By PAUL HAMMEL
Nebraska Examiner
LINCOLN — Susanne Shore and her husband, Nebraska Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts, are at odds in supporting candidates to replace convicted U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry.
On Thursday, the campaign of the Democratic candidate, State Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln, announced on Twitter that Shore had endorsed her in the special election June 28 to fill out the remainder of Fortenberry’s term in the 1st Congressional District.
Shore, a registered Democrat who switched temporarily to Republican to vote in the May primary election, has shown an independent streak in her politics.
She donated to Democrat Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and Joe Biden’s run in 2020, but also has backed two GOP candidates, Mitt Romney and George W. Bush, in the past.
Her largest donations, as listed by the political contribution website Open Secrets, have been for her husband, a conservative Republican. She gave $45,000 during 2013 and 2014 for her husband’s campaign.
Ricketts endorsed Pansing Brooks’ Republican opponent, State Sen. Mike Flood of Norfolk, shortly after Fortenberry was convicted this spring of three felony counts of lying to and misleading federal investigators. Ricketts also appeared in a campaign ad for Flood.
Chris Triebsch, a spokesman for the Pansing Brooks campaign, said that Shore and the state senator have been friends for some time.
“They both care a great deal about kids,” Triebsch said. “There’s some mutual admiration there.”
Shore has donated a total of $4,100 so far to Pansing Brooks for the special and primary elections, the campaign said.
Regardless of who wins the special election on June 28, Pansing Brooks and Flood will square off again in the November general election for a two-year term in Congress.