OMAHA, Neb. — In one of the most closely watched congressional races this year, U.S. Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska is looking to defeat a fellow Republican in Tuesday’s primary election in his quest for reelection. He’ll have to do it without the support of the state Republican Party, which has endorsed his primary challenger.

Bacon, whose district includes the state’s largest city of Omaha, isn’t the only one being snubbed. The Nebraska GOP, which was taken over by those loyal to former President Donald Trump during a contentious state convention in 2022, has refused to endorse any of the Republican incumbents who hold all five of the state’s congressional seats.

The state party has endorsed primary challengers to U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts and Rep. Adrian Smith, who represents the state’s vast rural 3rd Congressional District. And it has declined to issue endorsements in the primary races of U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer and Rep. Mike Flood, who represents the 1st Congressional District that includes the state capital of Lincoln. Both Fischer and Flood face primary challengers who entered those races after the Nebraska GOP announced its endorsement decision in January.

It’s an oddity that lays bare the bitter divide between Trump loyalists who control the Nebraska GOP, as well as several county Republican parties, and the more establishment-type Republicans who were previously at the helm, said John Hibbing, a longtime University of Nebraska-Lincoln political science professor.

“It’s not a good look,” Hibbing said. “You’d like the faces of your party, who would be your elected representatives, and the state party leaders to be on the same page.”

It’s even more perplexing when considering the voting records and campaign rhetoric of the incumbents, he said.

“I think they’re probably wondering: ‘What else can we do?’” Hibbing said. “These are solidly conservative individuals.”

Nowhere is the state party’s rejection more likely to leave a mark than in Bacon’s race. The incumbent faces a challenge from Dan Frei, who bills himself as to the right of Bacon. Frei previously ran for the seat in 2014 and came close to besting then-Rep. Lee Terry in the Republican primary.

Bacon is one of 16 Republican members of Congress representing districts that Democrat Joe Biden carried in 2020.

Nebraska eschewed a winner-take-all system of awarding presidential electoral votes more than 30 years ago and instead allows its electoral votes tied to its three congressional districts to be split. Bacon’s district has seen its elector vote go to a Democratic presidential candidate twice — to Barack Obama in 2008 and to Biden in 2020.

After the state GOP endorsed Frei, Bacon defended his record as “a common-sense conservative who is able to reach across the aisle and find areas of consensus.”

Bacon has said that “it’s sad to see the division in the party,” Danielle Jensen, communications director of the Bacon campaign, said Monday. “I can tell you, he does not think this is going to negatively affect the campaign.”

The campaigns of Fischer, Flood, Ricketts and Smith did not immediately response to messages seeking comment.

The state party said in an email Monday it didn’t endorse any of the Republican incumbents because they didn’t ask. The challengers who got the party’s endorsement did ask, and a vote of the more than 160 elected governing body members of the party gave them that endorsement, said Todd Watson, political director of the state GOP.

Watson denied that the move was solely about Trump, but said most Nebraska Republicans are fed up with what they see as attacks on Trump, the state party’s new direction and “our way of life.”

“What we believe in is the Constitution, conservative principles, and God,” he said.

A former state Republican Party official, Kerry Winterer, excoriated the state party in an opinion piece published in the Nebraska Examiner last week, saying the party’s primary purpose is to elect Republicans but that it has instead become bound solely to Trump.

“A political party bound to one candidate cannot possibly fulfill its purpose of electing candidates that share a common political philosophy,” Winterer wrote.

Watson countered that “the old leadership” of the state GOP has it wrong.

“Objectives of the party are achieved in our mind when we elect constitutional and platform Republicans to office,” he said. “Electing Republicans that are not committed to the objective of the party … to defend the Constitution and advance our principles as stated in our written platform and plans have been a real problem for this party and country.”

News

City of Lincoln, Nebraska turns to B20 biodiesel

The city of Lincoln, Nebraska will soon incorporate B20 biodiesel in its municipal fleet.

Wesley Wach, demand and utilization coordinator with the Nebraska Soybean Board, says the fuel transition will replace 215,000 gallons of petroleum diesel in nearly 130 fleet vehicles.

“The city has a lot of different sustainability goals,” he said, “including reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050. And also having their entire fleet be 100% electric or alternatively fueled by 2040.”

The city was awarded funding through NSB’s biodiesel incentive program. B20 refers to the 20% blended percentage of biodiesel in a gallon of fuel. As a drop-in replacement, B20 can be incorporated into the city fleet immediately without any changes to existing equipment or infrastructure.

Wach tells Brownfield the increase in biodiesel demand brings added value back to soy growers. “You’re seeing increased crush capacity across the nation and in Nebraska, which is leading to a better base for farmers and also a better overall price for soybeans.”

He says studies have shown that the lifecycle emissions of pure biodiesel are 74% lower than regular diesel.

Nebraska remains alive in the Big Ten title race, as the Huskers came away with a 4-2 win vs. Indiana on Sunday afternoon at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park.

Nebraska (32-18, 14-7 Big Ten) scored four runs on eight hits and committed an error, while Indiana (28-21-1, 13-8 Big Ten) totaled two runs on six hits and three errors.

Jackson Brockett pitched five strong innings in his second start of the week, allowing just two runs across four hits while striking out three Hoosiers. Drew Christo tossed four shutout innings to move to 2-3 on the season. The junior surrendered just two singles and recorded a pair of strikeouts.

Case Sanderson was 2-for-3 at the plate with a double, an RBI and a run scored. Josh Caron picked up two hits and an RBI, while Cole Evans was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Tyler Stone recorded a double, and Rhett Stokes had a hit and team-high two runs on Sunday.

Stone began the bottom of the second drilling a 2-0 pitch off the top of the fence in center for his eighth double of the season. A nifty behind-the-back play from Indiana’s pitcher on a fielder’s choice in the next at-bat got Stone out in a rundown between second and third to keep the Huskers off the board in the second.

Brockett worked around a leadoff single in the top of the third, while the Husker offense broke through with two runs on a pair of hits and an error to take a 2-0 lead. Stokes reached on a one-out fielding error and moved to second on a balk for the Big Red.

Sanderson broke the scoreless tie with two outs, lifting a 1-2 pitch down the left-field line for an RBI ground-rule double to bring home Stokes from second. An infield single from Caron placed runners on first and third, before a wild pitch allowed Sanderson to jog down the third-base line for NU’s second run in the inning.

Indiana trimmed the deficit in half in the top of the fifth with Jasen Oliver’s solo homer to left. The Hoosiers locked the game at two in the sixth when Tyler Cerny sent a 1-2 pitch into the berm in left field for visitors’ second solo homer of the afternoon.

Christo replaced Brockett on the mound and retired the next three Hoosiers after giving up a single up the middle to the first batter he faced.

Nebraska capitalized on an error from the Hoosiers in the bottom of the sixth to take the lead back at 3-2. Caron reached on a throwing error from the Indiana pitcher, reaching second base on the play to put a runner on second with one out.

The Hoosiers elected to intentionally walk Stone with two outs to put runners on first and second with Saturday night’s hero in Evans at the plate. Evans made the Hoosiers pay for the second game in a row, lacing a 2-1 pitch into left field for an RBI double, scoring Caron and giving the Huskers a 3-2 advantage through six innings.

Christo stranded a pair of Hoosiers in the seventh after a two-out fielding error and single to center field.

Stokes reached on an infield single and later stole second with one out in the bottom of the seventh. Sanderson was plunked on a 1-2 pitch with two outs to put runners on first and second for the Big Red. Caron brought home Stokes from second after lining the first pitch he saw to left field for an RBI single to double the Husker lead to 4-2.

Christo retired the Hoosiers in order in the eighth and ninth innings to clinch the weekend series for the Huskers on Sunday afternoon.

Nebraska wraps up regular-season play next weekend, as the Huskers venture to East Lansing, Mich., for a three-game set at Michigan State on Thursday-Saturday, May 16-18.