Nebraska
U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith draws challengers in Nebraska’s 3rd District House race • Nebraska Examiner
BLAIR, Nebraska — Two Republicans and two Democrats running for Congress in Nebraska’s sprawling, largely rural 3rd District said they want primary voters to consider someone other than nine-term Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith.
Smith, 53, was elected to Congress in 2006 after serving two terms as a state senator and one as a Gering City Councilman. He said he remains focused on lowering taxes, boosting trade and slowing or stopping the Biden administration, he said.
“A lot of folks are frustrated at the president,” Smith said of concerns voiced by his constituents. “I’m very proud of my record of pushing back on the president. We’ve made a difference. We’ve derailed his agenda. We’ve stood in the way.”
Having GOP primary opponents is nothing new for Smith in one of the nation’s most conservative congressional districts — 63% Republican and 18% Democrat. It includes central and western Nebraska and much of the northern and southeastern edges.
He has had at least one primary opponent in every election since 2018 and has never gotten less than 65% of the vote. In 2018, he faced three opponents, including current State Board of Education member Kirk Penner. In 2020, he faced four Republican challengers.
He spent more to campaign during those races than he has this year, campaign finance records show.
Republican primary fight
What’s new this go-round is the arrival of a national trend in Republican politics pushing state and local parties toward populists. That wave hit Nebraska in 2022 at the state level and has now washed over most county parties in the state.
That, and a dust-up between the new leaders of the state GOP and some members of Nebraska’s all-GOP congressional delegation, are how Hastings discount-store owner John Walz secured primary race endorsements from the state party and many county GOPs.
No one in the five-member, all-Republican delegation sought or received endorsements from the state party.
Smith has avoided criticizing the party. He said he is focused on listening to Republicans in his district who want help with the impact of inflation on their budgets.
He said lawmakers must get serious about more than fighting about discretionary spending. He said they must have difficult bipartisan conversations about entitlement spending.
Both of his GOP opponents in Tuesday’s primary and both of his potential Democratic general election opponents say Smith is all talk, a bland Republican who accomplishes little other than helping corporations and donors funding his campaigns.
Smith says sometimes it’s hard to see the work he does on the influential tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee to help reduce regulation and taxes and provide agricultural producers obtain fairer access to markets such as South Korea and Colombia.
Smith said he is one of the House conservatives who exacted concessions from the Biden administration on its previous efforts to hire more Internal Revenue Service agents to audit more Americans, which he said would hassle taxpayers.
He said that there are limits to what Republicans can negotiate when Democrats hold the Senate and the White House and that things could change next year at the ballot box.
Walz, 54, said he decided to run when Smith voted to keep the government running with continuing budget resolutions instead of using the power of the purse to force Democrats in the Senate and President Joe Biden to negotiate real cuts.
He said too many Republicans get scared about bad press because of a government shutdown and back down too often.
“If they used that leverage and they were to go ahead and defund the government and shut the government down … what they’re essentially doing is you’re shutting off the fourth branch of government, the bureaucratic state,” Walz said.
He says he wants the government to be more openly “Judeo-Christian.” Asked how he would represent Nebraskans of other faiths or none, he said that God’s law supersedes man’s but that he could treat people with respect even if he disagreed with them morally.
He helped organize a news conference earlier this week calling on church leaders across the state to get more involved in the state’s politics, including pressing for a more aggressive ban on abortion than voters might get to consider this fall.
Critics of similar approaches have said this could risk the tax status of churches.
Walz said he helped rebuild the Hastings chapter of the John Birch Society, a conservative group that spent the Cold War era fighting what its members perceived as the influence of communism in the U.S. government during the Cold War.
The group opposed the Civil Rights Act. Much like the current moment in GOP politics, its members became known for fighting with conservatives who disagreed with some of its beliefs in limited government and national sovereignty.
Walz describes himself as a “MAGA Republican” because people understand that he is not part of “the establishment.” He says he is a loyal supporter of President Donald Trump.
Smith has backed Trump as well. He was the only member of the Nebraska delegation who voted not to accept the 2020 election results. He has said the country did better under Trump.
The third Republican in the race is Robert McCuiston, a welder from Holdrege. He was mayor of Tamora, Neb., for five years in the mid-1990s. To him, Smith’s biggest failure is that he fails to “represent the common man,” especially on taxes.
He said Smith has spent so much time in Washington, D.C., that he works more for corporate tax breaks and special interest groups than worrying about working people. McCuiston said Congress should adopt term limits of 12 years and an age cap of 74 years.
He said he would push to change the federal tax code to make sure large businesses and corporations pay their fair share of taxes so middle-class people and small businesses carry less of the burden of funding the federal government.
Some have criticized Smith’s relationships with lobbyists after a New York Times story in 2014 about a ski retreat destination fundraiser featured him prominently.
McCuiston, 63, considers himself “a moderate Republican” who said he will work with anyone to help fix inflation. He said most central and western Nebraskans don’t see Smith enough. Smith, of Gering, advertises events around the district.
“He’s basically done nothing for Nebraska,” McCuiston said.
All three advocated more focus on securing the U.S. border with Mexico. Smith hammered Biden for backing away from “remain in Mexico.” Walz talked about chaos he saw on a visit to the border. McCuiston said the border needs to be closed until fixed.
Polling indicates that the border security push is the top issue among likely Republican voters after months of emphasis on it by conservative media and politicians. The economy and spending power also ranked highly for GOP primary voters.
All three describe themselves as “pro-life,” saying they favor banning abortions, with at least one exception, for the life of the mother.
Smith remains a clear favorite to advance Tuesday. He has outraised Walz $1.2 million to $22,000. None of his other opponents had yet raised or spent the $5,000 that requires reporting donations to the Federal Election Commission.
Smith listed having $1.2 million in campaign cash on hand in the most recent fundraising report, a tally he often shares with other conservative candidates during the general election because of the GOP’s nearly 4-to-1 registration advantage over Democrats in the district.
Two Democrats compete in the primary
The winner of the GOP primary will face one of two Democrats competing Tuesday. Both Daniel Ebers and David Else said they filed to run for Congress, in part, to make sure that Smith would face a Democrat this fall.
Ebers, 52, said he went to middle school with Smith in Gering and lived in Cambridge, Neb., until this spring, when he moved to Lincoln to continue his work in hotel management. He said he felt competing was better than complaining about politics.
He says voters deserve more than months of Smith’s commercials saying he is fighting Biden. He said 3rd District voters need “somebody that’s going to represent the people of Nebraska.”
“The only thing that he’s putting out there is what the president has done or hasn’t done,” Ebers said. “I don’t feel like that’s telling us what he is doing. The only thing that says is that he’s not willing to work with the other party.”
Ebers said he would focus on the economy. He said his employees tell him they need more money to live comfortably, and his boss and others tell him they aren’t making enough money to pay more. Too many people work too hard and aren’t getting ahead, he said.
On abortion, Ebers said he supports choice and says that discussion should be between a woman and her doctor.
His competitor in the Democratic primary is a familiar face from the 2022 3rd District race, Else, who farms near Overton. He is known for sparring with Republican governors during their radio call-in shows.
The corn and soybean farmer with 130 cows said somebody in the race needs to tell the truth about Trump’s tariff and trade fights with China being part of the reason food is so expensive. He said farmers are still feeling the effects of losing overseas customers.
Else said American consumers are still paying more for Chinese-manufactured goods, which he said might be a good thing one day, but not when people are struggling to make ends meet.
He said somebody needs to defend Obamacare for self-employed people like those working in agriculture. He said he still thinks about a woman he saw crying about losing her job for taking care of her child. Health care matters, he said.
The farmer and former meatpacker said he also wants to make sure people understand how important their Latino neighbors are to making Nebraska’s ag economy function. He said he has worked alongside immigrants who earned their pay.
Else, 63, said he caught flak from some Democrats for being willing to compromise on abortion limits at 12 or 13 weeks. He said he told Nebraska Democratic Party leaders that any candidate who competes in the 3rd District will be more conservative.
He said he understands some might disagree, but he won’t stop being who he is: the guy who calls governors and tells them uncomfortable truths. He’s long been critical of Smith, describing him as a placeholder.
“What has he done?” he asked. “In all those years.”
Said Smith: “We are called to do more than just say what the problems are and focus on solutions.”
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OMAHA — Democratic donors in and beyond Nebraska’s borders are focusing more money and attention this year on the Omaha-area rematch race for the U.S. House.
From April 1 to June 30, Democratic challenger State Sen. Tony Vargas of Omaha outraised the four-term Republican incumbent, U.S. Rep. Don Bacon of Papillion.
Vargas reported raising $1.36 million in the second quarter, with $2.5 million in cash on hand. That’s more than double his cash on hand at this point in 2022, campaign finance filings show.
Bacon raised $970,000 for his campaign, plus another $80,000 for his Bacon PAC, the filings show. He listed $2.2 million in cash on hand, more than double his campaign’s tally in July 2022.
Contrast that with the second quarter of 2022, when Bacon raised $409,000 and listed $1.2 million in cash on hand and Vargas raised $550,000 and listed $533,000 in cash on hand.
Vargas outpacing 2022 tallies
Vargas appears to have held onto his local Democratic donors and expanded his reach with national donors, with much of his money coming to his campaign through online donations portal ActBlue.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said recently it would steer donors to spend more money on a smaller number of races this year, including Nebraska’s 2nd District.
The Vargas campaign has said donors also see that Bacon is coming off a primary in which nearly 40% of Republican voters chose another candidate, Dan Frei, who raised and spent very little.
“Nebraskans across all political parties are making it clear they’re fed up with Don Bacon hurting middle class families and siding with his party bosses, just to protect his political career,” Vargas said in a statement. “That’s why my campaign is seeing more grassroots support and momentum than ever before.”
Bacon ahead of schedule, too
Bacon, like most long-term incumbents, raised much of his money from groups and people with business before Congress. He also appears to have maintained his support with local GOP donors.
To date, Bacon has raised and spent the most on this election cycle, because he was fending off a primary challenger, which forced him to spend funds earlier on advertising and door-knocking.
In all, Bacon has raised $4.3 million this cycle and spent $2.1 million, according to OpenSecrets.org, which tracks congressional campaign spending. Vargas has raised $3.5 million and spent $1.1 million. Vargas did not face a primary challenger.
The National Republican Congressional Committee has been ramping up its support for Bacon and other targeted GOP incumbents. It has pledged that Bacon will have all the support he needs.
Bacon, in a statement, thanked his supporters for “putting our campaign in its strongest-ever position to win this fall.” He has said his voting record matches the district and its values better than Vargas.
“We had a competitive primary. Tony Vargas didn’t,” said Matthew Zacher, Bacon’s campaign manager, who pointed out that the district retains a slight GOP lean. “We have been outraised three of four election cycles and won each time.”
Looking ahead to November
Bacon beat Vargas by about 3 percentage points in 2022.
Polling touted by both campaigns has shown the race within the surveys’ margin of error, with each side highlighting a result that shows their candidate leading.
Many political observers expect the race to take on a harder edge than in 2022. That year, more than $18 million was spent on the race, including more than $11 million from outside groups.
Other House races
In eastern Nebraska’s 1st Congressional District, U.S. Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., raised $283,000 and listed $501,000 in cash on hand, federal campaign finance records show.
His Democratic opponent, State Sen. Carol Blood of Bellevue, raised $23,000 and listed $20,000 in cash on hand.
In Nebraska’s PAC-MAN-shaped, largely rural 3rd District, one of the most conservative districts nationally, Republican U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith continues to outraise Democratic opponents.
Smith raised $296,000 and listed $1.1 million in cash on hand at the end of June. His Democratic opponent, Daniel Ebers, had not filed a campaign finance form with the Federal Election Commission. Candidates must file if they raise $5,000 or more.
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Nebraska
Organizers expect enough signatures to ask Nebraska voters to repeal private school funding law
OMAHA, Neb. — Public school advocates believe they have enough signatures to ask Nebraska voters in November to repeal a law that provides taxpayer money for private school tuition, marking the latest twist in a long-running fight with state lawmakers who have repeatedly opposed efforts to let voters weigh in on the public funding plan.
Organizers of Support Our Schools, which has been furiously gathering petition signatures over the past nine weeks, say they expect to have more than the roughly 86,500 signatures needed by Wednesday to ask voters to repeal the private school funding law.
“I mean, I’m a nervous wreck,” Karen Kilgarin, an organizer with Support Our Schools, said days before the deadline. “One of our biggest challenges is that we’ve really only had 67 days this time around to meet the deadline.”
If the repeal measure is approved for the November ballot, organizers fully expect school choice supporters to file a lawsuit to try to thwart the referendum, said Tim Royers, a Support Our Schools organizer and Millard Public Schools teacher.
“We’re very confident that, should they choose to try and file a court challenge to get us off the ballot, we would successfully defeat that challenge,” Royers said.
It’s the second time in a year public school advocates have had to carry out a signature-gathering effort to try to reverse a legislative measure to use public money for private school tuition. The first came last year, when Republicans who dominate the officially nonpartisan Nebraska Legislature passed a bill to allow corporations and individuals to divert millions of dollars they owe in state income taxes to nonprofit organizations. Those organizations would, in turn, award that money as private school tuition scholarships.
The private school scholarship program saw Nebraska follow several other red states — including Arkansas, Iowa and South Carolina — in enacting some form of private school choice, from vouchers to education savings account programs.
Before the measure was even enacted, Support Our Schools began organizing a petition effort, collecting far more signatures than was needed to ask voters to repeal the law.
But rather than letting Nebraska voters decide, school choice supporters sought to thwart the petition process. Omaha Sen. Lou Ann Linehan, who introduced the private school funding bill, first called on Secretary of State Bob Evnen to reject the ballot measure, saying it violated the state constitution that places the power of taxation solely in the hands of the Legislature.
When that failed, Linehan successfully pushed a new bill to dump the tax credit funding system and simply fund private school scholarships directly from state coffers. More significantly, because Linehan’s new bill repealed and replaced last year’s law, it rendered last year’s successful petition effort moot — perfecting what Linehan called an “end run” around the effort to have Nebraska voters decide whether public money can go to private schools.
That move is in line with a growing trend among Republican-dominated state legislatures to find ways to force through legislation they want, even when it’s opposed by a majority of voters. A number of those efforts center on citizen-led petitions for law changes.
“They know that this is not popular with the public,” Royers said. “They know that every time vouchers have gone on the ballot in other states, it’s been defeated.”
Supporters of school choice say it’s needed for students and their families who are failed by low-performing public schools — particularly low-income families unable to afford private school tuition on their own. Opponents say private school funding programs end up being too costly for states to maintain and undercut public schools. Some have also said it violates the Nebraska Constitution’s prohibition against appropriating public funds to nonpublic schools.
When Linehan’s new direct funding of private school tuition scholarships passed this year, opponents again launched a petition effort to repeal it — but with less time and more obstacles than they had last year.
Royers noted that lawmakers waited until the last day of the session this year to pass the new private tuition funding bill. It then took days for Republican Gov. Jim Pillen to sign it into law and some 10 days for Evnen — also a Republican — to approve the language for a new petition effort.
They also had to start before most public schools were out for the summer, leaving teachers unable to help with signature collection early in the process. Most difficult, Royers said, was having to explain to people who had signed the repeal petition last year why they had to sign again if they wanted voters to have a say.
Linehan said she expects the fight over school choice “will probably end up in court,” but that the decision to file a lawsuit to stop the ballot measure would likely be up to the Nebraska Attorney General’s office.
Even then, if Support Our Schools succeeds in getting the repeal question on the ballot, Linehan said she expects that effort will fail if voters understand that it’s meant to help people — including foster children and military families — without the means to send their children to private school.
“I don’t think if Nebraskans understood the situation, if they will vote to take those scholarships away from those kids,” she said.
SOUTH SIOUX CITY, Neb. (KTIV) – The group, “Support Our Schools Nebraska” held a petition drive to support public school students.
This was their last day to get signatures. They have a total of 14 events going on throughout the state.
Last year, more than 117,000 Nebraskans signed a successful referendum petition to put the repeal of a private school voucher system on the ballot. That measure was stopped by State Senator Lou Ann Linehan.
Support Our Schools Nebraska wants public funds going to public schools not private since the majority of students in Nebraska attend a public school.
“Most people want to have a voice, so they want to have a vote and say I want my tax dollars going to the public schools that’s where it’s important where they be because most of the kids in Nebraska go to public schools very few go to the private schools,” said Tracia Blom a Nebraska teacher.
They say they have enough signatures, and this should be on the ballot this November.
“We are confident we’re going to be on the ballot and then in November we’re just going to really make sure people remember that they need to get out and vote and that they are voting for their public schools,” said Vice President Support Our Schools Nebraska Paul Schulte.
For more information on Support Our Schools Nebraska visit the link here.
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