Kerrey Stands By Cavanaugh Despite Him Quietly Removing Endorsement from Campaign Website
by Ken Shepherd
Bob Kerrey says he stands by his endorsement of state Sen. John Cavanaugh in his bid to succeed retiring Republican Rep. Don Bacon in the state’s Second Congressional District, even though Cavanaugh has quietly removed the former governor’s endorsement from his campaign website in the wake of the revelation of 2013 meetings with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Responding Friday to an email from The Plains Sentinel, Kerrey said he was unaware Cavanaugh had removed the endorsement from his website, but that he continues to back the Omaha Democrat.
“I did not know that Senator Cavanaugh has taken my endorsement off his web site. I do know that I continue to support him,” wrote Kerrey.
While an archive.org screen capture from December 2025 shows John Cavanaugh for Congress campaign website proudly touting Kerrey’s endorsement, the current endorsements page has been scrubbed of the former governor’s name. The Cavanaugh campaign did not return emailed requests from The Plains Sentinel for comment.
The former Nebraska governor also effectively took credit for Cavanaugh’s recent decision, as reported Wednesday in The New York Times, to give away Kerrey’s campaign donation to a charity that benefits women victims of domestic and sexual violence. “His decision to return the donation began with the attached letter,” Kerrey said, referencing a letter sent to Nebraska Republican Chairwoman Jane Truemper.
“You assert correctly that moral clarity is needed for the American people to understand this entire story,” Kerrey wrote Truemper in that letter, “I agree with this enthusiastically. Thus, I will today ask all candidates I have helped to return the contribution.”
Despite Kerrey’s green light for his endorsed candidates to return their donations, independent U.S. Senate candidate Dan Osborn, recipient of a $3,000 Kerrey donation, has not yet indicated his plans regarding the money. The New York Times reported Wednesday that an Osborn spokeswoman “declined to comment specifically on the donation.” Emails from The Plains Sentinel inquiring about the donation went unreturned by the Osborn campaign.
Email inquiries from The Plains Sentinel to Kerrey-endorsed University of Nebraska Regent candidate Brent Comstock were likewise unreturned by deadline. Comstock was also a recipient of $5,000 in Kerrey campaign contributions in 2025, but it is unclear if he will return those donations. Unlike Cavanaugh, Comstock’s website still includes Kerrey’s name and photo on his campaign website’s endorsements page.
In his letter to Truemper as well as in his email response to The Plains Sentinel Kerrey suggested Republicans are simply playing politics with the Epstein files rather than seeking accountability across the political spectrum.
“My question is to the GOP Chair: Are you going to search Republican donors to determine if any of them met with Epstein for any reason or are you simply going to use my meeting for political gain?” Kerrey said in his email to The Plains Sentinel, although he did not furnish any particular names on the GOP side of the aisle.
In an earlier statement to The Plains Sentinel, Nebraska Democratic Party chair Jane Kleeb called on Nebraska Republicans to reject Trump’s endorsement over his appearance in the Epstein files.
“Every Nebraska Republican who has taken a Donald Trump endorsement needs to rescind it, including Jim Pillen, Pete Ricketts, Adrian Smith, and Mike Flood, because Trump is named in the Epstein files over 1,000 times.”
Ken Shepherd is a freelance reporter with The Plains Sentinel. He is a former editor at Fox News Digital and the Washington Times.
