Categories
Nebraska Politics

Blue Wave in Nebraska – Except in North Platte

The deadline has come and gone. If you haven’t signed up to be a candidate, you’ve missed your chance unless you are personal friends with Governor Ricketts and he needs to fill a vacancy.

Looking over the list of candidates for 2018, it’s incredible. People are stepping up all over the state and saying “Oh fuck no!” and are willing to do the work to shape the election conversation, knock on doors, and end the one-party rule that we currently face. There is so much to celebrate.

But what about the people that will slide through the election without an opponent? Let’s take a moment and review the senators that received a 100% approval rating from their district.

*We want to give special mention to the total and complete failure by the good people of District 42, the North Platte area, to find an opponent for your mean and hateful senator, Mike Groene. You failed to do the only thing that mattered this year, finding someone better than your current senator to run for office.

Unopposed Senators Up for Reelection in 2018

The Good

Senators who make national headlines because they have integrity and a rare growth that prevents them from falling prey to forces seeking to ban political buttons and destroy everything good in Nebraska. Some call this growth a spine, some call it ass kicking ovaries, and some call it a moral compass. Regardless, we’re glad to be guaranteed another 4 years with these folks.

District 28 – Patty Pansing Brooks
She is the standard we should set for all of our legislators (regardless of party — she is an outstanding example of professional ethics and integrity). As an advocate for trafficking victims, Native Americans, gun control, and children’s rights, we totally agree with her district’s decision not to challenge her leadership.

District 46 – Adam Morfeld
This guy is everywhere. He’s fighting for healthcare, fighting for voting rights, fighting for college students to not die because their friends are afraid of going to jail, and fighting for LGBTQIA equality. He’s truly lived up to his district’s nickname “Fightin’ 46”.

Senator Morfeld is fighting to keep government out of your underwear and keep political messages on lapels

The Bad

Senators who vote with the NRA and will not face an opponent:
District 36 – Matt Williams
Received $1,000 from Ricketts, which is less than 1% of his total campaign fundraising
District 48 – John Stinner
Received $500 from Ricketts, which is less than 1% of his total campaign fundraising

The WTF

A senator that we cannot believe you let back in without a fight.

District 34 – Curt Friesen
He chairs the committee that allowed a bill to waste your tax dollars to ensure that those who put faith over medical science get a tax break on the fetus fetish license plates. He votes with the NRA and supports the death penalty. To his credit, he did vote against the governor in order to give driver’s licenses to dreamers and support a tax increase to pay for critical bridge infrastructure in Nebraska.

AND THE SHAME OF NEBRASKA…..

District 42 – Mike Groene

Senator Groene is known for being sour, mean, and unpleasant.

It would be difficult to use strong enough language to describe what a terrible stain on Nebraska Mike Groene has been during his time in the Nebraska unicameral. He is known for sounding uneducated, and has expressed constant disdain for students, parents, and educators, while at the same time saying parents need more control over education and teachers should be allowed to hit children. He’s not afraid to oppose advocacy groups like public health experts working to expand vaccinations, preschool teachers trying to give our littlest learners more access to public education, and lawyers wanting every child to have representation when charged with a crime.

While he hasn’t taken money from the Governor that we can find, he did help found and sat on the board of the Platte Institute, the governor’s fake research generating think tank. He’s currently the chairman of the Education Committee after ousting Roy Baker in the great alt-right coup that kicked off the 2017-2018 two year session, which gives him a powerful position to do what he came to Lincoln to do: defund public education and give teachers the authority to physically harm their students.

css.php