Aaron Sanderford
OMAHA — U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts made it official Wednesday, launching a campaign to win election to the Senate seat he was appointed to fill by his successor as governor.
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen tapped Ricketts, a two-term governor, to succeed Sen. Ben Sasse in January after Sasse resigned to become president of the University of Florida.
Ricketts touted his business and government experience during a campaign stop in downtown Omaha’s Blatt Beer & Table. Ricketts is a businessman from Omaha whose family helped found the brokerage firm that became TD Ameritrade. His family also owns the Chicago Cubs MLB franchise. They are major Republican donors in Nebraska and nationally.
Known commodity
Ricketts said Nebraskans he hears from tell him they want Republicans in Washington who understand the value of a dollar that private citizens earn and who will push back against Democrats in the Senate and the White House.
“Nebraska is what America is supposed to be,” Ricketts said. “We have the values that our founders demonstrated when they created this country. We have the courage, the grit. We’re willing to sacrifice. We are resilient.”
Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine, who introduced Ricketts at his Omaha event, said Nebraskans need him in the Senate because he has been an ally of police and prosecutors. Kleine said Ricketts understands the threat posed by fentanyl, which has become a top killer of young people nationally.
“Nine years ago, he took over that office (as governor) and showed us what Nebraska leadership really means,” Kleine said. “Lowering taxes. Cutting excess government. All the great things that are common sense for Nebraskans and leading in the Nebraska way.”
Ricketts, speaking to more than 40 people on his fourth campaign kick-off event of the day, said Congress needs more people willing to push back against “the radical left” attacking values and beliefs Nebraskans take for granted as common sense. He made stops earlier in the day in North Platte, Kearney and Norfolk.
Democrats see ‘pay-to-play’
Nebraska Democratic Party chair Jane Kleeb repeated criticisms of Ricketts made by many on the senator’s right flank: that he was a top contributor to Pillen’s campaign and didn’t earn his seat.
“The corrupt revolving door and pay-to-play trend by the Nebraska Republican Party, led by Ricketts, should concern all Nebraskans,” Kleeb said.
She said Nebraskans would be reminded soon that Ricketts’ values and positions conflict with those of most Nebraskans on issues including abortion and the use of public dollars for private schools.
Party spokesman Jose Flores Jr. said the Democrats will have candidates in both 2024 Senate races in Nebraska. U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., is up for reelection next year to a six-year term. Ricketts is running to complete Sasse’s original term, which ends in 2026.
Spending, inflation, border security
As he did in a video announcing his bid, Ricketts criticized President Joe Biden, federal spending, inflation and border enforcement. He said he and his GOP colleagues want the Environmental Protection Agency to stick to its legal authority when regulating agriculture and other industries.
On border security, Ricketts said he would like to see Congress invest more in physical barriers, better monitoring technology including newer drones, more people and resources to hire more people working on law enforcement and legal systems to process cases faster.
He mentioned a bill he worked on with Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., that would help the federal government penalize companies in China manufacturing the precursor chemicals that drug cartels in Mexico and Central America use to manufacture fentanyl.
He celebrated military service and first responders. He also embraced the strategy on parents’ rights in education that his friend Gov. Glenn Youngkin used to win in Virginia, highlighting the need to push back on what he called liberal encroachments into K-12 and higher education, “Hollywood and Big Tech.”
“America’s future is bright because of places like Nebraska that can show the rest of the country what to do and how it’s done,” he said to applause.
Waiting on opponents
Ricketts’ campaign announcement appeared geared toward leaving little room to his right for candidates considering a GOP primary challenge in 2024. Several have kicked the tires, including 2022 Republican gubernatorial runner-up Charles Herbster.
So far, only former congressional candidate John Glen Weaver has thrown his hat into the ring against Ricketts. Weaver lost the 2022 GOP primary in the 1st District to U.S. Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb.
Fischer has no announced opponents yet.