(Picture credit Matt Johnson)
FREMONT — With two weeks before Election Day, Republicans are pulling out all the stops to shore up the vote, even in traditionally reliable red states like Nebraska.
On Tuesday afternoon, Senate Majority Leader John Thune visited Fremont to attend a get-out-the-vote rally with Sen. Pete Ricketts. Leader Thune laid out the stakes in stark terms.
“We just flat, ladies and gentlemen, have to hang on to the majority of the United States Senate. And right now, it runs right through Nebraska,” Thune said.
Dark Money and Democrat Obstruction
Rep. Mike Flood was on hand to introduce Leader Thune and spoke on Democratic money currently flooding into Nebraska.
“We’ve got Democrats that are dropping money into Nebraska left and right,” Flood said. “They’re spending $400,000 on me a week. You think that’s something? They’re spending 10 to 15 times that on Pete Ricketts.”
Ricketts also highlighted the spending issue, citing dark money driving the surge.
“The other side is dumping millions of dollars attacking me right now, just like they did against Senator Fischer,” Ricketts said. “Just on Friday, some Soros-related group dumped another $2.5 million attacking me.”
While Ricketts cited such things as the Working Families Tax Cut Act and strengthening border security as Republican wins in the U.S. Senate, he also cited a long list of provisions that have been blocked by Senate Democrats, including the SAVE Act.
The Plains Sentinel asked Thune about the status of the SAVE Act.
“Obviously, we voted on it half a dozen times now, and each time every single Democrat has voted no,” Thune said. “We need to win some elections and elect more Republicans, and that’s a way to get it passed in the end. But I’m a huge proponent of the SAVE Act. I was a cosponsor of the bill before it was popular, back in the day, and I’ll do anything we can to get it across the finish line. Right now, what we’re running into is a Democrat brick wall.”
Campaign Rhetoric and Democratic Socialism
Also speaking at the event was Nebraska’s senior U.S. Senator, Deb Fischer, who described Leader Thune’s job as “trying to herd the cats in this Republican Senate.”
Fischer has been in the news as audio leaks of Osborn having referred to her as a “b*tch” have surfaced recently. These remarks come on the heels of other audio leaks where Osborn referred to “Billy Bob” and “Mary Jane” from “f*cking Red Cloud” whose lives “f*cking suck.”
The Plains Sentinel spoke with Sen. Fischer on the audio leaks.
“Pretty disgusting—I think this guy is showing Nebraskans who he really is behind closed doors,” Fischer said. “Just his comments about Billy Bob and Mary Jane and Mary Jo. You know, Nebraskans, we don’t appreciate, first of all, the swearing that goes on, and we certainly don’t appreciate somebody who tries to put Nebraskans down all the time.”
Osborn’s political independence was also a chief target of criticism among the speakers, including Thune.
“He’s made it very clear in statements he’s made already where his allegiances lie. And I will tell you, California doesn’t need a third senator,” Thune said.
Ricketts went a step further, describing the Democratic Socialist wing of the Democratic Party gaining steam, and he tried to link it directly to Osborn’s race.
“The Democratic socialists are taking over the Democratic Party, and their platform is very radical,” Ricketts said. “It’s a radical philosophy, and it’s the same people that recruited my opponent, Democrat Dan Osborn.”
Thune also chimed in on the Democratic Socialists.
“They are gaining more and more dominance within their party,” Thune said. “If they win this election, they’re just going to continue to get more and more aggressive in the things that they do to implement that agenda.”
The Plains Sentinel asked Thune if he were concerned that Democrats may try to break the filibuster to implement that agenda, as they had when they controlled the U.S. Senate in 2021 and 2022.
“The Democrats, I don’t think, will go down that path until they have, at some point in the future, unified control of the government, because as long as President Trump’s in the White House, he’s going to veto anything that they do,” Thune said. “I think that what we have to ensure is that we are doing everything we can now to keep this majority, ensure that the Democrats are never in a position to exercise that.”
Thune’s Appearance a Sign of a Tight Election?
Thune is one of several high-profile Republicans who have made appearances in the Cornhusker State to campaign with Republicans. These have included Speaker Mike Johnson and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise campaigning with CD2 candidate Brinker Harding, along with RNC Chair Joe Gruters, who is scheduled to appear with Ricketts at an event in Bellevue on Wednesday evening.
The Plains Sentinel asked Thune if his appearance with Ricketts in a normally “safe” Republican state like Nebraska suggests that this election will be close.
“You don’t leave anything to chance,” Thune said. “And Pete is campaigning, you know, border to border here in Nebraska, and ensuring that he has an opportunity to get his message out. So we’re just glad to be here to support that effort.”
Joey Spellerberg, state treasurer and former mayor of Fremont, opened the event, and he told The Plains Sentinel that it all comes down to voter turnout.
“Most people think, ‘Yeah, I’ll just vote for president,’ right?” Spellerberg said. “If you believe in Nebraska values, that’s why you need to get out to vote in this cycle. And so, even though it’s not a presidential cycle, it’s just as important as continuing the kind of work that’s been done.”
Thune echoed these sentiments.
“This is a different political environment. It’s a non-presidential year. It’s a midterm election. It’s hard to get people out to vote. And so, in knowing, honestly, that we’re facing some political headwinds, we acknowledge that.”
— Matt Johnson is a freelance reporter with The Plains Sentinel.