov/programs/housing/" target="_blank">agency’s housing programs.</a>

“This is an opportunity to share your housing development perspective and experience to help identify ways in which programs and processes can better address the growing need for affordable housing in Nebraska,” according to a flier by the DED.

<a href="https://sonvideo.webex.com/webappng/sites/sonvideo/meeting/register/6e666c844d1649a1b4aaf341a95c166d?ticket=4832534b000000077675cbdf1c682e9c808ffc854fc6f60a86985d7f7f090108166e02d09730a184&amp;timestamp=1730328944131&amp;RGID=rce173f083d24ecdd666a5ff1e3adeeb4" target="_blank">Registration is required&nbsp;</a>by 5 p.m. Wednesday to participate, it said.&nbsp;

DED spokeswoman Kate Ellingson said a variety of programs could be discussed during the session and it is not limited to any particular ones.

Other in-person listening sessions were held Oct. 22 (in North Platte and Kearney) and Oct. 23 (in Lincoln and Omaha).

Cindy Gonzalez<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/virtual-listening-session-on-state-housing-programs-to-be-hosted-nov-8-by-nebraska-ded/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN — A virtual “listening session” is to be held Friday, Nov. 8, on housing programs administered by the Nebraska Department of Economic Development.The 10:30 a.m. session, hosted by the DED, is to capture feedback, insight and ideas pertaining to the&nbsp;<a href="https://opportunity.nebraska.gov/programs/housing/" target="_blank">agency’s housing programs.</a>“This is an opportunity to share your housing development perspective and experience to help identify ways in which programs and processes can better address the growing need for affordable housing in Nebraska,” according to a flier by the DED.<a href="https://sonvideo.webex.com/webappng/sites/sonvideo/meeting/register/6e666c844d1649a1b4aaf341a95c166d?ticket=4832534b000000077675cbdf1c682e9c808ffc854fc6f60a86985d7f7f090108166e02d09730a184&amp;timestamp=1730328944131&amp;RGID=rce173f083d24ecdd666a5ff1e3adeeb4" target="_blank">Registration is required&nbsp;</a>by 5 p.m. Wednesday to participate, it said.&nbsp;DED spokeswoman Kate Ellingson said a variety of programs could be discussed during the session and it is not limited to any particular ones.Other in-person listening sessions were held Oct. 22 (in North Platte and Kearney) and Oct. 23 (in Lincoln and Omaha).

Virtual ‘listening session’ on state housing programs to be hosted Nov. 8 by Nebraska DED

Alzheimer's Association – Nebraska Chapter

November is National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month and Family Caregivers Month. To mark these events, the Alzheimer’s Association - Nebraska Chapter is encouraging people to lend a helping hand to more than 40,000 family members and friends serving as Alzheimer’s caregivers.

Providing help and support to caregivers can be easier than most people think. Even little acts can make a big difference. The Alzheimer’s Association - Nebraska Chapter offers these suggestions:

●&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Learn:&nbsp;Educate yourself about Alzheimer’s disease – its symptoms, its progression and the common challenges facing caregivers. The more you know, the easier it will be to find ways to help.

●&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Build a Team:&nbsp;Organize family and friends who want to help with caregiving. The Alzheimer's Association offers&nbsp;<a href="https://www.alz.org/help-support/caregiving/care-options/care-team-calendar" target="_blank">links</a>&nbsp;to several free, online care calendar resources that families can use to build their care team, share takes and coordinate helpers.

●&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Give Caregivers a Break:&nbsp;Make a standing appointment to give the caregiver a break. Spend time with the person living with dementia and allow the caregiver a chance to run errands, go to their own doctor’s appointment, participate in a support group or engage in an activity that helps them recharge. Even one hour could make a big difference in providing the caregiver with some relief.

●&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Check In:&nbsp;Many Alzheimer’s and dementia caregivers report feeling isolated or alone. So, start the conversation&nbsp;–&nbsp;a phone call to check in, sending a note, or stopping by for a visit can make&nbsp;<a>a big difference</a>&nbsp;in a caregiver’s day and help them feel supported.

●&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Tackle the To-Do List:&nbsp;Ask for a list of errands that need to be run – such as picking up groceries or prescriptions.&nbsp;Offer to do yard work or other household chores. It can be hard for a caregiver to find time to complete these simple tasks that we often take for granted.

●&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Be Specific and Be Flexible:&nbsp;Open-ended offers of support (“call me if you need anything” or “let me know if I can help”) may be well-intended but are often dismissed. Be specific in your offer (“I’m going to the store, what do you need?”). Continue to let the caregiver know that you are there and ready to help.

●&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Help for the Holidays:&nbsp;Holiday celebrations are often joyous occasions, but they can be challenging and stressful for families&nbsp;facing&nbsp;Alzheimer’s. Help caregivers around the holidays by offering to help with cooking, cleaning or gift shopping. If a caregiver has traditionally hosted family celebrations, offer your home instead.

●&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Join the Fight:&nbsp;Honor a person living with the disease and their caregivers by joining the fight against Alzheimer’s. You can volunteer&nbsp;with&nbsp;your local Alzheimer’s Association&nbsp;chapter, participate in fundraising events such as&nbsp;<a href="http://www.alz.org/walk" target="_blank">Walk to End Alzheimer’s</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="http://www.alz.org/thelongestday" target="_blank">The Longest Day</a>, advocate for more research funding, or sign up to participate in a clinical study through the Alzheimer’s Association’s&nbsp;<a href="http://www.alz.org/trialmatch" target="_blank">Trial Match</a>.

To learn more about Alzheimer’s disease and ways you can support families and people living with the disease, visit&nbsp;<a href="https://alz.org/nebraska" target="_blank">alz.org/Nebraska</a>.

The Alzheimer’s Association is a worldwide voluntary health organization dedicated to Alzheimer’s care, support and research. Its mission is to lead the way to end Alzheimer's and all other dementia — by accelerating global research, driving risk reduction and early detection, and maximizing quality care and support. Visit<a href="http://www.alz.org/" target="_blank">&nbsp;alz.org</a>&nbsp;or call 800.272.3900.

Alzheimer's Association – Nebraska ChapterNovember is National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month and Family Caregivers Month. To mark these events, the Alzheimer’s Association - Nebraska Chapter is encouraging people to lend a helping hand to more than 40,000 family members and friends serving as Alzheimer’s caregivers.Providing help and support to caregivers can be easier than most people think. Even little acts can make a big difference. The Alzheimer’s Association - Nebraska Chapter offers these suggestions:●&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Learn:&nbsp;Educate yourself about Alzheimer’s disease – its symptoms, its progression and the common challenges facing caregivers. The more you know, the easier it will be to find ways to help.●&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Build a Team:&nbsp;Organize family and friends who want to help with caregiving. The Alzheimer's Association offers&nbsp;<a href="https://www.alz.org/help-support/caregiving/care-options/care-team-calendar" target="_blank">links</a>&nbsp;to several free, online care calendar resources that families can use to build their care team, share takes and coordinate helpers.●&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Give Caregivers a Break:&nbsp;Make a standing appointment to give the caregiver a break. Spend time with the person living with dementia and allow the caregiver a chance to run errands, go to their own doctor’s appointment, participate in a support group or engage in an activity that helps them recharge. Even one hour could make a big difference in providing the caregiver with some relief.●&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Check In:&nbsp;Many Alzheimer’s and dementia caregivers report feeling isolated or alone. So, start the conversation&nbsp;–&nbsp;a phone call to check in, sending a note, or stopping by for a visit can make&nbsp;<a>a big difference</a>&nbsp;in a caregiver’s day and help them feel supported.●&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Tackle the To-Do List:&nbsp;Ask for a list of errands that need to be run – such as picking up groceries or prescriptions.&nbsp;Offer to do yard work or other household chores. It can be hard for a caregiver to find time to complete these simple tasks that we often take for granted.●&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Be Specific and Be Flexible:&nbsp;Open-ended offers of support (“call me if you need anything” or “let me know if I can help”) may be well-intended but are often dismissed. Be specific in your offer (“I’m going to the store, what do you need?”). Continue to let the caregiver know that you are there and ready to help.●&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Help for the Holidays:&nbsp;Holiday celebrations are often joyous occasions, but they can be challenging and stressful for families&nbsp;facing&nbsp;Alzheimer’s. Help caregivers around the holidays by offering to help with cooking, cleaning or gift shopping. If a caregiver has traditionally hosted family celebrations, offer your home instead.●&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Join the Fight:&nbsp;Honor a person living with the disease and their caregivers by joining the fight against Alzheimer’s. You can volunteer&nbsp;with&nbsp;your local Alzheimer’s Association&nbsp;chapter, participate in fundraising events such as&nbsp;<a href="http://www.alz.org/walk" target="_blank">Walk to End Alzheimer’s</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="http://www.alz.org/thelongestday" target="_blank">The Longest Day</a>, advocate for more research funding, or sign up to participate in a clinical study through the Alzheimer’s Association’s&nbsp;<a href="http://www.alz.org/trialmatch" target="_blank">Trial Match</a>.To learn more about Alzheimer’s disease and ways you can support families and people living with the disease, visit&nbsp;<a href="https://alz.org/nebraska" target="_blank">alz.org/Nebraska</a>.Alzheimer's Association®The Alzheimer’s Association is a worldwide voluntary health organization dedicated to Alzheimer’s care, support and research. Its mission is to lead the way to end Alzheimer's and all other dementia — by accelerating global research, driving risk reduction and early detection, and maximizing quality care and support. Visit<a href="http://www.alz.org/" target="_blank">&nbsp;alz.org</a>&nbsp;or call 800.272.3900.

8 Ways to Support an Alzheimer’s Caregiver

<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/11/04/supreme-court-ruling-raises-concern-about-hauling-people-back-to-county-jails/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN — A ruling Friday by the Nebraska Supreme Court is raising concerns that some criminal offenders might have to return to a county jail to serve out more days behind bars.

That, some officials said, would be an expensive endeavor for counties and one that could exacerbate overcrowding in local jails, though one prosecutor said the impact will be limited.

The state’s highest court, in a rare, 4-3 split decision, ruled Friday that county jail inmates must serve 15 days on every separate conviction before any “good-time” reductions can be applied to their confinement.

Several counties, including at least Lancaster and Hall Counties, now calculate good time (a reduction in a sentence for good behavior) contrary to Friday’s ruling. They read the state law to mean that inmates must serve 15 days on their entire jail sentence, which possibly covers several separate convictions.&nbsp;

That results in a shorter stay in jail than if the 15 days of so-called “hard time” must be served on each conviction.

Lancaster County Public Defender Kristi Egger called the ruling “shortsighted” because it did not explain how county jails should respond to the decision. If it means some defendants have to return to jail for a few more days, Egger said that could lead to increased overcrowding in county jails, such as Lancaster County.

Egger cited a pointed dissenting opinion written by retiring Chief Justice Mike Heavican, who wrote that it took a “Sisyphean attempt” by the majority to conclude that state law required the 15 days behind bars for every separate offense before getting good time.

“If significant work must be done to discover whether a statute is unambiguous, that statute is probably ambiguous,” Heavican wrote.&nbsp;

If a statute is ambiguous, the “rule of lenity” dictates that an issue be decided in favor of a defendant, he said.

The attorney who argued the case before the Supreme Court said Monday he doubts whether Friday’s ruling will require anyone to be “hauled back to jail,” as happened a decade ago,when the state corrections department miscalculated the release date of dozens of inmates, requiring several to return to prison.

Travis Rodak, who argued the case for Box Butte County, said Friday’s case and what happened in the state prison system in 2014 were like comparing “apples and oranges.”&nbsp;

“I don’t see this impacting a lot of current cases,” Rodak said.

For one thing, he said, there aren’t many offenders who are serving consecutive sentences for two totally different crimes. It’s more common for offenders to serve sentences concurrently — and such concurrent sentences are unaffected by Friday’s ruling.

In an email, Kearney County Attorney Melanie Bellamy, president of the state county attorneys association, said she was glad the Supreme Court had clarified the good time issue, adding that it would be up to each&nbsp;individual county, “working with local courts and law enforcement,” to comply with the Mullins v. Box Butte decision.

Longtime Hall County Public Defender Gerald Piccolo said he expects his county to explore returning some people back to jail to finish out the extra days they didn’t serve, based on the Supreme Court’s ruling. He added, however, he wouldn’t do that if he was running the jail because of the expense involved in tracking down those people and housing them.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The case argued before the Supreme Court involved Samuel Mullins, now 35, who pleaded no contest to resisting arrest in December 2022 and then to domestic assault in January 2023. Those were two separate misdemeanor offenses.&nbsp;

In Box Butte County, the state law was interpreted to mean that the two separate offenses required two separate stints of 15 days in jail before good time reductions could be applied.

Bell Island, a defense attorney who represented Mullins, appealed the county’s interpretation as being wrong. The Nebraska Defense Attorneys Association, represented by Lincoln lawyer Spike Eickholt, joined the case, arguing that the 15-day wait should be applied to the “sum of all sentences” to be served.&nbsp;

The unsigned majority opinion on Friday agreed with the arguments raised by Rodak, who argued that “common sense, legislative intent, and public policy would seem to dictate that convictions for separate offenses, unless ordered to be served concurrently by the Court, must have separate and independent sentencing calculations.”

The court majority concluded that it was unnecessary to&nbsp;“depend upon legislative materials such as committee reports or floor debates” and to “scour such legislative materials” to determine if state law concerning county jail good time calculation was ambiguous or not because the statutory language appeared clear.

That prompted disagreement from Heavican — who retired as of Oct. 31 — as well as a separate dissent written by Justice Jonathan Papik and signed by Justice Stephanie Stacy.&nbsp;

Egger, the Lancaster County public defender, said the ruling did a “disservice” by not looking at legislative discussion and lawmakers’ attempt to standardize criminal sentences across the state.

&nbsp;“At a time when the jails are full and the cost of housing people in custody is higher and higher, and when it is obvious that Legislature was trying to do something to give appropriate credit where credit was due by changing the good time statute, the majority opinion in Mullins misses the mark,” Egger said.

Paul Hammel<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/11/04/supreme-court-ruling-raises-concern-about-hauling-people-back-to-county-jails/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN — A ruling Friday by the Nebraska Supreme Court is raising concerns that some criminal offenders might have to return to a county jail to serve out more days behind bars.That, some officials said, would be an expensive endeavor for counties and one that could exacerbate overcrowding in local jails, though one prosecutor said the impact will be limited.The state’s highest court, in a rare, 4-3 split decision, ruled Friday that county jail inmates must serve 15 days on every separate conviction before any “good-time” reductions can be applied to their confinement.Several counties, including at least Lancaster and Hall Counties, now calculate good time (a reduction in a sentence for good behavior) contrary to Friday’s ruling. They read the state law to mean that inmates must serve 15 days on their entire jail sentence, which possibly covers several separate convictions.&nbsp;That results in a shorter stay in jail than if the 15 days of so-called “hard time” must be served on each conviction.Lancaster County Public Defender Kristi Egger called the ruling “shortsighted” because it did not explain how county jails should respond to the decision. If it means some defendants have to return to jail for a few more days, Egger said that could lead to increased overcrowding in county jails, such as Lancaster County.Egger cited a pointed dissenting opinion written by retiring Chief Justice Mike Heavican, who wrote that it took a “Sisyphean attempt” by the majority to conclude that state law required the 15 days behind bars for every separate offense before getting good time.“If significant work must be done to discover whether a statute is unambiguous, that statute is probably ambiguous,” Heavican wrote.&nbsp;If a statute is ambiguous, the “rule of lenity” dictates that an issue be decided in favor of a defendant, he said.<h2>‘Apples and oranges’</h2>The attorney who argued the case before the Supreme Court said Monday he doubts whether Friday’s ruling will require anyone to be “hauled back to jail,” as happened a decade ago,when the state corrections department miscalculated the release date of dozens of inmates, requiring several to return to prison.Travis Rodak, who argued the case for Box Butte County, said Friday’s case and what happened in the state prison system in 2014 were like comparing “apples and oranges.”&nbsp;“I don’t see this impacting a lot of current cases,” Rodak said.For one thing, he said, there aren’t many offenders who are serving consecutive sentences for two totally different crimes. It’s more common for offenders to serve sentences concurrently — and such concurrent sentences are unaffected by Friday’s ruling.In an email, Kearney County Attorney Melanie Bellamy, president of the state county attorneys association, said she was glad the Supreme Court had clarified the good time issue, adding that it would be up to each&nbsp;individual county, “working with local courts and law enforcement,” to comply with the Mullins v. Box Butte decision.Longtime Hall County Public Defender Gerald Piccolo said he expects his county to explore returning some people back to jail to finish out the extra days they didn’t serve, based on the Supreme Court’s ruling. He added, however, he wouldn’t do that if he was running the jail because of the expense involved in tracking down those people and housing them.&nbsp;&nbsp;The case argued before the Supreme Court involved Samuel Mullins, now 35, who pleaded no contest to resisting arrest in December 2022 and then to domestic assault in January 2023. Those were two separate misdemeanor offenses.&nbsp;In Box Butte County, the state law was interpreted to mean that the two separate offenses required two separate stints of 15 days in jail before good time reductions could be applied.<h2>County’s interpretation appealed</h2>Bell Island, a defense attorney who represented Mullins, appealed the county’s interpretation as being wrong. The Nebraska Defense Attorneys Association, represented by Lincoln lawyer Spike Eickholt, joined the case, arguing that the 15-day wait should be applied to the “sum of all sentences” to be served.&nbsp;The unsigned majority opinion on Friday agreed with the arguments raised by Rodak, who argued that “common sense, legislative intent, and public policy would seem to dictate that convictions for separate offenses, unless ordered to be served concurrently by the Court, must have separate and independent sentencing calculations.”The court majority concluded that it was unnecessary to&nbsp;“depend upon legislative materials such as committee reports or floor debates” and to “scour such legislative materials” to determine if state law concerning county jail good time calculation was ambiguous or not because the statutory language appeared clear.That prompted disagreement from Heavican — who retired as of Oct. 31 — as well as a separate dissent written by Justice Jonathan Papik and signed by Justice Stephanie Stacy.&nbsp;Egger, the Lancaster County public defender, said the ruling did a “disservice” by not looking at legislative discussion and lawmakers’ attempt to standardize criminal sentences across the state.&nbsp;“At a time when the jails are full and the cost of housing people in custody is higher and higher, and when it is obvious that Legislature was trying to do something to give appropriate credit where credit was due by changing the good time statute, the majority opinion in Mullins misses the mark,” Egger said.

Supreme Court ruling raises concern about ‘hauling’ people back to county jails

<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/11/04/attorneys-make-final-arguments-in-trial-against-nebraska-medical-cannabis-petitions/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN —&nbsp;Attorneys on the final day in Nebraska’s civil trial involving two medical cannabis ballot measures summed up the case in very different ways: They were either isolated mistakes and “human error,” or they were widespread, “serious, intentional wrongdoing.”

Monday marked the fourth and final day of the trial before Lancaster County District Judge Susan Strong. A final decision won’t come for at least two weeks, as attorneys file post-trial briefs directing Strong’s attention to evidence for or against disqualifying the&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/11/04/ballot-measure-fundraising-nears-40-million-ahead-of-nebraska-2024-election/">measures</a>.

The&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/10/28/parents-patients-make-final-push-for-nebraskans-to-support-medical-cannabis/">efforts</a>&nbsp;—&nbsp;Initiative Measure 437 to legalize medical cannabis and Initiative Measure 438 to regulate the drug —&nbsp;remain on Tuesday’s ballot. The&nbsp;<a href="https://sos.nebraska.gov/elections/2024-elections" target="_blank">votes</a>&nbsp;will be&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/11/01/judge-rules-nebraska-medical-cannabis-votes-will-be-counted-and-is-leaning-against-delaying-trial/">counted and the results made public</a>.

Steven Guenzel, one of four attorneys who brought the initial Sept. 12 lawsuit on behalf of John Kuehn, a former state senator and former State Board of Health member, said Monday that the case wasn’t about the legitimacy of marijuana or a “few isolated situations.”

Guenzel said he believes the advocates for the Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana campaign were zealous and cared very much, yet for some, “that zeal gave way to something worse.”

“That zeal gave way to, ‘The ends justify the means,’” Guenzel said.

Deputy Solicitor General Zach Viglianco, defending Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen in the&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/09/12/lawsuit-seeks-to-invalidate-nebraskas-medical-marijuana-ballot-measures/">lawsuit</a>, in opposition to the campaign’s three ballot sponsors, said it isn’t unprecedented to ask the judiciary to be the state’s “constitutional watchdog.”

But what is unprecedented, Viglianco argued, is the “widespread, pervasive and serious, intentional wrongdoing that was undertaken by individuals associated with the petition campaign.”

The attorneys for Kuehn and the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office have joined forces to&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/10/07/ag-secretary-of-state-target-nearly-100000-signatures-on-nebraska-medical-cannabis-petitions/">challenge</a>&nbsp;at least 80,000 signatures on the two campaigns, largely by extending observed circulator fraud or notary malfeasance to every petition those individuals touched.

Evnen previously certified nearly 90,000 valid signatures on both petitions. They need at least 86,499 valid signatures, which local county election officials are charged with verifying.

‘Potentially disastrous consequences’

Daniel Gutman, an attorney for the ballot sponsors, dismissed those arguments, stating that no court has said improper notarizations should discredit all other documents they touched.

Viglianco and Assistant Attorneys General Justin Hall and Phoebe Lurz offered multiple examples of&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/10/29/trial-begins-in-case-against-nebraskas-medical-cannabis-ballot-measures/">improper notarizations</a>, including a circulator notarizing the signatures they gathered, notaries putting the wrong date when they notarized, notaries signing off on a sheet that lacked a circulator’s oath and sheets where a notary’s stamp was crossed off and replaced.

Gutman said some of those were mistakes, while the AG’s Office argued they were fraud or malfeasance. Gutman said that argument could be extended to other notarized documents, such as wills, mortgages, purchase agreements and affidavits.

“The imagination doesn’t have to wander far to grasp the potentially disastrous consequences of the legal arguments advanced in this case,” Gutman said.

Gutman said the attorneys for Evnen and Kuehn assumed the worst but still couldn’t find enough signatures to toss the campaigns, finding about 706 direct instances of purported fraud or malfeasance on one petition, and 394 direct instances on the other.

Viglianco said those instances “cast an inescapable shadow of fraud on every single signature that the NMM campaign submitted,” so it’s impossible to tell what is “genuine.”

One paid petition circulator, Michael Egbert of Grand Island, testified that he used a phone book to forge signatures and to fill in information for voters who didn’t sign the petitions.&nbsp;

<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/10/31/paid-petition-circulator-with-troubled-past-takes-the-stand-in-nebraska-medical-cannabis-trial/">Jennifer Henning</a>&nbsp;of Omaha, another paid circulator, alleged that ballot sponsor Crista Eggers, the campaign manager, told her to pick up petitions she didn’t circulate, and that Henning later signed off on those signatures from Seward on Eggers’ behalf.

“That narrative, that entire story, is so compelling because it illustrates in one discrete story the intentional wrongdoing — the fraud, the malfeasance, the wrongful conduct — that exists throughout this case,” Viglianco said.

The AG’s Office showed a text between Henning and Eggers, in which Eggers told Henning, “As long as you just sign your petitions, I am comfortable notarizing them. I know you and that you are who you say you are.”

Gutman blasted Henning as having “absolutely no credibility” as she is currently on probation for two counts of felony insurance fraud; has previously submitted fraudulent documents to multiple Nebraska courts; and was sanctioned by a Douglas County district judge in 2020.&nbsp;

Henning was sick when the trial began but appeared on the second day, which Gutman said raised suspicion.

“She went from allegedly having ulcerative lesions in her vocal cords — ’I can’t talk,’ she emails the court — to having a very spirited and very vocal conversation with my colleague,” Gutman told Strong.

Viglianco asked why Henning, who must follow the law and talk to law enforcement as part of her probation and who vigorously supports medical marijuana, would lie.

Henning testified that she is “scared to death” of punishment, Gutman said, arguing that when the Attorney General’s Office called, she told them “exactly what they want to hear.”

Connely, Eggers and three other notaries pleaded a Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination while on the stand or during depositions, citing ongoing criminal investigations.

Evnen’s attorneys also showed a text between Eggers and Garrett Connely, a 22-year-old circulator and notary for the campaign, in which Eggers said “there is no more nice campaign.”

“We don’t follow the rules anymore,” Eggers responded. “And we just pay the consequences and hope it’s OK.”

Egbert, who has been charged with a felony, testified that he has a neurological condition that affects his memory. Egbert said local and state law enforcement had promised him that if he told the truth, it&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/11/01/judge-rules-nebraska-medical-cannabis-votes-will-be-counted-and-is-leaning-against-delaying-trial/">wouldn’t impact his criminal case</a>&nbsp;in Hall County.

Hall County officials trained to catch invalidities caught Egbert, Gutman said, but it was the AG’s Office that assumed the worst of everyone involved with the campaign.&nbsp;

Gutman said, Egbert was used by Evnen’s attorneys “as a means of obtaining a political end and ensure that no Nebraskan has the opportunity to vote on medical cannabis.”

Viglianco said that the case wasn’t about “two bad apples” and that asking local officials to be “hypervigilant fraud and malfeasance detectors” is asking too much.

Jacy Todd of York, the notary charged in connection with Egbert’s admitted wrongdoing, has “vigorously” denied that he ever notarized a petition when Egbert wasn’t in front of him. Medical issues prevented Todd from testifying in person.

In another text, Eggers told a campaign volunteer that she couldn’t add anything to petition sheets, including ZIP codes, because it could invalidate the signatures.

Viglianco said that the texts corroborated the testimony of Egbert and Henning and that Eggers knew the campaign was breaking the rules.

“She rolled the dice. She made the choice to try her luck,” Viglianco said of Eggers. “She gambled. And she lost.”

Gutman and other attorneys for the ballot sponsors have argued that Eggers’ texts are being taken out of context.

Todd and Egbert and the only people who have been criminally charged in connection to the campaign, based on public court documents.

Viglianco asked broadly why the ballot sponsors’ attorneys didn’t call State Sen. Anna Wishart or former State Sen. Adam Morfeld, the other two sponsors, as witnesses and why they didn’t show training documents or proof of training or outline other communications proving respect for the “rules.”

“The simple explanation is that that evidence wasn’t introduced because it does not exist,” Viglianco said. “Evidence of a rule-following, clean campaign has not been introduced because that was not the campaign that was run.”

Gutman read a deposition transcript from Connely, who told the AG’s Office that human error is “a part of life.”

Asked whether the state’s notary exam said human error in notarizations is allowed, Connely said no, “but you would like to think better of your government than to go after people for human error.”

“I think Garrett Connely speaks for tens of thousands of people who signed this petition, and maybe the electorate more generally: Why is our government so committed to undermining these initiatives?” Gutman told Strong. “Why is the government prosecuting people civilly and criminally for human error?”

Strong ordered the attorneys for Evnen and Kuehn to submit post-trial briefs by Nov. 12. Ballot sponsors are to respond by Nov. 15. Kuehn and Evnen may respond by Nov. 18.

If Strong sides with Evnen and Kuehn, the ballot sponsors could be allowed to “cure” or prove the legitimacy of any challenged signatures. If she sides with the sponsors, the case would end at the district court level.

No matter who prevails, Strong and multiple attorneys have said the case will likely be appealed to the Nebraska Supreme Court.

Nebraska’s constitutional officers will meet Dec. 2 to certify Tuesday’s election results. Legal challenges can continue after that date.

Zach Wendling<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/11/04/attorneys-make-final-arguments-in-trial-against-nebraska-medical-cannabis-petitions/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN —&nbsp;Attorneys on the final day in Nebraska’s civil trial involving two medical cannabis ballot measures summed up the case in very different ways: They were either isolated mistakes and “human error,” or they were widespread, “serious, intentional wrongdoing.”Monday marked the fourth and final day of the trial before Lancaster County District Judge Susan Strong. A final decision won’t come for at least two weeks, as attorneys file post-trial briefs directing Strong’s attention to evidence for or against disqualifying the&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/11/04/ballot-measure-fundraising-nears-40-million-ahead-of-nebraska-2024-election/">measures</a>.The&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/10/28/parents-patients-make-final-push-for-nebraskans-to-support-medical-cannabis/">efforts</a>&nbsp;—&nbsp;Initiative Measure 437 to legalize medical cannabis and Initiative Measure 438 to regulate the drug —&nbsp;remain on Tuesday’s ballot. The&nbsp;<a href="https://sos.nebraska.gov/elections/2024-elections" target="_blank">votes</a>&nbsp;will be&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/11/01/judge-rules-nebraska-medical-cannabis-votes-will-be-counted-and-is-leaning-against-delaying-trial/">counted and the results made public</a>.<h2>‘The ends justify the means’</h2>Steven Guenzel, one of four attorneys who brought the initial Sept. 12 lawsuit on behalf of John Kuehn, a former state senator and former State Board of Health member, said Monday that the case wasn’t about the legitimacy of marijuana or a “few isolated situations.”Guenzel said he believes the advocates for the Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana campaign were zealous and cared very much, yet for some, “that zeal gave way to something worse.”“That zeal gave way to, ‘The ends justify the means,’” Guenzel said.Deputy Solicitor General Zach Viglianco, defending Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen in the&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/09/12/lawsuit-seeks-to-invalidate-nebraskas-medical-marijuana-ballot-measures/">lawsuit</a>, in opposition to the campaign’s three ballot sponsors, said it isn’t unprecedented to ask the judiciary to be the state’s “constitutional watchdog.”But what is unprecedented, Viglianco argued, is the “widespread, pervasive and serious, intentional wrongdoing that was undertaken by individuals associated with the petition campaign.”The attorneys for Kuehn and the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office have joined forces to&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/10/07/ag-secretary-of-state-target-nearly-100000-signatures-on-nebraska-medical-cannabis-petitions/">challenge</a>&nbsp;at least 80,000 signatures on the two campaigns, largely by extending observed circulator fraud or notary malfeasance to every petition those individuals touched.Evnen previously certified nearly 90,000 valid signatures on both petitions. They need at least 86,499 valid signatures, which local county election officials are charged with verifying.<h2>‘Potentially disastrous consequences’</h2>Daniel Gutman, an attorney for the ballot sponsors, dismissed those arguments, stating that no court has said improper notarizations should discredit all other documents they touched.Viglianco and Assistant Attorneys General Justin Hall and Phoebe Lurz offered multiple examples of&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/10/29/trial-begins-in-case-against-nebraskas-medical-cannabis-ballot-measures/">improper notarizations</a>, including a circulator notarizing the signatures they gathered, notaries putting the wrong date when they notarized, notaries signing off on a sheet that lacked a circulator’s oath and sheets where a notary’s stamp was crossed off and replaced.Gutman said some of those were mistakes, while the AG’s Office argued they were fraud or malfeasance. Gutman said that argument could be extended to other notarized documents, such as wills, mortgages, purchase agreements and affidavits.“The imagination doesn’t have to wander far to grasp the potentially disastrous consequences of the legal arguments advanced in this case,” Gutman said.Gutman said the attorneys for Evnen and Kuehn assumed the worst but still couldn’t find enough signatures to toss the campaigns, finding about 706 direct instances of purported fraud or malfeasance on one petition, and 394 direct instances on the other.Viglianco said those instances “cast an inescapable shadow of fraud on every single signature that the NMM campaign submitted,” so it’s impossible to tell what is “genuine.”<h2>State’s key witnesses</h2>One paid petition circulator, Michael Egbert of Grand Island, testified that he used a phone book to forge signatures and to fill in information for voters who didn’t sign the petitions.&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/10/31/paid-petition-circulator-with-troubled-past-takes-the-stand-in-nebraska-medical-cannabis-trial/">Jennifer Henning</a>&nbsp;of Omaha, another paid circulator, alleged that ballot sponsor Crista Eggers, the campaign manager, told her to pick up petitions she didn’t circulate, and that Henning later signed off on those signatures from Seward on Eggers’ behalf.“That narrative, that entire story, is so compelling because it illustrates in one discrete story the intentional wrongdoing — the fraud, the malfeasance, the wrongful conduct — that exists throughout this case,” Viglianco said.The AG’s Office showed a text between Henning and Eggers, in which Eggers told Henning, “As long as you just sign your petitions, I am comfortable notarizing them. I know you and that you are who you say you are.”Gutman blasted Henning as having “absolutely no credibility” as she is currently on probation for two counts of felony insurance fraud; has previously submitted fraudulent documents to multiple Nebraska courts; and was sanctioned by a Douglas County district judge in 2020.&nbsp;Henning was sick when the trial began but appeared on the second day, which Gutman said raised suspicion.“She went from allegedly having ulcerative lesions in her vocal cords — ’I can’t talk,’ she emails the court — to having a very spirited and very vocal conversation with my colleague,” Gutman told Strong.Viglianco asked why Henning, who must follow the law and talk to law enforcement as part of her probation and who vigorously supports medical marijuana, would lie.Henning testified that she is “scared to death” of punishment, Gutman said, arguing that when the Attorney General’s Office called, she told them “exactly what they want to hear.”Connely, Eggers and three other notaries pleaded a Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination while on the stand or during depositions, citing ongoing criminal investigations.<h2>‘She rolled the dice’</h2>Evnen’s attorneys also showed a text between Eggers and Garrett Connely, a 22-year-old circulator and notary for the campaign, in which Eggers said “there is no more nice campaign.”“We don’t follow the rules anymore,” Eggers responded. “And we just pay the consequences and hope it’s OK.”Egbert, who has been charged with a felony, testified that he has a neurological condition that affects his memory. Egbert said local and state law enforcement had promised him that if he told the truth, it&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/11/01/judge-rules-nebraska-medical-cannabis-votes-will-be-counted-and-is-leaning-against-delaying-trial/">wouldn’t impact his criminal case</a>&nbsp;in Hall County.Hall County officials trained to catch invalidities caught Egbert, Gutman said, but it was the AG’s Office that assumed the worst of everyone involved with the campaign.&nbsp;Gutman said, Egbert was used by Evnen’s attorneys “as a means of obtaining a political end and ensure that no Nebraskan has the opportunity to vote on medical cannabis.”Viglianco said that the case wasn’t about “two bad apples” and that asking local officials to be “hypervigilant fraud and malfeasance detectors” is asking too much.Jacy Todd of York, the notary charged in connection with Egbert’s admitted wrongdoing, has “vigorously” denied that he ever notarized a petition when Egbert wasn’t in front of him. Medical issues prevented Todd from testifying in person.In another text, Eggers told a campaign volunteer that she couldn’t add anything to petition sheets, including ZIP codes, because it could invalidate the signatures.Viglianco said that the texts corroborated the testimony of Egbert and Henning and that Eggers knew the campaign was breaking the rules.“She rolled the dice. She made the choice to try her luck,” Viglianco said of Eggers. “She gambled. And she lost.”Gutman and other attorneys for the ballot sponsors have argued that Eggers’ texts are being taken out of context.Todd and Egbert and the only people who have been criminally charged in connection to the campaign, based on public court documents.<h2>‘Human error’</h2>Viglianco asked broadly why the ballot sponsors’ attorneys didn’t call State Sen. Anna Wishart or former State Sen. Adam Morfeld, the other two sponsors, as witnesses and why they didn’t show training documents or proof of training or outline other communications proving respect for the “rules.”“The simple explanation is that that evidence wasn’t introduced because it does not exist,” Viglianco said. “Evidence of a rule-following, clean campaign has not been introduced because that was not the campaign that was run.”Gutman read a deposition transcript from Connely, who told the AG’s Office that human error is “a part of life.”Asked whether the state’s notary exam said human error in notarizations is allowed, Connely said no, “but you would like to think better of your government than to go after people for human error.”“I think Garrett Connely speaks for tens of thousands of people who signed this petition, and maybe the electorate more generally: Why is our government so committed to undermining these initiatives?” Gutman told Strong. “Why is the government prosecuting people civilly and criminally for human error?”Strong ordered the attorneys for Evnen and Kuehn to submit post-trial briefs by Nov. 12. Ballot sponsors are to respond by Nov. 15. Kuehn and Evnen may respond by Nov. 18.If Strong sides with Evnen and Kuehn, the ballot sponsors could be allowed to “cure” or prove the legitimacy of any challenged signatures. If she sides with the sponsors, the case would end at the district court level.No matter who prevails, Strong and multiple attorneys have said the case will likely be appealed to the Nebraska Supreme Court.Nebraska’s constitutional officers will meet Dec. 2 to certify Tuesday’s election results. Legal challenges can continue after that date.

Attorneys make final arguments in trial against Nebraska medical cannabis petitions

The FBI was made aware of two instances of its name and insignia being misused in promoting false narratives surrounding the election. The first is a fabricated news clip purporting to be a terrorist warning issued by the FBI. 

The fabricated news clip reports falsely that the FBI purportedly stated that Americans should “vote remotely” due to a high terror threat at polling stations. This video is not authentic and does not accurately represent the current threat posture or polling location safety.

Additionally, a fabricated video containing a fabricated FBI press release alleges that the management of five prisons in Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Arizona rigged inmate voting and colluded with a political party. This video is also not authentic, and its contents are false.

Election integrity is among our highest priorities, and the FBI is working closely with state and local law enforcement partners to respond to election threats and protect our communities as Americans exercise their right to vote. Attempts to deceive the public with false content about FBI threat assessments and activities aim to undermine our democratic process and erode trust in the electoral system. &nbsp;

The FBI encourages everyone to seek election and voting information from reliable sources, such as your local election office. And if you suspect criminal activity, we ask that you report that information to state or local law enforcement or by contacting the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324), or by submitting a tip online to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fbi.gov/tips">tips.fbi.gov</a>.

Federal Bureau of InvestigationThe FBI was made aware of two instances of its name and insignia being misused in promoting false narratives surrounding the election. The first is a fabricated news clip purporting to be a terrorist warning issued by the FBI. The fabricated news clip reports falsely that the FBI purportedly stated that Americans should “vote remotely” due to a high terror threat at polling stations. This video is not authentic and does not accurately represent the current threat posture or polling location safety.Additionally, a fabricated video containing a fabricated FBI press release alleges that the management of five prisons in Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Arizona rigged inmate voting and colluded with a political party. This video is also not authentic, and its contents are false.Election integrity is among our highest priorities, and the FBI is working closely with state and local law enforcement partners to respond to election threats and protect our communities as Americans exercise their right to vote. Attempts to deceive the public with false content about FBI threat assessments and activities aim to undermine our democratic process and erode trust in the electoral system. &nbsp;The FBI encourages everyone to seek election and voting information from reliable sources, such as your local election office. And if you suspect criminal activity, we ask that you report that information to state or local law enforcement or by contacting the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324), or by submitting a tip online to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fbi.gov/tips">tips.fbi.gov</a>.

FBI warns voters of fabricated videos misusing its name and insignia

<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/ne-secretary-of-state-bob-evnen-predicts-72-statewide-voter-turnout/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN — Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen is predicting a 72% statewide voter turnout for the 2024 general election, an estimate based on early voting and turnout trends in recent general elections.

That’s in the same league as the statewide 76% turnout for the 2020 presidential election, which was&nbsp;fueled by overwhelming amounts of early voting connected to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Evnen, in a press release Monday, said county election offices have done a “remarkable job” of helping early voters cast their ballots securely.

“Nebraskans continue to fulfill the new voter ID requirement before voting, and we expect that to continue on Election Day,” he said.

Nebraska has 1,264,149 registered voters. So far, Evnen said, 332,455 registered voters have successfully cast ballots for the Nov. 5 general election.

Of those, 72,049 have voted early in person at county election offices and 260,406 have voted early by mail including voters in by-mail counties or precincts.

Today (Monday Nov. 4) is the final day voters can vote early in person at county election offices.

Tuesday (Nov. 5) is the final day voters can return their early voting ballots to county election offices.

To be counted, early voting ballots must be returned to county election offices by the close of polls (8 p.m. Central Time, 7 p.m. Mountain Time) on Election Day. Late ballots will not be accepted, even if postmarked on or before Election Day.&nbsp;

Evnen’s staff said Monday that it is too late for voters to mail their early voting ballots. Voters should use&nbsp;<a href="https://sos.nebraska.gov/elections/nebraska-drop-box-locator" target="_blank">secure drop boxes&nbsp;</a>to return their early voting ballots before the close of polls on Election Day.

Cindy Gonzalez<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/ne-secretary-of-state-bob-evnen-predicts-72-statewide-voter-turnout/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN — Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen is predicting a 72% statewide voter turnout for the 2024 general election, an estimate based on early voting and turnout trends in recent general elections.That’s in the same league as the statewide 76% turnout for the 2020 presidential election, which was&nbsp;fueled by overwhelming amounts of early voting connected to the COVID-19 pandemic.Evnen, in a press release Monday, said county election offices have done a “remarkable job” of helping early voters cast their ballots securely.“Nebraskans continue to fulfill the new voter ID requirement before voting, and we expect that to continue on Election Day,” he said.Nebraska has 1,264,149 registered voters. So far, Evnen said, 332,455 registered voters have successfully cast ballots for the Nov. 5 general election.Of those, 72,049 have voted early in person at county election offices and 260,406 have voted early by mail including voters in by-mail counties or precincts.His office offered a few key reminders:Today (Monday Nov. 4) is the final day voters can vote early in person at county election offices.Tuesday (Nov. 5) is the final day voters can return their early voting ballots to county election offices.To be counted, early voting ballots must be returned to county election offices by the close of polls (8 p.m. Central Time, 7 p.m. Mountain Time) on Election Day. Late ballots will not be accepted, even if postmarked on or before Election Day.&nbsp;Evnen’s staff said Monday that it is too late for voters to mail their early voting ballots. Voters should use&nbsp;<a href="https://sos.nebraska.gov/elections/nebraska-drop-box-locator" target="_blank">secure drop boxes&nbsp;</a>to return their early voting ballots before the close of polls on Election Day.Nebraskans can find their polling place on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.votercheck.necvr.ne.gov/voterview" target="_blank">VoterCheck</a>.Voters should be prepared to vote with an acceptable ID: Nebraska driver’s license or state ID; U.S. passport; military ID; Tribal ID; hospital, intermediate care facility, assisted-living facility or nursing home record; Nebraska political subdivision ID (state, county, city, school, etc.); Nebraska college or university ID (public or private).The ID must have the voter’s name and photo. IDs can be expired. Nebraska’s new law does not require Nebraska voters to re-register to vote. Voter ID educational material is available in English and Spanish at&nbsp;<a href="http://voterid.nebraska.gov/" target="_blank">voterID.nebraska.gov.</a>