By AARON SANDERFORD
Nebraska Examiner
OMAHA — Former Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts raised $200,000 in his first quarter as an appointed U.S. senator this spring. But that’s only part of his funding picture.
Like many senators, Ricketts formed a joint fundraising committee composed of his Senate campaign, his political committee to support other congressional conservatives, and the National Republican Senatorial Committee. The joint committee raised $1.57 million from mid-January through March, flexing a little of the fundraising muscle Ricketts brings to Washington, D.C.
The Ricketts Victory Fund and other candidates’ joint committees are subject to legal limits on how much donors and groups can give to federal candidates and campaigns. Federal law, for example, limits campaign donations from individuals to $3,300 per federal candidate per election.
But the joint committees let big donors give larger single donations that can then be distributed to multiple races and political parties and causes. This bulk giving lets the committee steer donor funds to whichever participant in the committee needs it.
The unusual thing about how Ricketts is raising funds as a new senator, political observers said, is that he raised more money early on for his joint committee than for his campaign. Others in the Nebraska delegation with joint committees, including U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer and Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., prioritized campaign fundraising at this point in the cycle.
Fischer, for example, raised $170,000 for her Fischer Victory Fund in the first quarter and $374,000 for her campaign. The Bacon Victory Fund raised $60,000 over the same span. Members of Congress often use the joint committee funds to boost other colleagues’ campaigns, as well as their own.
Nearly $1 million of the $1.57 million raised for Ricketts Victory Fund came from a handful of GOP mega-donors with Nebraska ties. The committee received $600,000 from Ricketts’ parents, Joe and Marlene Ricketts. The Ricketts family helped start the TD Ameritrade financial firm.
Sandhills Publishing executive Tom Peed and his family gave the Ricketts Victory Fund $200,000. Mickey Anderson and his family, who run Baxter Auto Group, gave the fund $100,000, and Tonn Ostergard of Crete Carrier gave $50,000.
Not all of that money will make its way to Ricketts’ campaign. This quarter, the Ricketts Victory Fund transferred $203,000 to the Ricketts campaign, which boosted his cash on hand to $368,000 by the end of March. Money sent to a campaign committee from joint committees is counted as a fund transfer and not as money raised. That’s why Ricketts’ campaign finance forms list more cash on hand than his campaign reported having raised.
As for the $200,000 that Ricketts raised for his campaign, about $51,000 came from individual donors. The rest came from political groups and committees, including from fellow Republicans in Congress. Ricketts also saw an infusion of smaller-dollar donations raised by WinRed, the Republican version of ActBlue, a digital-first national group that raises similar funds for Democrats.
Ricketts faces the unusual task of running in 2024 to finish former Sen. Ben Sasse’s vacated term and running again in 2026 for a full term. He has one announced opponent for the 2024 race, former 1st District candidate John Glen Weaver. He had not filed any fundraising paperwork with the Federal Election Commission as of Tuesday.
Former GOP gubernatorial candidate Charles Herbster has flirted with challenging Ricketts after losing the 2022 GOP primary to Gov. Jim Pillen. Ricketts endorsed and helped fund Pillen’s campaign.
Matthew Trail, a spokesman for the Ricketts campaign, said Ricketts has strong support “across the state.” Trail said conservatives “are invested and engaged” in the senator’s campaign and said Ricketts is “working hard for every vote.”
Fischer raises $374,000
Fischer, facing a re-election bid in 2024, raised $374,000 from January through March, the most her campaign has collected in any first quarter this far ahead of the primary election.
She raised $100,000 from individual donors and $274,000 from political committees and groups. Her joint fundraising committee, Fischer Victory Fund, transferred $100,000 to the campaign. That helped her campaign stockpile $1.75 million in cash on hand.
Fischer has no announced opponents, though she, like Ricketts, could face challenges from both the right and left. She said she would keep fighting for Nebraskans’ priorities, including national security, border security, farmers and ranchers, and veterans.
“We’ll be ready for any challenge,” Fischer said.
Flood recovering after three elections in 7 months
Nebraska’s newest House member, Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Flood, raised nearly $200,000 in the first quarter of his first full term in Congress.
But he’s still paying down $213,000 in debt from campaign spending on three races last year, including a competitive GOP primary with former U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb.
Flood also ran in a special election last June, after Fortenberry was convicted of three campaign-related felonies, plus a general election in November against former State Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln.
His campaign says he is making progress on a payment plan while working to fund a competitive campaign in 2024. The campaign showed $83,000 in cash on hand. Flood campaign spokesman Corben Waldron said the congressman “won’t take anything for granted.”
Flood has no announced opponents in the Lincoln-heavy 1st Congressional District, which now also includes significant portions of Papillion and La Vista.
Smith has nearly $1 million cash on hand
Nebraska’s senior member of the House delegation, U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb., raised $142,000 in the first quarter of 2023. His campaign has $901,000 in cash on hand.
Smith has no announced challengers in the mostly rural 3rd Congressional District, the state’s most conservative.
One interesting aside: The state’s largest federal campaign war chest moved to Florida — Sasse’s campaign finance forms showed his campaign had $2.5 million in cash on hand.