Are Democratic Billionaires Behind Anti-Trump Highway Signs in Lincoln and Omaha?

by Dave Mastio

(Picture credit John Gage)

OMAHA — A national group has begun to put up 13 anti-Trump billboards in Omaha and Lincoln to highlight the rising cost of living under Donald Trump’s administration, particularly since he launched a war on Iran.

The move is an initial $1 million installment of a larger campaign that will, for now, include advertising in 16 states, according to a press release. In Nebraska and elsewhere, the ads appear to target Democratic and Independent areas of Republican-leaning states. Eventually, the effort will be nationwide with total spending of $15 million, the group says.

The non-profit called “Of the Brave,” was created by D.C. public relations firm Longwell Partners, whose projects are sometimes funded by billionaire Democratic donors such as former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and hotel magnate and philanthropist John Pritzker. In this case, the firm has not responded to emails asking who paid them to create “Of the Brave.”

As a 501(c) 4 non-profit, “Of the Brave” is not required to disclose its donors and while the group was already active in 2025 with plans to spend as much as $30 million dollars in this election cycle, it has yet to file required disclosures. A detailed public disclosure to the IRS called a 990 will eventually be filed but not necessarily before this fall’s election. The group used proxies to obscure its origins in creating web sites such as stickershocksummer.org, according to GoDaddy’s “Who is” service.

The Plains Sentinel confirmed the relationship between Longwell Partners and “Of the Brave” when a spokesman accidentally emailed a note intended for a supervisor from his Longwell corporate email account instead of his non-profit email address.

Sarah Longwell, founder of the PR firm, is a long-time Republican consultant who has opposed Trump and is among the leaders of a popular anti-Trump web publication called The Bulwark. She did not reply to multiple requests for comment through email and social media.

Longwell’s projects have complicated financial ties and a long record of featuring conservatives and former Republicans in leadership roles and advertising while taking significant funding from Democratic donors, including $6 million from one who funded E. Jean Carroll’s successful civil sexual assault lawsuit against Trump.

Nebraska Public Media (NPM), which broke news of the Nebraska billboards, reported that, “Mary Jane Truemper, chair of the Nebraska GOP, said Nebraskans won’t be bought by what she called a left-wing, outside group.”

“It won’t work,” Truemper said. “Nebraskans don’t take their cues from coastal activists with a checkbook.” In addition, NPM found that Ken Casey, who is an advisor to the group, has been a proponent of Dan Osborn’s Independent run for U.S. Senate this cycle.

David Mastio is a Papillion resident and a former National Columnist for The Kansas City Star and Deputy Editorial Page Editor of USA TODAY.