<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/11/02/love-makes-history-again-while-ricketts-lays-groundwork-for-second-run-in-2026/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

OMAHA — Making history has become a political habit for Preston Love Jr., the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Nebraska, who is facing U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts, a Republican incumbent.

In 2020, Love became the state’s first Black candidate for the U.S. Senate backed by a major political party after the Nebraska Democratic Party abandoned its nominee, Chris Janicek.

This year, Love became the first Black Nebraskan to win a major party’s Senate nomination. His opponent, Ricketts, is a two-term governor who was appointed to the Senate by his successor.

Love also managed the barrier-breaking presidential campaign of the Rev. Jesse Jackson in the mid-1980s, a campaign credited with broadening who Americans might accept as president.

Love has made no bones about the steep climb he faces Tuesday against Ricketts, the political face of one of the most influential donor families in conservative politics nationally.&nbsp;

Love compared his upstart campaign to David in search of a rock to knock off Goliath. He acknowledged that his campaign is at least partially aimed at boosting turnout for other races.&nbsp;

Love, who has helped run voter turnout efforts in North Omaha, said he wants his campaign to help motivate poorer voters who too often lose hope in the value of the process.&nbsp;

He said it could make a difference in Nebraska’s 2nd District U.S. House race between Democratic State Sen. Tony Vargas and U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., and in the presidential contest.

“I didn’t really choose the race,” Love told “Picking Corn,” the Nebraska Examiner’s political podcast. “I chose the time to run. If there were others, I would not run and (would) support them.”

His campaign raised $236,000, spent $195,000 and has $41,000 in cash on hand, campaign finance filings show. Ricketts has raised $5.4 million, spent $4.2 million and has $1.2 million in cash.

A separate Pete Ricketts Victory Fund raised $4.5 million and spent $4.4 million, sending much of that money to national Republicans, political committees and Ricketts’ Senate campaign.

Love had support from some small television advertising buys from an outside group tied to local progressives earlier in the campaign. He went on the air more meaningfully this week, he announced on Twitter, or X.

Ricketts is campaigning like an incumbent who knows he represents a state where Republicans outnumber Democrats 2 to 1 and where nonpartisans make up about a quarter of the electorate.&nbsp;

He is an overwhelming favorite to fill out the final two years of former U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse’s term. Ricketts’ spending seems aimed at laying the groundwork to run for a six-year term in 2026.

Ricketts &nbsp;has run waves of television and radio ads focused on national issues, such as U.S. competition with China, national security and&nbsp; fighting bureaucratic overreach in Washington, D.C.

He is barnstorming the state this weekend with other members of Nebraska’s congressional delegation to boost GOP turnout statewide and to help Republicans in key races, including Bacon.

Ricketts has spent much of the campaign telling conservatives he would block 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 held the state’s purse strings tightly as governor.&nbsp;

On the stump, Ricketts has mainly ignored Love, focusing on what he describes as the missteps of the Biden administration and the need for GOP stewardship of the economy.

He said he still believes, as he did when he ran for governor, that governments benefit from his private sector experience with his father’s company, which became TD Ameritrade.

Ricketts pointed to customer-service-focused improvements in how quickly Nebraskans can access the Supplemental Nutrition Aid Program, or SNAP, which he has also pushed at the federal level.&nbsp;

“Really that’s what we did is we took that business experience to run government more like a business and we improved the level of services we provided,” Ricketts told the Examiner.

Ricketts has emphasized national defense and said the Senate needed a stricter immigration bill than the bipartisan border bill proposed by Oklahoma U.S. Sen. James Lankford.

That bill, which the Border Patrol union called the strongest in a generation, died after Trump intervened. Trump and some of his supporters wanted to avoid giving Biden a win on the issue.

Ricketts is no stranger to controversy. He has angered advocates for people in need and people with disabilities, who say he cares more about costs than people.

He angered some local Latinos by sending members of the Nebraska State Patrol and the Nebraska National Guard to the U.S.-Mexican border to help Texas with enforcement challenges there.

Some in the Nebraska Republican Party have questioned Ricketts’ loyalty to Trump, although he endorsed the former president once it became clear Trump would win the GOP nomination.

However, rank-and-file Republicans did not criticize Ricketts’ state spending on immigration, typically handled by the federal government. Gov. Jim Pillen has continued border deployments.&nbsp;

Love, a longtime civil rights activist, criticized the state’s results from one-party rule. He argues that more competition for people’s votes and voices would better serve Nebraska.

He said people have to go beyond caring about which party wins more from a public stance than finding a compromise policy approach that better solves people’s problems.

But Love said Trump presents unique challenges.

“Trump has become a wedge in our country,” Love said. “So we no longer have the luxury of just having divisions. … And so when do we take a stand? Each of us. … It’s now.”

As he told the Examiner’s podcast, Love studied economics while playing football for Coach Bob Devaney at the University of Nebraska and worked for IBM for over a decade.

He owned a computer store in Atlanta, where he said he met and joined luminaries of the civil rights movement. He still takes people from Nebraska on trips there to experience the past.

He has said he would protect a woman’s right to make her own reproductive health decisions and that he would protect voting rights by passing federal legislation named after the late civil rights leader John Lewis.

He has said economic development needs to be broader and more inclusive, helping communities where private investment sometimes leaves people to fend for themselves or at the whims of nonprofits.

He is open about his past struggles with addiction, saying it helps inform the sensitivities of his rehabilitation-and-treatment-focused approach to drugs he’d like to see adopted.

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.

Both candidates stressed the need to fix Congress’ broken budget process, with Ricketts and Love saying the Senate needs to go back to regular appropriations and clearer committee work.

Both said they support U.S. military aid to Israel and Ukraine, though Love stressed the importance of doing more to make sure that innocent Palestinian civilians are protected.

Ricketts said it was important that the U.S. help its allies defend themselves without placing unreasonable limits on how. He said Israel needs full American backing against Hamas.

“Hamas started a war, and wars are horrible,” Ricketts told the podcast. “This is why you don’t start wars.”

They both also backed the need for a focus on improving crop insurance in the next farm bill, which Love said has taken too long for Congress to fix.

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. Nelson beat him 64%-36%.

Ricketts mostly self-financed that campaign and later described his decision as a mistake. He has raised more funds from supporters for his successful gubernatorial bids and his 2024 campaign.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1730740028087.jpeg" alt="U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., right, is running 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, is running 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/2024/11/02/love-makes-history-again-while-ricketts-lays-groundwork-for-second-run-in-2026/">Nebraska Examiner</a>OMAHA — Making history has become a political habit for Preston Love Jr., the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Nebraska, who is facing U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts, a Republican incumbent.In 2020, Love became the state’s first Black candidate for the U.S. Senate backed by a major political party after the Nebraska Democratic Party abandoned its nominee, Chris Janicek.This year, Love became the first Black Nebraskan to win a major party’s Senate nomination. His opponent, Ricketts, is a two-term governor who was appointed to the Senate by his successor.Love also managed the barrier-breaking presidential campaign of the Rev. Jesse Jackson in the mid-1980s, a campaign credited with broadening who Americans might accept as president.Love has made no bones about the steep climb he faces Tuesday against Ricketts, the political face of one of the most influential donor families in conservative politics nationally.&nbsp;Love compared his upstart campaign to David in search of a rock to knock off Goliath. He acknowledged that his campaign is at least partially aimed at boosting turnout for other races.&nbsp;<h2>Love wants to boost turnout</h2>Love, who has helped run voter turnout efforts in North Omaha, said he wants his campaign to help motivate poorer voters who too often lose hope in the value of the process.&nbsp;He said it could make a difference in Nebraska’s 2nd District U.S. House race between Democratic State Sen. Tony Vargas and U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., and in the presidential contest.“I didn’t really choose the race,” Love told “Picking Corn,” the Nebraska Examiner’s political podcast. “I chose the time to run. If there were others, I would not run and (would) support them.”His campaign raised $236,000, spent $195,000 and has $41,000 in cash on hand, campaign finance filings show. Ricketts has raised $5.4 million, spent $4.2 million and has $1.2 million in cash.A separate Pete Ricketts Victory Fund raised $4.5 million and spent $4.4 million, sending much of that money to national Republicans, political committees and Ricketts’ Senate campaign.Love had support from some small television advertising buys from an outside group tied to local progressives earlier in the campaign. He went on the air more meaningfully this week, he announced on Twitter, or X.<h2>Ricketts aims to win and win again</h2>Ricketts is campaigning like an incumbent who knows he represents a state where Republicans outnumber Democrats 2 to 1 and where nonpartisans make up about a quarter of the electorate.&nbsp;He is an overwhelming favorite to fill out the final two years of former U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse’s term. Ricketts’ spending seems aimed at laying the groundwork to run for a six-year term in 2026.Ricketts &nbsp;has run waves of television and radio ads focused on national issues, such as U.S. competition with China, national security and&nbsp; fighting bureaucratic overreach in Washington, D.C.He is barnstorming the state this weekend with other members of Nebraska’s congressional delegation to boost GOP turnout statewide and to help Republicans in key races, including Bacon.Ricketts has spent much of the campaign telling conservatives he would block 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 held the state’s purse strings tightly as governor.&nbsp;<h2>Ricketts has a record</h2>On the stump, Ricketts has mainly ignored Love, focusing on what he describes as the missteps of the Biden administration and the need for GOP stewardship of the economy.He said he still believes, as he did when he ran for governor, that governments benefit from his private sector experience with his father’s company, which became TD Ameritrade.Ricketts pointed to customer-service-focused improvements in how quickly Nebraskans can access the Supplemental Nutrition Aid Program, or SNAP, which he has also pushed at the federal level.&nbsp;“Really that’s what we did is we took that business experience to run government more like a business and we improved the level of services we provided,” Ricketts told the Examiner.Ricketts has emphasized national defense and said the Senate needed a stricter immigration bill than the bipartisan border bill proposed by Oklahoma U.S. Sen. James Lankford.That bill, which the Border Patrol union called the strongest in a generation, died after Trump intervened. Trump and some of his supporters wanted to avoid giving Biden a win on the issue.Ricketts is no stranger to controversy. He has angered advocates for people in need and people with disabilities, who say he cares more about costs than people.He angered some local Latinos by sending members of the Nebraska State Patrol and the Nebraska National Guard to the U.S.-Mexican border to help Texas with enforcement challenges there.Some in the Nebraska Republican Party have questioned Ricketts’ loyalty to Trump, although he endorsed the former president once it became clear Trump would win the GOP nomination.However, rank-and-file Republicans did not criticize Ricketts’ state spending on immigration, typically handled by the federal government. Gov. Jim Pillen has continued border deployments.&nbsp;<h2>Love wants change at the top</h2>Love, a longtime civil rights activist, criticized the state’s results from one-party rule. He argues that more competition for people’s votes and voices would better serve Nebraska.He said people have to go beyond caring about which party wins more from a public stance than finding a compromise policy approach that better solves people’s problems.But Love said Trump presents unique challenges.“Trump has become a wedge in our country,” Love said. “So we no longer have the luxury of just having divisions. … And so when do we take a stand? Each of us. … It’s now.”As he told the Examiner’s podcast, Love studied economics while playing football for Coach Bob Devaney at the University of Nebraska and worked for IBM for over a decade.He owned a computer store in Atlanta, where he said he met and joined luminaries of the civil rights movement. He still takes people from Nebraska on trips there to experience the past.He has said he would protect a woman’s right to make her own reproductive health decisions and that he would protect voting rights by passing federal legislation named after the late civil rights leader John Lewis.He has said economic development needs to be broader and more inclusive, helping communities where private investment sometimes leaves people to fend for themselves or at the whims of nonprofits.He is open about his past struggles with addiction, saying it helps inform the sensitivities of his rehabilitation-and-treatment-focused approach to drugs he’d like to see adopted.<h2>Abortion and more</h2>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.Both candidates stressed the need to fix Congress’ broken budget process, with Ricketts and Love saying the Senate needs to go back to regular appropriations and clearer committee work.Both said they support U.S. military aid to Israel and Ukraine, though Love stressed the importance of doing more to make sure that innocent Palestinian civilians are protected.Ricketts said it was important that the U.S. help its allies defend themselves without placing unreasonable limits on how. He said Israel needs full American backing against Hamas.“Hamas started a war, and wars are horrible,” Ricketts told the podcast. “This is why you don’t start wars.”They both also backed the need for a focus on improving crop insurance in the next farm bill, which Love said has taken too long for Congress to fix.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. Nelson beat him 64%-36%.Ricketts mostly self-financed that campaign and later described his decision as a mistake. He has raised more funds from supporters for his successful gubernatorial bids and his 2024 campaign.&nbsp;

Love makes history again while Ricketts lays groundwork for second run in 2026

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/jennifer-shutt/">JENNIFER SHUTT</a>

WASHINGTON — Voters are determining whether the next president enters office with a friendly Congress or a hostile one set on blocking their policies and nominees — and as the election roars into its last moments it’s still very unclear what the makeup of the House and Senate might be.

Most House races are not competitive. But House leaders are closely watching about two dozen toss-up contests to see whether Democrats or Republicans end up with the magic 218 lawmakers needed to control the speaker’s gavel, the agenda and the floor schedule.

The GOP’s razor-thin majority during the last two years created significant obstacles for leadership’s legislative goals and ended Kevin McCarthy’s speakership.

Neither political party is expected to gain a large House majority during the next Congress, set to begin in January. There’s even a possibility the majority party has less wiggle room than the 220-212 split that currently exists, along with three vacancies. Experts warn it may not be known on election night or for some time who’s won the House.

Senate leaders have been equally focused on hard-fought and close campaigns in Arizona, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Any one of them could deliver control of the upper chamber.

Republicans are favored to turn over the West Virginia seat occupied by Joe Manchin III, potentially pushing them past the 50-member benchmark if they hold onto seats occupied by incumbents Ted Cruz in Texas, Deb Fischer in Nebraska and Rick Scott in Florida.

If Democrats keep 50 seats, that would mean whichever party holds the vice presidency controls the Senate, making even just one pickup in either direction a priority for both political parties.

The outcome in both the House and Senate will have sweeping implications for the country’s future, including whether the GOP overhauls Obamacare, how lawmakers address core aspects of Republicans’ 2017 tax law set to expire in the coming months and whether the country defaults on its debts for the first time in history.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report with Amy Walter&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cookpolitical.com/ratings/senate-race-ratings" target="_blank">rates</a>&nbsp;four Senate races as toss-ups, meaning there’s a relatively even chance for Democrats or Republicans to win.

While the campaigns have shifted around a bit during the last few months, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are all considered neck and neck heading into Election Day.

Arizona and Nevada are categorized as leaning toward Democrats and Montana is expected to lean toward a Republican pickup, potentially giving the GOP its 51st seat and a narrow majority.

It’s also possible there could be upsets in Republican-held states traditionally considered safer, like Florida, Nebraska and Texas.That could alter the math for both Democrats and Republicans, depending on how things shake out after all the votes are counted, recounts finalized and lawsuits settled in the days and weeks following Nov. 5.

Jessica Taylor, editor for U.S. Senate and Governors at the Cook Political Report, said in a statement released Friday the “battle for the Senate fundamentally ends where the cycle began — with an overwhelmingly favorable map that very likely portends a GOP majority.”

Her projections show the GOP picking up two to five seats, giving the party a majority between 51 and 54 members.

A narrower majority, Taylor said, would allow “moderates like Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Maine Sen. Susan Collins to wield outsized influence in the next Congress.”

Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said during an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?539651-1/sen-gary-peters-discusses-senate-races" target="_blank">interview</a>&nbsp;with Washington Post Live in late October that he expects voters in Montana and Ohio will split their tickets.

He acknowledged getting voters to support Democratic Sens. Jon Tester in Montana and Sherrod Brown in Ohio, while also voting for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, will be much more challenging than in the past.

“Certainly, it’s not easy if there’s a lot of political gravity,” Peters said. “I’m not going to sugarcoat that in any way.”

But, he said, both Tester and Brown have been consistently polling within the margin of error against their GOP challengers.

“It’s about who’s going to get their voters out and do the kind of ground campaign necessary to win,” Peters said. “We’re doing that in Montana. We’re doing that in Ohio as well.”

The Senate is more important to the next president than the House, since the upper chamber is responsible for vetting and confirming the next commander-in-chief’s selections for their Cabinet as well as judicial nominees.

A GOP Senate would be a gift for Trump but likely tough for Vice President Kamala Harris.

The opposite could also be true — a Democratic majority in the Senate could put the brakes on many of Trump’s plans for a second term, while it would aid Harris in setting up her administration and potentially confirming a Supreme Court justice or two.

The Senate is the more bipartisan of the two chambers, thanks to the legislative filibuster — the rule requiring at least 60 senators agree to advance legislation toward final passage.

Without bipartisan support, bills and some nominees will be stuck in limbo, regardless of which party runs the Senate or controls the White House.

Philip Wallach, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative-leaning think tank, said a Harris administration and a Republican Senate would need to work out an agreement quickly “or risk going into some kind of protracted standoff over executive branch nominations.”

Both Trump and President Joe Biden had the luxury of same-party Senate control during their full terms and former President Barack Obama had a Democratic Senate during his first six years in office. Harris possibly having to work with the opposing party to establish her Cabinet would be especially challenging, Wallach said in an interview.

“I would expect Republicans to try to come up with some pretty concrete asks as a conference: To say, ‘If we’re going to put any of your nominees up for a vote, here’s what we want in return, and here’s what kind of nominees we will accept.’ And, you know, I expect that would play out as a fairly heated public confrontation,” he said.

Trump and a Republican Senate would likely agree on some nominees and policy goals, though there would be significant differences over issues like&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trump-vows-levy-horrible-tariffs-imports-rejecting-fears-inflation-spike" target="_blank">tariffs</a>.

“I think there are a lot of Republican senators who want to see some real limits to that, who still think of themselves as basically in favor of free trade and making sure that American businesses don’t find themselves on the wrong end of a trade war,” Wallach said. “Especially in the Senate, I just don’t think they’re that eager to just march to Trump’s tune.”

A Trump administration, he said, could also disagree with GOP lawmakers on the specific details of how to address tax policy.

“I think it’s a very live possibility that there could be a much more confrontational kind of dynamic this time around, in part, because Trump and some of the people right around him have this idea that playing nicely in 2017 was a big mistake,” Wallach said.

Control of the 435-member House is more uncertain than the Senate, with 22 races&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cookpolitical.com/ratings/house-race-ratings" target="_blank">rated as toss-ups</a>&nbsp;by the Cook Political Report.

Twelve of those are held by Republicans, while 10 are occupied by Democratic lawmakers. At the moment, 205 House seats are at least leaning toward a Democratic win, with 208 districts at least leaning toward Republicans.

The Cook Political Report’s final projections range from Republicans adding five seats to their majority to Democrats picking up 10 seats and taking over the majority again.

“The race for control of the U.S. House remains as close as it’s ever been,”

Erin Covey, editor for the House at CPR, said in a written statement.

“The battleground is confined to a few dozen seats, with neither party having a clear advantage in a majority of seats,” Covey added. “And with several competitive races in West Coast states that take longer to count their ballots, it’s highly possible we won’t know which party has control on election night.”

The House is essential to turning bills into law, though it doesn’t have any role in confirming presidential nominees. And unlike the Senate, there’s no legislative filibuster, which means the majority party can approve any bills it wants without buy-in from the minority party, as long as the leaders in the majority have the votes from their own members.

Republican control of at least one chamber of Congress and a Harris victory would force significant bipartisan compromise on must-pass legislation, like the dozen annual government funding bills and the defense policy bill known as the National Defense Authorization Act.

It could also lead to the types of bipartisan legislation that Biden made a hallmark of his term in office, including the bipartisan infrastructure law.

That type of divided government is unlikely to produce the sweeping changes to home ownership, prescription drug prices, price gouging and reproductive rights that Harris has highlighted throughout her campaign.

But it could lead Republicans and Democrats to resurrect&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/bipartisan-border-bill-loses-support-fails-procedural-vote-us-senate" target="_blank">the bipartisan immigration and border security bill</a>&nbsp;that Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Lankford, Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy and Arizona independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema agreed to earlier this year.

Trump in the White House and Democrats holding onto at least one chamber in Congress could also force bipartisan compromise, though likely with a far different tone and approach than under a Harris-Republican Congress scenario.

Trump regaining the presidency along with GOP control of Congress would give the party at least two chances to use the complex budget reconciliation process to pass certain legislation.

The party would likely use one of those opportunities to address provisions in the 2017 Republican tax law that have expired or are about to.

The budget reconciliation process, which has considerable rules and restrictions, is how Republicans passed the tax bill during Trump’s first term in office.

It doesn’t require at least 60 senators to advance the bill. But it does include something known as a vote-a-rama, where the Senate holds dozens of votes on amendments to the bill. The process typically lasts throughout the night and gives the party not in power a chance to force their colleagues across the aisle to vote on tough issues.

Budget reconciliation is the process Republicans used to try to repeal and replace the 2010 health care law that’s often referred to as the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, during Trump’s first term in office.

Speaker Mike Jonson, R-La., said in late October on Fox Business that some of his<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/speaker-johnson-criticizes-obamacare-promises-massive-reform-trump-win-rcna177853" target="_blank">&nbsp;prior comments</a>&nbsp;about overhauling the ACA were taken out of context and that he wants to make changes to the program, but not entirely end it.

“I said the ACA, unfortunately, is deeply ingrained in our health care system now,” he said. “Do we need further improvements? Absolutely. We need to expand quality of care, access to care and obviously lower the cost of health care.”

Johnson said during the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRGW9IVOaP4" target="_blank">interview</a>&nbsp;that he was “convinced” Republicans would gain unified control of government following the election and that he had compiled a “two-hour slide show presentation” detailing what the GOP would do with that power.

“We will secure the border on day one with a President Trump executive order and then legislation to follow, and we will turn immediately to the economy,” Johnson said. “Energy policy will be the center of that as well.”

Deeply conservative House bills might not garner the support needed to overcome the Senate’s legislative filibuster.

Unified Republican control of Congress and the White House would challenge the GOP to address the nation’s debt limit mostly on its own during the first half of next year after&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/us-senate-sends-biden-debt-limit-legislation-ahead-monday-default-deadline" target="_blank">the current law</a>&nbsp;expires.

A default on the nation’s debt is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/us-hit-debt-limit-much-sooner-expected-thrusting-congress-showdown" target="_blank">vastly different from a partial government shutdown</a>, which takes place when Congress doesn’t pass an appropriations package on time.

Failing to either raise or suspend the nation’s debt limit, before what’s known as extraordinary measures runs out, would likely cause a global financial crisis.

The GOP has been extremely vocal about cutting government spending, but that is separate from addressing the nation’s debt limit, which gives the Treasury Department the borrowing authority to ensure all of the country’s bills are paid in full and on time.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/7/1720316487639.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/jennifer-shutt/">JENNIFER SHUTT</a>WASHINGTON — Voters are determining whether the next president enters office with a friendly Congress or a hostile one set on blocking their policies and nominees — and as the election roars into its last moments it’s still very unclear what the makeup of the House and Senate might be.Most House races are not competitive. But House leaders are closely watching about two dozen toss-up contests to see whether Democrats or Republicans end up with the magic 218 lawmakers needed to control the speaker’s gavel, the agenda and the floor schedule.The GOP’s razor-thin majority during the last two years created significant obstacles for leadership’s legislative goals and ended Kevin McCarthy’s speakership.Neither political party is expected to gain a large House majority during the next Congress, set to begin in January. There’s even a possibility the majority party has less wiggle room than the 220-212 split that currently exists, along with three vacancies. Experts warn it may not be known on election night or for some time who’s won the House.Senate leaders have been equally focused on hard-fought and close campaigns in Arizona, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Any one of them could deliver control of the upper chamber.Republicans are favored to turn over the West Virginia seat occupied by Joe Manchin III, potentially pushing them past the 50-member benchmark if they hold onto seats occupied by incumbents Ted Cruz in Texas, Deb Fischer in Nebraska and Rick Scott in Florida.If Democrats keep 50 seats, that would mean whichever party holds the vice presidency controls the Senate, making even just one pickup in either direction a priority for both political parties.The outcome in both the House and Senate will have sweeping implications for the country’s future, including whether the GOP overhauls Obamacare, how lawmakers address core aspects of Republicans’ 2017 tax law set to expire in the coming months and whether the country defaults on its debts for the first time in history.<h2>Four tense toss-ups in the Senate</h2>The nonpartisan Cook Political Report with Amy Walter&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cookpolitical.com/ratings/senate-race-ratings" target="_blank">rates</a>&nbsp;four Senate races as toss-ups, meaning there’s a relatively even chance for Democrats or Republicans to win.While the campaigns have shifted around a bit during the last few months, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are all considered neck and neck heading into Election Day.Arizona and Nevada are categorized as leaning toward Democrats and Montana is expected to lean toward a Republican pickup, potentially giving the GOP its 51st seat and a narrow majority.It’s also possible there could be upsets in Republican-held states traditionally considered safer, like Florida, Nebraska and Texas.That could alter the math for both Democrats and Republicans, depending on how things shake out after all the votes are counted, recounts finalized and lawsuits settled in the days and weeks following Nov. 5.Jessica Taylor, editor for U.S. Senate and Governors at the Cook Political Report, said in a statement released Friday the “battle for the Senate fundamentally ends where the cycle began — with an overwhelmingly favorable map that very likely portends a GOP majority.”Her projections show the GOP picking up two to five seats, giving the party a majority between 51 and 54 members.A narrower majority, Taylor said, would allow “moderates like Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Maine Sen. Susan Collins to wield outsized influence in the next Congress.”<h2>Will some voters split their tickets?</h2>Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said during an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?539651-1/sen-gary-peters-discusses-senate-races" target="_blank">interview</a>&nbsp;with Washington Post Live in late October that he expects voters in Montana and Ohio will split their tickets.He acknowledged getting voters to support Democratic Sens. Jon Tester in Montana and Sherrod Brown in Ohio, while also voting for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, will be much more challenging than in the past.“Certainly, it’s not easy if there’s a lot of political gravity,” Peters said. “I’m not going to sugarcoat that in any way.”But, he said, both Tester and Brown have been consistently polling within the margin of error against their GOP challengers.“It’s about who’s going to get their voters out and do the kind of ground campaign necessary to win,” Peters said. “We’re doing that in Montana. We’re doing that in Ohio as well.”The Senate is more important to the next president than the House, since the upper chamber is responsible for vetting and confirming the next commander-in-chief’s selections for their Cabinet as well as judicial nominees.A GOP Senate would be a gift for Trump but likely tough for Vice President Kamala Harris.The opposite could also be true — a Democratic majority in the Senate could put the brakes on many of Trump’s plans for a second term, while it would aid Harris in setting up her administration and potentially confirming a Supreme Court justice or two.The Senate is the more bipartisan of the two chambers, thanks to the legislative filibuster — the rule requiring at least 60 senators agree to advance legislation toward final passage.Without bipartisan support, bills and some nominees will be stuck in limbo, regardless of which party runs the Senate or controls the White House.<h2>Possible standoff</h2>Philip Wallach, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative-leaning think tank, said a Harris administration and a Republican Senate would need to work out an agreement quickly “or risk going into some kind of protracted standoff over executive branch nominations.”Both Trump and President Joe Biden had the luxury of same-party Senate control during their full terms and former President Barack Obama had a Democratic Senate during his first six years in office. Harris possibly having to work with the opposing party to establish her Cabinet would be especially challenging, Wallach said in an interview.“I would expect Republicans to try to come up with some pretty concrete asks as a conference: To say, ‘If we’re going to put any of your nominees up for a vote, here’s what we want in return, and here’s what kind of nominees we will accept.’ And, you know, I expect that would play out as a fairly heated public confrontation,” he said.Trump and a Republican Senate would likely agree on some nominees and policy goals, though there would be significant differences over issues like&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trump-vows-levy-horrible-tariffs-imports-rejecting-fears-inflation-spike" target="_blank">tariffs</a>.“I think there are a lot of Republican senators who want to see some real limits to that, who still think of themselves as basically in favor of free trade and making sure that American businesses don’t find themselves on the wrong end of a trade war,” Wallach said. “Especially in the Senate, I just don’t think they’re that eager to just march to Trump’s tune.”A Trump administration, he said, could also disagree with GOP lawmakers on the specific details of how to address tax policy.“I think it’s a very live possibility that there could be a much more confrontational kind of dynamic this time around, in part, because Trump and some of the people right around him have this idea that playing nicely in 2017 was a big mistake,” Wallach said.<h2>House ‘as close as it’s ever been’</h2>Control of the 435-member House is more uncertain than the Senate, with 22 races&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cookpolitical.com/ratings/house-race-ratings" target="_blank">rated as toss-ups</a>&nbsp;by the Cook Political Report.Twelve of those are held by Republicans, while 10 are occupied by Democratic lawmakers. At the moment, 205 House seats are at least leaning toward a Democratic win, with 208 districts at least leaning toward Republicans.The Cook Political Report’s final projections range from Republicans adding five seats to their majority to Democrats picking up 10 seats and taking over the majority again.“The race for control of the U.S. House remains as close as it’s ever been,”Erin Covey, editor for the House at CPR, said in a written statement.“The battleground is confined to a few dozen seats, with neither party having a clear advantage in a majority of seats,” Covey added. “And with several competitive races in West Coast states that take longer to count their ballots, it’s highly possible we won’t know which party has control on election night.”The House is essential to turning bills into law, though it doesn’t have any role in confirming presidential nominees. And unlike the Senate, there’s no legislative filibuster, which means the majority party can approve any bills it wants without buy-in from the minority party, as long as the leaders in the majority have the votes from their own members.Republican control of at least one chamber of Congress and a Harris victory would force significant bipartisan compromise on must-pass legislation, like the dozen annual government funding bills and the defense policy bill known as the National Defense Authorization Act.It could also lead to the types of bipartisan legislation that Biden made a hallmark of his term in office, including the bipartisan infrastructure law.That type of divided government is unlikely to produce the sweeping changes to home ownership, prescription drug prices, price gouging and reproductive rights that Harris has highlighted throughout her campaign.But it could lead Republicans and Democrats to resurrect&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/bipartisan-border-bill-loses-support-fails-procedural-vote-us-senate" target="_blank">the bipartisan immigration and border security bill</a>&nbsp;that Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Lankford, Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy and Arizona independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema agreed to earlier this year.Trump in the White House and Democrats holding onto at least one chamber in Congress could also force bipartisan compromise, though likely with a far different tone and approach than under a Harris-Republican Congress scenario.<h2>GOP trifecta?</h2>Trump regaining the presidency along with GOP control of Congress would give the party at least two chances to use the complex budget reconciliation process to pass certain legislation.The party would likely use one of those opportunities to address provisions in the 2017 Republican tax law that have expired or are about to.The budget reconciliation process, which has considerable rules and restrictions, is how Republicans passed the tax bill during Trump’s first term in office.It doesn’t require at least 60 senators to advance the bill. But it does include something known as a vote-a-rama, where the Senate holds dozens of votes on amendments to the bill. The process typically lasts throughout the night and gives the party not in power a chance to force their colleagues across the aisle to vote on tough issues.Budget reconciliation is the process Republicans used to try to repeal and replace the 2010 health care law that’s often referred to as the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, during Trump’s first term in office.Speaker Mike Jonson, R-La., said in late October on Fox Business that some of his<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/speaker-johnson-criticizes-obamacare-promises-massive-reform-trump-win-rcna177853" target="_blank">&nbsp;prior comments</a>&nbsp;about overhauling the ACA were taken out of context and that he wants to make changes to the program, but not entirely end it.“I said the ACA, unfortunately, is deeply ingrained in our health care system now,” he said. “Do we need further improvements? Absolutely. We need to expand quality of care, access to care and obviously lower the cost of health care.”Johnson said during the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRGW9IVOaP4" target="_blank">interview</a>&nbsp;that he was “convinced” Republicans would gain unified control of government following the election and that he had compiled a “two-hour slide show presentation” detailing what the GOP would do with that power.“We will secure the border on day one with a President Trump executive order and then legislation to follow, and we will turn immediately to the economy,” Johnson said. “Energy policy will be the center of that as well.”Deeply conservative House bills might not garner the support needed to overcome the Senate’s legislative filibuster.Unified Republican control of Congress and the White House would challenge the GOP to address the nation’s debt limit mostly on its own during the first half of next year after&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/us-senate-sends-biden-debt-limit-legislation-ahead-monday-default-deadline" target="_blank">the current law</a>&nbsp;expires.A default on the nation’s debt is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/us-hit-debt-limit-much-sooner-expected-thrusting-congress-showdown" target="_blank">vastly different from a partial government shutdown</a>, which takes place when Congress doesn’t pass an appropriations package on time.Failing to either raise or suspend the nation’s debt limit, before what’s known as extraordinary measures runs out, would likely cause a global financial crisis.The GOP has been extremely vocal about cutting government spending, but that is separate from addressing the nation’s debt limit, which gives the Treasury Department the borrowing authority to ensure all of the country’s bills are paid in full and on time.

Will control of Congress shift? The results hinge on a handful of states and races

<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/11/04/spending-in-nebraska-legislative-races-exceeds-7-4-million-surpasses-2022-levels/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN —&nbsp;Nearly every Nebraska legislative race in this election cycle has surpassed six figures in spending ahead of Tuesday’s election, already climbing above 2022 records.

Together,&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/nebraska-examiner-launches-2024-general-election-voter-guide/">legislative candidates</a>&nbsp;had raised $9.2 million and spent $7.4 million as of the Oct. 21&nbsp;<a href="https://nadc.nebraska.gov/view-campaign-filings-personal-financial-disclosures-potential-conflicts-lobbying-reports-and-more" target="_blank">campaign finance reporting deadline</a>. The latest deadline leaves about two weeks of fundraising and spending before Election Day to report when final reports are due Jan. 14. In the final 10 days of the election, another $505,000 had already been raised.

Spending in 22 of the 25 races exceeded six figures by Oct. 21, and all but one race exceeded six figures in fundraising. The single fundraising exception is South Omaha’s&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/race-details/nebraska-legislature-district-5/">Legislative District 5</a>&nbsp;between Margo Juarez and Gilbert Ayala. They raised $93,000 combined, most by Juarez.

A rematch between State Sen. Ray Aguilar and former State Sen. Dan Quick, both of Grand Island, exceeds $600,000 in spending, more than any race in 2022. Two Lincoln races — both involving senators appointed by Gov. Jim Pillen who are seeking election — sit at just under $550,000 spent.

The annual salary for a state senator is $12,000.

Candidates who spent the most in&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/02/06/most-nebraska-legislative-races-in-2022-exceed-100000-in-spending/">2022 legislative races</a>&nbsp;won their elections in all but two cases. The most expensive race that year was about $577,000.

Aguilar and Quick, in&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/race-details/nebraska-legislature-district-35/">Legislative District 35</a>, also faced off in 2020 when Aguilar, term-limited from the Legislature 12 years prior, mounted a successful challenge to Quick.

Fundraising for the duo has exceeded $715,000, and spending sits at $603,000. Quick had a spending advantage of about $60,000, while Aguilar had a fundraising advantage of $30,000.

The next costliest races come in Lincoln between State Sen. Beau Ballard and Seth Derner (<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/race-details/nebraska-legislature-district-21/">Legislative District 21</a>) and between State Sen. Carolyn Bosn and Nicki Behmer Popp (<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/race-details/nebraska-legislature-district-25/">Legislative District 25</a>).

Ballard and Derner are neck-and-neck in spending, separated by the narrowest amount of all candidates, at $2,000 — Ballard at $275,000; Derner at $273,000. Ballard also had a fundraising edge of about $59,000.

Bosn has spent $341,000, about $135,000 above Behmer Popp’s $206,000. Bosn had raised $373,000, with $32,000 on hand; Behmer Popp had raised $219,000, with $14,000 on hand.

The other race exceeding $500,000 was in Bellevue between Felix Ungerman and Victor Rountree, both seeking to succeed term-limited Democratic State Sen. Carol Blood (<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/race-details/nebraska-legislature-district-3/">Legislative District 3</a>), spending a combined $508,000. Ungerman holds an edge of about $20,000 in spending and about $50,000 in fundraising.

Sarpy County is also home to&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/race-details/nebraska-legislature-district-49/">Legislative District 49</a>, represented by State Sen. Jen Day, who is facing a challenge from Bob Andersen. They sit just under $400,000 in spending, with Day more than double Andersen’s fundraising and spending.

Day has raised $389,000 and spent $272,000, with $135,000 on hand. Andersen has raised $183,000 and spent $124,000, with $59,000 on hand.

The least expensive race is between Ayala and Juarez, at $47,000. They are competing to succeed term-limited State Sen. Mike McDonnell, a Democrat who turned Republican last spring.

These races could decide the partisan balance in the officially nonpartisan Legislature, currently at 33 Republicans, 15 Democrats and one progressive independent.

Aguilar, Andersen, Ayala, Ballard, Bosn and Ungerman are Republicans. Day, Derner, Juarez, Quick, and Rountree are Democrats. Behmer Popp is a registered nonpartisan.

Republicans are guaranteed at least one pick-up representative in Fremont, either Roxie Kracl or Dave “Woody” Wordekemper, as&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/race-details/nebraska-legislature-district-15/">Legislative District 15</a>&nbsp;State Sen. Lynne Walz, a Democrat, is term-limited.

U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., has continued to take a sizable lead in contributing to legislative races, spending at least $252,500 across 15 legislative races so far this year. His wife, Susanne Shore, a Democrat, has donated $56,000 in eight campaigns, sometimes in direct odds with her husband.

Shore is financially backing Rountree ($14,000), Juarez ($3,000), Derner ($5,000), Day ($2,000) and Behmer Popp ($10,000). She did not give to Quick.

Ricketts has financially backed Aguilar ($30,000), Andersen ($20,000) and Ungerman ($2,500). He did not give to Ayala, Ballard or Bosn, but he did give $25,000 each to four other candidates.

The couple took sides in&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/race-details/nebraska-legislature-district-39/">Legislative District 39</a>, in Elkhorn, between nonpartisan Allison Heimes (Shore gave $11,000) and Republican Tony Sorrentino (Ricketts gave $25,000). The seat is currently held by State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan, a Republican.

Sorrentino and Heimes are separated by about $3,500 in fundraising and $37,000 in spending, with Sorrentino having the most of both, at $264,000 raised and $254,000 spent. Heimes had $33,000 more cash on hand than Sorrentino as of Oct. 21.

The most competitive Republican-Republican race is in&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/race-details/nebraska-legislature-district-19/">Legislative District 19</a>&nbsp;between Ricketts-appointed State Sen. Rob Dover of Norfolk and Jeanne Reigle of Madison, an agricultural producer who joined Pillen at one of his recent ag-related news conferences.

Dover has raised $281,000 and spent $277,000; Reigle has raised $200,000 and spent $175,000. Ricketts gave Dover $25,000, while Pillen has not donated to either candidate.

Elsewhere, the largest disparities in spending are in Lincoln’s&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/race-details/nebraska-legislature-district-27/">Legislative District 27</a>&nbsp;and the western Nebraska&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/race-details/nebraska-legislature-district-47/">Legislative District 47</a>.

In Lincoln, Jason Prokop, a Democrat, has spent $331,000 while Dawn Liphardt, the executive director of the Nebraska Republican Party who is also running for the seat, has spent $64,000. The seat is held by term-limited State Sen. Anna Wishart, a Democrat.

In western Nebraska, Paul Strommen has spent $78,000 while Larry Bolinger has spent $374.92, the total of his funds raised this cycle. The seat is held by term-limited State Sen. Steve Erdman.

Two candidates running unopposed on the ballot also raised and spent sizable amounts.

State Sen. Eliot Bostar of Lincoln, in&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/race-details/nebraska-legislature-district-29/">Legislative District 29</a>, raised $438,000 and spent $187,000 since his last election. Meanwhile, State Sen. Terrell McKinney of North Omaha, in&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/race-details/nebraska-legislature-district-11/">Legislative District 11</a>, raised $163,000 and spent $127,000.

Longtime former State Sen. Ernie Chambers, who held the District 11 seat for 46 years, filed to run for the office and came a handful of votes behind McKinney in May. Chambers later dropped out of the race before filing as a write-in candidate.

See below for a campaign finance breakdown for all legislative candidates. Or, view the visualization&nbsp;<a href="https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/20116779/" target="_blank">online here</a>.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1730739839309.jpeg" alt="The candidates and ballot measures that will appear on the Nov. 5, 2024, general election ballot. (Photos courtesy of the candidates/campaigns. Nebraska Capitol photo by Rebecca S. Gratz for the Nebraska Examiner)" />
 <figcaption>The candidates and ballot measures that will appear on the Nov. 5, 2024, general election ballot. (Photos courtesy of the candidates/campaigns. Nebraska Capitol photo by Rebecca S. Gratz for the Nebraska Examiner)</figcaption>
 </figure>Zach Wendling<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/11/04/spending-in-nebraska-legislative-races-exceeds-7-4-million-surpasses-2022-levels/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN —&nbsp;Nearly every Nebraska legislative race in this election cycle has surpassed six figures in spending ahead of Tuesday’s election, already climbing above 2022 records.Together,&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/nebraska-examiner-launches-2024-general-election-voter-guide/">legislative candidates</a>&nbsp;had raised $9.2 million and spent $7.4 million as of the Oct. 21&nbsp;<a href="https://nadc.nebraska.gov/view-campaign-filings-personal-financial-disclosures-potential-conflicts-lobbying-reports-and-more" target="_blank">campaign finance reporting deadline</a>. The latest deadline leaves about two weeks of fundraising and spending before Election Day to report when final reports are due Jan. 14. In the final 10 days of the election, another $505,000 had already been raised.Spending in 22 of the 25 races exceeded six figures by Oct. 21, and all but one race exceeded six figures in fundraising. The single fundraising exception is South Omaha’s&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/race-details/nebraska-legislature-district-5/">Legislative District 5</a>&nbsp;between Margo Juarez and Gilbert Ayala. They raised $93,000 combined, most by Juarez.A rematch between State Sen. Ray Aguilar and former State Sen. Dan Quick, both of Grand Island, exceeds $600,000 in spending, more than any race in 2022. Two Lincoln races — both involving senators appointed by Gov. Jim Pillen who are seeking election — sit at just under $550,000 spent.The annual salary for a state senator is $12,000.Candidates who spent the most in&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/02/06/most-nebraska-legislative-races-in-2022-exceed-100000-in-spending/">2022 legislative races</a>&nbsp;won their elections in all but two cases. The most expensive race that year was about $577,000.<h2>Grand Island rematch, Lincoln appointees</h2>Aguilar and Quick, in&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/race-details/nebraska-legislature-district-35/">Legislative District 35</a>, also faced off in 2020 when Aguilar, term-limited from the Legislature 12 years prior, mounted a successful challenge to Quick.Fundraising for the duo has exceeded $715,000, and spending sits at $603,000. Quick had a spending advantage of about $60,000, while Aguilar had a fundraising advantage of $30,000.The next costliest races come in Lincoln between State Sen. Beau Ballard and Seth Derner (<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/race-details/nebraska-legislature-district-21/">Legislative District 21</a>) and between State Sen. Carolyn Bosn and Nicki Behmer Popp (<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/race-details/nebraska-legislature-district-25/">Legislative District 25</a>).Ballard and Derner are neck-and-neck in spending, separated by the narrowest amount of all candidates, at $2,000 — Ballard at $275,000; Derner at $273,000. Ballard also had a fundraising edge of about $59,000.Bosn has spent $341,000, about $135,000 above Behmer Popp’s $206,000. Bosn had raised $373,000, with $32,000 on hand; Behmer Popp had raised $219,000, with $14,000 on hand.<h2>Sarpy County</h2>The other race exceeding $500,000 was in Bellevue between Felix Ungerman and Victor Rountree, both seeking to succeed term-limited Democratic State Sen. Carol Blood (<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/race-details/nebraska-legislature-district-3/">Legislative District 3</a>), spending a combined $508,000. Ungerman holds an edge of about $20,000 in spending and about $50,000 in fundraising.Sarpy County is also home to&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/race-details/nebraska-legislature-district-49/">Legislative District 49</a>, represented by State Sen. Jen Day, who is facing a challenge from Bob Andersen. They sit just under $400,000 in spending, with Day more than double Andersen’s fundraising and spending.Day has raised $389,000 and spent $272,000, with $135,000 on hand. Andersen has raised $183,000 and spent $124,000, with $59,000 on hand.The least expensive race is between Ayala and Juarez, at $47,000. They are competing to succeed term-limited State Sen. Mike McDonnell, a Democrat who turned Republican last spring.These races could decide the partisan balance in the officially nonpartisan Legislature, currently at 33 Republicans, 15 Democrats and one progressive independent.Aguilar, Andersen, Ayala, Ballard, Bosn and Ungerman are Republicans. Day, Derner, Juarez, Quick, and Rountree are Democrats. Behmer Popp is a registered nonpartisan.Republicans are guaranteed at least one pick-up representative in Fremont, either Roxie Kracl or Dave “Woody” Wordekemper, as&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/race-details/nebraska-legislature-district-15/">Legislative District 15</a>&nbsp;State Sen. Lynne Walz, a Democrat, is term-limited.<h2>Pete Ricketts, Susanne Shore</h2>U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., has continued to take a sizable lead in contributing to legislative races, spending at least $252,500 across 15 legislative races so far this year. His wife, Susanne Shore, a Democrat, has donated $56,000 in eight campaigns, sometimes in direct odds with her husband.Shore is financially backing Rountree ($14,000), Juarez ($3,000), Derner ($5,000), Day ($2,000) and Behmer Popp ($10,000). She did not give to Quick.Ricketts has financially backed Aguilar ($30,000), Andersen ($20,000) and Ungerman ($2,500). He did not give to Ayala, Ballard or Bosn, but he did give $25,000 each to four other candidates.The couple took sides in&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/race-details/nebraska-legislature-district-39/">Legislative District 39</a>, in Elkhorn, between nonpartisan Allison Heimes (Shore gave $11,000) and Republican Tony Sorrentino (Ricketts gave $25,000). The seat is currently held by State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan, a Republican.Sorrentino and Heimes are separated by about $3,500 in fundraising and $37,000 in spending, with Sorrentino having the most of both, at $264,000 raised and $254,000 spent. Heimes had $33,000 more cash on hand than Sorrentino as of Oct. 21.<h2>Other insights</h2>The most competitive Republican-Republican race is in&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/race-details/nebraska-legislature-district-19/">Legislative District 19</a>&nbsp;between Ricketts-appointed State Sen. Rob Dover of Norfolk and Jeanne Reigle of Madison, an agricultural producer who joined Pillen at one of his recent ag-related news conferences.Dover has raised $281,000 and spent $277,000; Reigle has raised $200,000 and spent $175,000. Ricketts gave Dover $25,000, while Pillen has not donated to either candidate.Elsewhere, the largest disparities in spending are in Lincoln’s&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/race-details/nebraska-legislature-district-27/">Legislative District 27</a>&nbsp;and the western Nebraska&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/race-details/nebraska-legislature-district-47/">Legislative District 47</a>.In Lincoln, Jason Prokop, a Democrat, has spent $331,000 while Dawn Liphardt, the executive director of the Nebraska Republican Party who is also running for the seat, has spent $64,000. The seat is held by term-limited State Sen. Anna Wishart, a Democrat.In western Nebraska, Paul Strommen has spent $78,000 while Larry Bolinger has spent $374.92, the total of his funds raised this cycle. The seat is held by term-limited State Sen. Steve Erdman.Two candidates running unopposed on the ballot also raised and spent sizable amounts.State Sen. Eliot Bostar of Lincoln, in&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/race-details/nebraska-legislature-district-29/">Legislative District 29</a>, raised $438,000 and spent $187,000 since his last election. Meanwhile, State Sen. Terrell McKinney of North Omaha, in&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/race-details/nebraska-legislature-district-11/">Legislative District 11</a>, raised $163,000 and spent $127,000.Longtime former State Sen. Ernie Chambers, who held the District 11 seat for 46 years, filed to run for the office and came a handful of votes behind McKinney in May. Chambers later dropped out of the race before filing as a write-in candidate.See below for a campaign finance breakdown for all legislative candidates. Or, view the visualization&nbsp;<a href="https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/20116779/" target="_blank">online here</a>.

Spending in Nebraska legislative races exceeds $7.4 million, surpasses 2022 levels

<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/11/03/fischer-shoring-up-gop-base-against-osborn-in-nebraska-u-s-senate-race/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

BELLEVUE, Nebraska — Even as outside polling shows a competitive race for U.S. Senate in ruby-red Nebraska, Republican U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer remains adamant that her challenge from nonpartisan industrial mechanic Dan Osborn is a media-driven fabrication.

Fischer said reporters “wanted to see a race,” so they created one. Nebraskans, she said, know her record of getting results on national defense issues, funding roads, bridges and broadband and fighting profligate spending.

“He may put up these maps that he loves to show and ads and things that he’s been all over the state, and I supposedly have been nowhere,” she said of Osborn. “He’s being … disingenuous. I am always out in the state … listening to Nebraskans.”

Fischer’s frustrated tone belies her annoyance at needing help from local and national Republican groups to fend off the Omaha union leader. Osborn has had help from some national Democrats, Libertarians and local Legal Marijuana NOW Party members in his upstart campaign.

On the last weekend before Election Day on Tuesday, Fischer brought in reinforcements including Arkansas’ Sen. Tom Cotton, her seat neighbor on the Senate Armed Services Committee. The Army veteran contended during a Saturday visit that Fischer had seen a tough race coming all along.

Some Republicans have questioned whether Fischer’s campaign grew complacent, despite the GOP’s 2-to-1 advantage over Democrats and a significant bloc of nonpartisan voters.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee, which typically focuses spending in swing states, has taken the unusual step of investing millions to help Fischer in right-leaning Nebraska.&nbsp;

On Sunday, Fischer rejoined a statewide barnstorming tour with Nebraska’s all-GOP congressional delegation aimed at shoring up Republican support for Fischer and 2nd District GOP U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, who typically faces close races in the Omaha area.

At a stop Sunday in Omaha, U.S. Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb, a longtime friend of Fischer’s, described Osborn as a “fraud that’s being perpetrated on Nebraskans” and said the state’s voters needed to put him out of a job Tuesday.

He was referencing Osborn’s decision to pay himself from campaign funds during the race.

Osborn, at rallies of his own Sunday in Omaha and Lincoln, pledged to serve only two terms in the Senate if elected, calling term limits “an anti-corruption measure.” He reminded voters that Fischer had pledged the same and was running for a third term anyway.

Fischer told the Examiner that she learned the importance of seniority in the Senate after serving and that the state has benefited from her experience.

Fischer said there was nothing she would have done differently about her race. She largely ignored Osborn for months, sitting on a campaign war chest while he built unexpected momentum and raised funds. Fischer’s allies said she missed a chance to define her challenger early in ads.

“I’d like to know who they are,” Fischer said of her campaign’s Republican critics.&nbsp;

Cotton defended her Saturday, saying, “Deb was working hard, taking no votes for granted, cautioning people about the playbook that (Senate Majority Leader) Chuck Schumer was running.”

Osborn, an Omaha union leader who has drawn blue-collar crowds from Scottsbluff to Omaha, surprised many with his sharp TV ads and willingness to anger leaders in the Nebraska Democratic Party to reinforce his relative independence.

He courted the endorsement of Nebraska Democrats for months before saying immediately after the primary that he didn’t want any party’s backing. Some of his supporters also joined third parties and worked to prevent them from nominating other candidates for the ballot.&nbsp;

Some of his supporters indicated this was an organized strategy. If third parties ran candidates on the general election ballot, that could split the vote more, instead of having a contest between Fischer and Osborn alone.&nbsp;

Osborn has built his brand with support from organized labor and progressive donors who suggest that a nonpartisan label could make popular progressive policies more viable in red states.

Fischer has called Osborn’s campaign “a political science experiment,” a jab that Osborn has embraced. He has told supporters at many of his town hall stops that many of the best ideas in American governance started that way.&nbsp;

“I’m&nbsp;just&nbsp;a&nbsp;worker&nbsp;for&nbsp;workers,” Osborn said. “There’s&nbsp;a&nbsp;lot&nbsp;of&nbsp;messaging&nbsp;out&nbsp;there,&nbsp;but&nbsp;at&nbsp;the&nbsp;end&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;day,&nbsp;that’s&nbsp;why&nbsp;I’m&nbsp;here.”

Fischer has capitalized on late mistakes by some outside groups and people considering helping Osborn now that they’ve helped him make it a contest, including a super PAC that typically backs Democrats and Schumer. &nbsp;

Fischer’s campaign pointed to a text from the left-leaning super PAC saying he would align with Democrats in the Senate if he is elected. Osborn has said he won’t caucus with either party if elected, a stance he reiterated in a recent sit-down with the Nebraska Examiner.&nbsp;

He has said this will give him leverage enough in a divided Senate to get the committee assignments Nebraska needs. Fischer has called that naive and said he would not be treated well by either party. She also contends he would caucus with the left.&nbsp;

“Her opponent, though, is a little bit different kind of guy than I’ve seen,” Cotton said of Osborn. “I’d say it’s a curious kind of independent who is using the Democrats’ fundraising machine to raise millions of dollars from out of state.”

Osborn has benefited from roughly $20 million in outside spending on his behalf, either supporting his bid or bashing Fischer, campaign finance forms show. GOP-aligned outside groups have come in with about $9 million for Fischer.

The two campaigns have each raised nearly $8 million, as well, record hauls for Fischer and for a first-time challenger not named Pete Ricketts, Nebraska’s junior senator who put millions of his own money into his first Senate race in the mid-2000s.

Osborn’s campaign in October reported raising $3.3 million, a record quarter for any modern Nebraska Senate race. Fischer raised nearly $1 million in the same period. Osborn’s campaign said he had raised another $3.1 million since the start of the fourth quarter.&nbsp;

Much of that came as a slew of national and internal polls from both campaigns started showing a closer-than-expected race, and a handful showed Osborn with a slight lead. They showed Osborn receiving significant support from some Republicans.&nbsp;

Fischer’s team cut an ad recently with former President Donald Trump. Her campaign started airing and sharing the ad digitally in conservative circles to help consolidate her support from the GOP base, which moved numbers her way.

Most local political observers still expect Fischer to win, perhaps by a wider margin than national polling shows. But some leave open the possibility of a close finish or even an upset, and that has motivated Democrats and nonpartisan voters who want to break the GOP hold on the state’s delegation.

Fischer is running ads on Osborn’s statements backing a legal path to citizenship for immigrant workers if they have lived in the U.S. for decades. The ads say he supports giving Social Security benefits to people who are in the country illegally, pointing to a recent interview he gave.

Osborn says the ads are twisting his words. He said he is talking about Nebraskans’ friends and neighbors who pay into Social Security through their paychecks and get no benefit. They’ve helped shore up the system for other workers and should have a legal path to citizenship, he said.

“It’s the fact that our immigration system is broken,” Osborn said. “People that have been living here, working here, that are not criminals, they’ve raised families in communities. It’s fixing the immigration system so they can get legal status.”

Osborn, a Navy veteran, said Fischer ran for the Senate saying she was going to fix the immigration system and then was part of the group that tanked a bipartisan immigration bill because Trump urged them to do so.&nbsp;

“We’ve got to start somewhere,” Osborn said. “If it fell short, it fell short. But at least the American people will know that Congress is doing something. This is one of the most ineffective Congresses in history.”

He says he would support policies that make it easier for people to join unions and to advocate for better pay and benefits. He says he won’t take special interest dollars and won’t let donors influence his decisions.

He touts his union support from the AFL-CIO and the United Auto Workers, which held a major rally for him in Lincoln that turned heads when Republican State Sen. Mike McDonnell, another Omaha labor leader, joined him on stage and applauded his bid.

Fischer has some union support as well, particularly from public safety unions representing state and local police officers and troopers and firefighters and paramedics. She also amplifies her backing from farm and ranching groups.

Fischer took issue with Osborn’s push to call her a “fake rancher.” Her family owns a ranch near Valentine, Nebraska, where she was a school board member.

Her campaign rallied last week in Herman, Nebraska, with the Nebraska Farm Bureau, the Nebraska Cattlemen and a number of her farm and ranch supporters who argued that she has listened to their needs and is a voice they want on the farm bill.

Both candidates sat down this spring with the Examiner’s political podcast, Picking Corn, and talked about a number of issues, including the need to support allies like Israel and Ukraine with American weapons.&nbsp;

Both said they want to protect American service members. Fischer talked again this weekend about how she worked with Bacon to secure funding for a new runway at Offutt Air Force Base, as well as flood repairs and flood-fighting levees.

Both Fischer and Osborn said they want the next farm bill to include improved versions of crop insurance.&nbsp;

Osborn has talked about the need to raise the cap on income subject to the Social Security tax, so millionaires and billionaires would pay more into the program. Fischer has said she would cut the federal tax on Social Security benefits.

Douglas County Commissioner Jim Cavanaugh, a Democrat, said Osborn was the right candidate “to preserve and improve Social Security” and criticized Fischer for previously discussing the potential of raising the Social Security retirement age for younger workers.

Fischer has said that retirees rely on the program and that it needs to be protected.

Bacon and Fischer’s other defenders repeated a hook from her stump speech, that Fischer is a work horse and not a show horse.

Osborn has said her campaign is kicking a dead horse and needs to be put out to pasture.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1730730638101.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>Zach Wendling<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/11/03/fischer-shoring-up-gop-base-against-osborn-in-nebraska-u-s-senate-race/">Nebraska Examiner</a>BELLEVUE, Nebraska — Even as outside polling shows a competitive race for U.S. Senate in ruby-red Nebraska, Republican U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer remains adamant that her challenge from nonpartisan industrial mechanic Dan Osborn is a media-driven fabrication.Fischer said reporters “wanted to see a race,” so they created one. Nebraskans, she said, know her record of getting results on national defense issues, funding roads, bridges and broadband and fighting profligate spending.“He may put up these maps that he loves to show and ads and things that he’s been all over the state, and I supposedly have been nowhere,” she said of Osborn. “He’s being … disingenuous. I am always out in the state … listening to Nebraskans.”Fischer’s frustrated tone belies her annoyance at needing help from local and national Republican groups to fend off the Omaha union leader. Osborn has had help from some national Democrats, Libertarians and local Legal Marijuana NOW Party members in his upstart campaign.<h2>Fischer brings reinforcements</h2>On the last weekend before Election Day on Tuesday, Fischer brought in reinforcements including Arkansas’ Sen. Tom Cotton, her seat neighbor on the Senate Armed Services Committee. The Army veteran contended during a Saturday visit that Fischer had seen a tough race coming all along.Some Republicans have questioned whether Fischer’s campaign grew complacent, despite the GOP’s 2-to-1 advantage over Democrats and a significant bloc of nonpartisan voters.The National Republican Senatorial Committee, which typically focuses spending in swing states, has taken the unusual step of investing millions to help Fischer in right-leaning Nebraska.&nbsp;On Sunday, Fischer rejoined a statewide barnstorming tour with Nebraska’s all-GOP congressional delegation aimed at shoring up Republican support for Fischer and 2nd District GOP U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, who typically faces close races in the Omaha area.At a stop Sunday in Omaha, U.S. Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb, a longtime friend of Fischer’s, described Osborn as a “fraud that’s being perpetrated on Nebraskans” and said the state’s voters needed to put him out of a job Tuesday.He was referencing Osborn’s decision to pay himself from campaign funds during the race.Osborn, at rallies of his own Sunday in Omaha and Lincoln, pledged to serve only two terms in the Senate if elected, calling term limits “an anti-corruption measure.” He reminded voters that Fischer had pledged the same and was running for a third term anyway.Fischer told the Examiner that she learned the importance of seniority in the Senate after serving and that the state has benefited from her experience.Fischer said there was nothing she would have done differently about her race. She largely ignored Osborn for months, sitting on a campaign war chest while he built unexpected momentum and raised funds. Fischer’s allies said she missed a chance to define her challenger early in ads.“I’d like to know who they are,” Fischer said of her campaign’s Republican critics.&nbsp;Cotton defended her Saturday, saying, “Deb was working hard, taking no votes for granted, cautioning people about the playbook that (Senate Majority Leader) Chuck Schumer was running.”<h2>Osborn’s rise</h2>Osborn, an Omaha union leader who has drawn blue-collar crowds from Scottsbluff to Omaha, surprised many with his sharp TV ads and willingness to anger leaders in the Nebraska Democratic Party to reinforce his relative independence.He courted the endorsement of Nebraska Democrats for months before saying immediately after the primary that he didn’t want any party’s backing. Some of his supporters also joined third parties and worked to prevent them from nominating other candidates for the ballot.&nbsp;Some of his supporters indicated this was an organized strategy. If third parties ran candidates on the general election ballot, that could split the vote more, instead of having a contest between Fischer and Osborn alone.&nbsp;Osborn has built his brand with support from organized labor and progressive donors who suggest that a nonpartisan label could make popular progressive policies more viable in red states.Fischer has called Osborn’s campaign “a political science experiment,” a jab that Osborn has embraced. He has told supporters at many of his town hall stops that many of the best ideas in American governance started that way.&nbsp;“I’m&nbsp;just&nbsp;a&nbsp;worker&nbsp;for&nbsp;workers,” Osborn said. “There’s&nbsp;a&nbsp;lot&nbsp;of&nbsp;messaging&nbsp;out&nbsp;there,&nbsp;but&nbsp;at&nbsp;the&nbsp;end&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;day,&nbsp;that’s&nbsp;why&nbsp;I’m&nbsp;here.”<h2>Mistakes by Osborn supporters</h2>Fischer has capitalized on late mistakes by some outside groups and people considering helping Osborn now that they’ve helped him make it a contest, including a super PAC that typically backs Democrats and Schumer. &nbsp;Fischer’s campaign pointed to a text from the left-leaning super PAC saying he would align with Democrats in the Senate if he is elected. Osborn has said he won’t caucus with either party if elected, a stance he reiterated in a recent sit-down with the Nebraska Examiner.&nbsp;He has said this will give him leverage enough in a divided Senate to get the committee assignments Nebraska needs. Fischer has called that naive and said he would not be treated well by either party. She also contends he would caucus with the left.&nbsp;“Her opponent, though, is a little bit different kind of guy than I’ve seen,” Cotton said of Osborn. “I’d say it’s a curious kind of independent who is using the Democrats’ fundraising machine to raise millions of dollars from out of state.”<h2>Money flows in</h2>Osborn has benefited from roughly $20 million in outside spending on his behalf, either supporting his bid or bashing Fischer, campaign finance forms show. GOP-aligned outside groups have come in with about $9 million for Fischer.The two campaigns have each raised nearly $8 million, as well, record hauls for Fischer and for a first-time challenger not named Pete Ricketts, Nebraska’s junior senator who put millions of his own money into his first Senate race in the mid-2000s.Osborn’s campaign in October reported raising $3.3 million, a record quarter for any modern Nebraska Senate race. Fischer raised nearly $1 million in the same period. Osborn’s campaign said he had raised another $3.1 million since the start of the fourth quarter.&nbsp;Much of that came as a slew of national and internal polls from both campaigns started showing a closer-than-expected race, and a handful showed Osborn with a slight lead. They showed Osborn receiving significant support from some Republicans.&nbsp;<h2>Fischer campaign responds</h2>Fischer’s team cut an ad recently with former President Donald Trump. Her campaign started airing and sharing the ad digitally in conservative circles to help consolidate her support from the GOP base, which moved numbers her way.Most local political observers still expect Fischer to win, perhaps by a wider margin than national polling shows. But some leave open the possibility of a close finish or even an upset, and that has motivated Democrats and nonpartisan voters who want to break the GOP hold on the state’s delegation.Fischer is running ads on Osborn’s statements backing a legal path to citizenship for immigrant workers if they have lived in the U.S. for decades. The ads say he supports giving Social Security benefits to people who are in the country illegally, pointing to a recent interview he gave.Osborn says the ads are twisting his words. He said he is talking about Nebraskans’ friends and neighbors who pay into Social Security through their paychecks and get no benefit. They’ve helped shore up the system for other workers and should have a legal path to citizenship, he said.“It’s the fact that our immigration system is broken,” Osborn said. “People that have been living here, working here, that are not criminals, they’ve raised families in communities. It’s fixing the immigration system so they can get legal status.”<h2>Osborn talks issues</h2>Osborn, a Navy veteran, said Fischer ran for the Senate saying she was going to fix the immigration system and then was part of the group that tanked a bipartisan immigration bill because Trump urged them to do so.&nbsp;“We’ve got to start somewhere,” Osborn said. “If it fell short, it fell short. But at least the American people will know that Congress is doing something. This is one of the most ineffective Congresses in history.”He says he would support policies that make it easier for people to join unions and to advocate for better pay and benefits. He says he won’t take special interest dollars and won’t let donors influence his decisions.He touts his union support from the AFL-CIO and the United Auto Workers, which held a major rally for him in Lincoln that turned heads when Republican State Sen. Mike McDonnell, another Omaha labor leader, joined him on stage and applauded his bid.<h2>Fischer pushes back on rancher attack ad</h2>Fischer has some union support as well, particularly from public safety unions representing state and local police officers and troopers and firefighters and paramedics. She also amplifies her backing from farm and ranching groups.Fischer took issue with Osborn’s push to call her a “fake rancher.” Her family owns a ranch near Valentine, Nebraska, where she was a school board member.Her campaign rallied last week in Herman, Nebraska, with the Nebraska Farm Bureau, the Nebraska Cattlemen and a number of her farm and ranch supporters who argued that she has listened to their needs and is a voice they want on the farm bill.Both candidates sat down this spring with the Examiner’s political podcast, Picking Corn, and talked about a number of issues, including the need to support allies like Israel and Ukraine with American weapons.&nbsp;Both said they want to protect American service members. Fischer talked again this weekend about how she worked with Bacon to secure funding for a new runway at Offutt Air Force Base, as well as flood repairs and flood-fighting levees.Both Fischer and Osborn said they want the next farm bill to include improved versions of crop insurance.&nbsp;Osborn has talked about the need to raise the cap on income subject to the Social Security tax, so millionaires and billionaires would pay more into the program. Fischer has said she would cut the federal tax on Social Security benefits.Douglas County Commissioner Jim Cavanaugh, a Democrat, said Osborn was the right candidate “to preserve and improve Social Security” and criticized Fischer for previously discussing the potential of raising the Social Security retirement age for younger workers.Fischer has said that retirees rely on the program and that it needs to be protected.Bacon and Fischer’s other defenders repeated a hook from her stump speech, that Fischer is a work horse and not a show horse.Osborn has said her campaign is kicking a dead horse and needs to be put out to pasture.&nbsp;

Fischer shoring up GOP base against Osborn in Nebraska U.S. Senate race

<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/11/04/ballot-measure-fundraising-nears-40-million-ahead-of-nebraska-2024-election/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN —&nbsp;Nebraskans are facing one of the most expensive elections in state history, including about $38 million raised and at least $32 million spent on campaigns involving six ballot measures.

<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/09/13/secretary-of-state-celebrates-local-election-officials-in-finalizing-nebraskas-fall-2024-ballot/">Five campaigns</a>&nbsp;have measures on the ballot, with the most expensive being the&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/10/23/gov-pillen-abortion-rights-campaign-clash-over-ectopic-pregnancies-miscarriages-and-abortion/">conflicting measures</a>&nbsp;over whether to amend the Nebraska Constitution related to abortion. The three other efforts revolve around&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/10/28/parents-patients-make-final-push-for-nebraskans-to-support-medical-cannabis/">medical cannabis</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/09/25/more-than-200-businesses-back-nebraska-paid-sick-leave-ballot-measure/">paid sick leave</a>&nbsp;and whether voters should repeal a&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/10/29/lawmakers-public-school-advocates-spar-over-ads-against-using-state-funds-for-ne-private-schools/">recent state law</a>&nbsp;that provides&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/10/31/iowa-wisconsin-national-educators-urge-nebraskans-to-repeal-state-support-to-private-schools/">state funds</a>&nbsp;to offset&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/10/31/families-urge-nebraskans-to-retain-state-support-to-private-schools/">private K-12 school attendance costs</a>.

Funds were also raised for two other campaigns, related to abortion (<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/07/03/competing-abortion-petitions-turn-in-signatures-seeking-nebraska-ballot-access/">Choose Life Now</a>) and taxes (<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/07/03/epic-consumption-tax-nebraska-petition-falls-short-will-have-to-find-another-way/">EPIC Option</a>), that didn’t collect enough signatures for the ballot.

As of&nbsp; Oct. 21, the five campaigns reported having a total of $2.21 million cash on hand. About $6.9 million came in just the past two weeks. Final campaign filings are due Jan. 14.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1730730514963.jpeg" alt=" A woman signs a Support Our Schools petition in Omaha. July 8, 2024. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)" />
 <figcaption> A woman signs a Support Our Schools petition in Omaha. July 8, 2024. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)</figcaption>
 </figure>Zach Wendling<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/11/04/ballot-measure-fundraising-nears-40-million-ahead-of-nebraska-2024-election/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN —&nbsp;Nebraskans are facing one of the most expensive elections in state history, including about $38 million raised and at least $32 million spent on campaigns involving six ballot measures.<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/09/13/secretary-of-state-celebrates-local-election-officials-in-finalizing-nebraskas-fall-2024-ballot/">Five campaigns</a>&nbsp;have measures on the ballot, with the most expensive being the&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/10/23/gov-pillen-abortion-rights-campaign-clash-over-ectopic-pregnancies-miscarriages-and-abortion/">conflicting measures</a>&nbsp;over whether to amend the Nebraska Constitution related to abortion. The three other efforts revolve around&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/10/28/parents-patients-make-final-push-for-nebraskans-to-support-medical-cannabis/">medical cannabis</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/09/25/more-than-200-businesses-back-nebraska-paid-sick-leave-ballot-measure/">paid sick leave</a>&nbsp;and whether voters should repeal a&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/10/29/lawmakers-public-school-advocates-spar-over-ads-against-using-state-funds-for-ne-private-schools/">recent state law</a>&nbsp;that provides&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/10/31/iowa-wisconsin-national-educators-urge-nebraskans-to-repeal-state-support-to-private-schools/">state funds</a>&nbsp;to offset&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/10/31/families-urge-nebraskans-to-retain-state-support-to-private-schools/">private K-12 school attendance costs</a>.Funds were also raised for two other campaigns, related to abortion (<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/07/03/competing-abortion-petitions-turn-in-signatures-seeking-nebraska-ballot-access/">Choose Life Now</a>) and taxes (<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/07/03/epic-consumption-tax-nebraska-petition-falls-short-will-have-to-find-another-way/">EPIC Option</a>), that didn’t collect enough signatures for the ballot.As of&nbsp; Oct. 21, the five campaigns reported having a total of $2.21 million cash on hand. About $6.9 million came in just the past two weeks. Final campaign filings are due Jan. 14.<h2>Abortion tops campaign finances</h2>Among the ballot issues, abortion tops the fundraising and spending charts, with the two dueling campaigns accounting for a combined $25.74 million raised and $21.69 million spent by Friday.The Protect Our Rights abortion-rights group behind&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/ballot-measures/protect-the-right-to-abortion-constitutional-amendment/">Initiative Measure 439</a>, is seeking to expand access to abortion up until the point of fetal viability as determined by a patient’s treating health care practitioner. The current scientific standard for viability is at about 22-24 weeks.&nbsp;The group had raised $13.75 million and spent at least $10.46 million by Friday, receiving nearly $1.96 million in the past two weeks. About $38,000 was non-monetary donations, such as staff time or advertising.The Protect Women and Children abortion-restrictions group behind&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/ballot-measures/protect-women-and-children-constitutional-amendment/">Initiative Measure 434</a>&nbsp;is seeking to prohibit most abortions after the first trimester, with exceptions language for sexual assault, incest and the life of the mother. The Legislature would be allowed to restrict abortion in the first trimester further.The group had raised $12 million and spent at least $11.23 million by Friday, receiving $3.91 million in the past two weeks. About $3.58 million was in non-monetary donations, largely advertising bought by Regent Jim Scheer of Norfolk ($3.25 million), He is running unopposed to a seat he was appointed to by Gov. Jim Pillen, the previous regent for that district.Tanya Storer of Whitman, who is seeking a north-central Nebraska legislative seat against Tony Tangwall of Whitney, has also given about&nbsp;$145,000&nbsp;in non-monetary donations to Protect Women and Children.The two abortion-related campaigns have differed greatly in how they get their funds.The abortion-rights campaign has gotten a large amount of funds from out-of-state so-called “dark money” groups that don’t disclose their donors.Meanwhile, the abortion-restrictions campaign has largely relied upon Nebraska billionaires, including U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., and his mother, Marlene Ricketts, as well as Tom and Shawn Peed, with Sandhills Global.<h2>Protect Our Rights</h2>The top donors to Protect Our Rights, the abortion-rights amendment, are former New York City mayor and billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who donated $1.5 million in October, and Regent Barbara Weitz of Omaha, who personally financed $900,000 in donations.The top group donations came from The Fairness Project, based in Washington, D.C.,&nbsp; which gave $1.84 million, and Planned Parenthood through its&nbsp;<a href="https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/planned-parenthood-advocates-nebraska/about-us" target="_blank">Nebraska-based nonprofit</a>&nbsp;and national “Action Fund,” at $1.6 million. Other top groups include the D.C.-based&nbsp;<a href="https://newventurefund.org/" target="_blank">New Venture Fund</a>, ($1 million); the ACLU of Nebraska ($975,000);&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thinkbigamerica.com/" target="_blank">Think Big America</a>, founded by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker ($850,000); and Nebraska Appleseed’s Action Fund ($702,000).The Fairness Project donated to various ballot measure campaigns in Nebraska’s past three elections: to increase Nebraska’s minimum wage, curb predatory payday lending and expand Medicaid.&nbsp;The group does not disclose its donors, but its website states that its focus is on running progressive policies&nbsp;in red states. New Venture Fund is managed by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.arabellaadvisors.com/" target="_blank">Arabella Advisors</a>, which was founded by a former Clinton administration appointee. It oversees a hub of other left-leaning nonprofits that have received donations from billionaire George Soros in the past.John Yoakum, a member of the Lower Platte South Natural Resources District, and Ashlei Spivey, a legislative candidate and founder of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ibeblackgirl.com/" target="_blank">I Be Black Girl</a>&nbsp;that supports Protect Our Rights, are also sponsoring ads for Protect Our Rights.State law doesn’t preclude this method of ad buying, and federal campaign spending rules give candidates discounted airtime compared to ballot initiatives.<h2>Protect Women and Children</h2>The top donors to Protect Women and Children, which is backing the abortion-restrictions amendment, are Marlene Ricketts, at $4 million; Pete Ricketts, at $1.115 million; and the Peeds, at $1 million each.A new political action committee, “Common Sense Nebraska,” which was formed Oct. 14, has helped raise funds for the campaign. Marlene Ricketts gave the group $3.5 million, and the Wisconsin-based nonprofit Catholic Vote gave $830,000.The group distributed $687,000 to Beatrice Regent Rob Schafer’s re-election campaign committee, but not for his University of Nebraska race. Instead, Schafer used the funds to purchase ads for the abortion-restrictions campaign.&nbsp;That was the same model for Storer and the $3.25 million from Scheer, a former speaker of the Nebraska Legislature. He created his regents committee Oct. 24.Former Regent Howard Hawks of Omaha also provided a $25,000 donation in the past two weeks to the abortion restrictions campaign.Pillen, who also supports the abortion-restrictions initiative, provided $645. He has a war chest of campaign funds but, as of Oct. 21, he hadn’t disbursed more than a handful of donations to support or fight against ballot measures or candidates this year.<h2>Support Our Schools/Keep Kids First</h2>The ballot issue prompting the next largest contributions is&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/ballot-measures/private-education-scholarship-partial-referendum/">Referendum Measure 435</a>, which seeks to repeal a law allowing an annual $10 million appropriation to the State Treasurer’s Office to distribute funds to families to help pay tuition at nonpublic K-12 schools, through Legislative Bill 1402.LB 1402, passed this year, is the second bill facing a repeal by the Support Our Schools campaign, with roots in the Nebraska State Education Association, which represents teachers. The group also fought LB 753 in 2023, before its sponsor, State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn, used LB 1402 to repeal its predecessor.LB 753 created an annual $25 million tax credit program to raise funds for scholarships for students attending private schools. About $10 million was raised in 2024 before the law went away, so $15 million will go back to the state.Now Support Our Schools is opposing the replacement bill, LB 1402.In total, Support Our Schools has raised $7.42 million and spent $5.91 million in the past year and a half opposing both laws, according to campaign filings through Friday. That includes a $750,000 donation from the National Education Association made during the past two weeks.Support Our Schools raised $1.84 million and spent $1.81 million by January 2024 to oppose the LB 753 tax credit-scholarship law.This year, Support Our Schools raised $5.58 million and spent at least $4.09 million by Friday to oppose LB 1402.&nbsp;Support Our Schools’ major sources of funding are the National Education Association ($4.33 million) and Nebraska State Education Association ($1.72 million).&nbsp;Other top donors include the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.openskypolicy.org/" target="_blank">OpenSky Police Institute</a>&nbsp;and “Vote For Schools,” a group for which little information is available. It is run by Dunixi Guereca, a legislative candidate and executive director of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.standforschools.org/" target="_blank">Stand For Schools</a>, which also donated thousands to the repeal efforts.New Venture Fund gave the campaign $99,000, and the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hopewellfund.org/" target="_blank">Hopewell Fund</a>, another nonprofit under Arabella Advisors, gave $90,000. The Colorado Education Association gave $2,500 and the Maine Education Association gave $1,000 to Support Our Schools.Support Our Schools’ first repeal effort, against LB 753, faced opposition from Keep Kids First, a formal committee with ties to Linehan and the national&nbsp;<a href="https://www.federationforchildren.org/" target="_blank">American Federation for Children</a>, founded by former U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.By Friday, that committee had raised and spent a total of $1.52 million, but a majority was to oppose the 2023 repeal effort.Keep Kids First raised $1.45 million and spent $1.41 million in 2023, to defend LB 753. In contrast, the committee raised $72,000 and spent $111,000 so far in 2024, in support of LB 1402.Keep Kids First’s top donors were American Federation For Children ($561,500), Pillen ($100,000), Shawn and Tom Peed ($75,000 each) and Sen. Pete Ricketts ($25,000).<h2>Paid Sick Leave for Nebraskans</h2>Paid Sick Leave for Nebraskans,&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/ballot-measures/paid-sick-leave/">Initiative Measure 436</a>, seeks to require businesses with 20 or fewer employees to fund at least five paid sick days each year for full-time employees. Larger businesses would need to annually fund at least seven sick days per full-time employee. An hour of sick leave would be earned after every 30 hours worked.The paid sick leave campaign raised a total of $3.2 million, the majority in 2023, and spent at least $3.08 million by Friday. Nearly all funds raised came from organizations; $460 came from individuals.By December 2023, the D.C.-based&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sixteenthirtyfund.org/" target="_blank">Sixteen Thirty Fund</a>&nbsp;had donated $1.92 million. Like the New Venture Fund, it is managed by Arabella Advisors and doesn’t disclose its donors.&nbsp;The campaign has also received $350,000 from the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/" target="_blank">Open Society Policy Center</a>, a principal financial arm founded by Soros, and about $280,000 from The Fairness Project.The largest local donating group is&nbsp;<a href="https://neappleseed.org/" target="_blank">Nebraska Appleseed</a>&nbsp;—&nbsp;a local nonprofit focused on child welfare, immigration, health care and poverty — at about $472,000.&nbsp;<h2>Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana</h2>Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana,&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/ballot-measures/nebraska-medical-cannabis-patient-protection-act/">Initiative Measures 437</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/ballot-measures/nebraska-medical-cannabis-regulation-act/">438</a>, would allow up to five ounces of medical cannabis with a written recommendation from a health care practitioner while creating a Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission to oversee and regulate the new law. This is the third straight election cycle for the campaign.By Friday, the campaign reported the smallest financial contributions of all others on the ballot, with $1.55 million raised and at least $1.53 million spent.The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nebraskafamilies.org/" target="_blank">Nebraska Families 4 Medical Cannabis</a>&nbsp;nonprofit is the largest donor, at $717,000. Other top donors were&nbsp;<a href="https://projects.propublica.org/527-explorer/orgs/933047993/details/9744933" target="_blank">Growing the Good Life</a>, a local nonprofit ($222,600); the Wyoming-based&nbsp;<a href="https://www.westernfuturesfund.org/" target="_blank">Western Futures Fund</a>&nbsp;($200,000); and the New Venture Fund ($100,000).Nebraska Families 4 Medical Cannabis has been around for almost a decade and has supported numerous legislative attempts involving medical marijuana. It financially supported Growing the Good Life, which in turn donated to Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana.Little information is available about the Western Futures Fund. Its website says it “strengthens civil society and promotes responsible leadership in the Western United States.”<h2>Ballot measure campaign finance, 2023-24</h2>Protect Our Rights (abortion-rights amendment)<ul>
 <li>Raised: $11.79 million</li><li>Spent: $10.42 million</li><li>Cash on hand: $1.06 million</li>
 </ul>Protect Women and Children (abortion restrictions amendment)<ul>
 <li>Raised: $8.08 million</li><li>Spent: $7.64 million</li><li>Cash on hand: $439,000</li>
 </ul>Support Our Schools (opposing state funds for private school scholarships)<ul>
 <li>Raised: $6.47 million</li><li>Spent: $5.90 million</li><li>Cash on hand: $572,000</li>
 </ul>Paid Sick Leave for Nebraskans<ul>
 <li>Raised: $3.20 million</li><li>Spent: $3.08 million</li><li>Cash on hand: $116,000</li>
 </ul>Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana<ul>
 <li>Raised: $1.51 million</li><li>Spent: $1.49 million</li><li>Cash on hand: $24,000</li>
 </ul>Keep Kids First (opposing Support Our Schools)<ul>
 <li>Raised: $1.52 million</li><li>Spent: $1.52 million</li><li>Cash on hand: $2,800</li>
 </ul>EPIC Option (to replace all state taxes with a consumption tax and exempt groceries)<ul>
 <li>Raised: $185,000</li><li>Spent: $120,000</li><li>Cash on hand: $65,000</li>
 </ul>No New Taxes (opposing EPIC Option)<ul>
 <li>Raised: $101,000</li><li>Spent: $78,000</li><li>Cash on hand: $23,000</li>
 </ul>Choose Life Now (an abortion-restrictions “personhood” amendment)<ul>
 <li>Raised: $27,000</li><li>Spent: $26,000</li><li>Cash on hand: $1,400</li>
 </ul>Source: Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission, through Oct. 21