Nebraska governor race

Representative Alex Mooney's victory over a fellow House member in West Virginia added to the former president's bragging rights. In Nebraska, all eyes are ...

And in another G.O.P. Senate primary in Indiana in 2018, two of the state’s congressmen engaged in a prolonged feud stemming from college decades earlier. Mr. Herbster tweeted statements from two of the women shown in the Conservative Nebraska ad. In the governor’s race there, Mr. Trump is backing Charles W. Herbster, a businessman who has donated roughly $2 million to Mr. Trump’s political committees and the Republican National Committee since Mr. Trump took over the party in 2016. Stacey Abrams, who is running unopposed in the Democratic primary, has raised $11.7 million in the last three months, bringing her total to more than $20 million since entering the race in December. She has $8 million in cash on hand, closing in on Gov. Brian Kemp, who reported a sum of $10.7 million in his campaign account. “He is a liberal RINO Republican,” Mr. Mooney said of his opponent at his closing rally last week, using the acronym for “Republicans in name only,” a conservative slur. Mr. McKinley, meanwhile, has promoted support from the state’s political establishment, including Senator Joe Manchin III, a Democrat, and has used TV ads to call Mr. Mooney a “political prostitute.” Mr. Flood defeated a handful of lesser-known primary challengers and will face State Senator Patty Pansing Brooks, who won the Democratic nomination, in the fall. He talked like Mr. Trump, adopted many of Mr. Trump’s policy positions and pledged to drain “the swamp” in Lincoln, the state capital. Mr. Pillen, a former defensive back for the University of Nebraska’s football team, became a highly successful veterinarian and pig farmer in the state. Mr. Herbster is the first candidate endorsed by Mr. Trump to lose a Republican primary in 2022. “We’re going to invest the farm in our kids, so all of our kids know, the grass is greenest in Nebraska.” Mr. Pillen, in his victory remarks in Lincoln, pledged to run an administration focused on education and agriculture, two pillars of the state.

A University of Nebraska regent, Jim Pillen, has won the state's crowded Republican primary race for governor over a candidate endorsed by Donald Trump.

Flood will enter the race as a strong favorite in the Republican-heavy 1st Congressional District, which includes Lincoln, small towns and a large swath of eastern Nebraska farmland. The allegations against Herbster weren’t much of a factor, she said. Carol Bruning, 59, of Omaha, said she went into Election Day debating between Pillen and Lindstrom, but went with Pillen because of his age and experience. Lindstrom faced a barrage of attacks as well, with third-party television ads funded by Ricketts that portray him as too liberal for the conservative state. In a story last month, the Nebraska Examiner interviewed six women who claimed Herbster had groped their buttocks, outside of their clothes, during political events or beauty pageants. That’s the hard part,” Bruning said. The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they choose to come forward publicly, as Slama has done. It’s all dirt,” he said. “I don’t trust any politician talking about any other politician. “This is one of the nastiest campaigns for governor in the history of Nebraska,” and may have affected the results, Herbster said, adding that it was “in God’s hands.” While Trump-endorsed candidates won primary races in West Virginia for the U.S. House on Tuesday, the statewide loss in Nebraska was a setback for Trump. He has issued hundreds of endorsements and staged his signature campaign-style rallies in support of his preferred candidates, including Herbster, all in an effort to bend the GOP in his direction ahead of another possible presidential run in 2024. OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Republican voters in Nebraska picked Jim Pillen as their nominee for governor on Tuesday, siding with the University of Nebraska regent backed by the state’s outgoing governor over a rival supported by former President Donald Trump and accused of groping multiple women.

State Sen. Brett Lindstrom, a more moderate Republican, had support from the late Rep. Brad Ashford, the most recent Democrat to represent Nebraska in Congress.

His spokespersontold Axios in Februaryhis backing is “the most powerful and valuable asset in American politics” - Trump also enjoyed a major victory when J.D. Vancesurged to victoryin the GOP primary for U.S. Senate in Ohio after his endorsement. Why it matters: The result marks the first time this year former President Trump's endorsement has failed to carry a candidate to victory in a GOP primary this cycle.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Republicans Brett Lindstrom and Jim Pillen were in a tight race Tuesday night to become their party's nominee for Nebraska governor, while a ...

Flood will enter the race as a strong favorite in the Republican-heavy 1st Congressional District, which includes Lincoln, small towns and a large swath of eastern Nebraska farmland. The allegations against Herbster weren’t much of a factor, she said. Carol Bruning, 59, of Omaha, said she went into Election Day debating between Pillen and Lindstrom, but went with Pillen because of his age and experience. Lindstrom faced a barrage of attacks as well, with third-party television ads funded by Ricketts that portray him as too liberal for the conservative state. In a story last month, the Nebraska Examiner interviewed six women who claimed Herbster had groped their buttocks, outside of their clothes, during political events or beauty pageants. That’s the hard part,” Bruning said. The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they choose to come forward publicly, as Slama has done. It’s all dirt,” he said. “I don’t trust any politician talking about any other politician. “This is one of the nastiest campaigns for governor in the history of Nebraska,” and may have affected the results, Herbster said, adding that it was “in God’s hands.” “We live in the greatest place on the planet, right here in Nebraska,” Pillen said in a victory speech late Tuesday as a crowd cheered and chanted, “Let’s go, Jim!” He said his opponents had called to concede. OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Republican voters in Nebraska picked Jim Pillen as their nominee for governor on Tuesday, siding with the University of Nebraska regent backed by the state’s outgoing governor over a rival supported by former President Donald Trump and accused of groping multiple women.

Accusations by women — including a GOP state senator — who said Charles Herbster groped them shook up the Nebraska gubernatorial race.

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Donald Trump faced his first defeat Tuesday evening when his pick in the Nebraska gubernatorial race failed to prevail following several allegations of ...

In West Virginia, both of Trump's picks for the two open House seats prevailed – Alex Mooney (left) and Carol Miller (right) Compared to Mooney, West Virginia House primary candidate Miller won with even more percent of the vote in the 1st district of West Virginia as more than 67 percent of voters cast their ballot for her. - In West Virginia, both of Trump's picks for the two open House seats prevailed – Alex Mooney and Carol Miller

A University of Nebraska regent, Jim Pillen, has won the state's crowded Republican primary race for governor over a candidate endorsed by Donald Trump.

Flood will enter the race as a strong favorite in the Republican-heavy 1st Congressional District, which includes Lincoln, small towns and a large swath of eastern Nebraska farmland. The allegations against Herbster weren’t much of a factor, she said. Carol Bruning, 59, of Omaha, said she went into Election Day debating between Pillen and Lindstrom, but went with Pillen because of his age and experience. Lindstrom faced a barrage of attacks as well, with third-party television ads funded by Ricketts that portray him as too liberal for the conservative state. In a story last month, the Nebraska Examiner interviewed six women who claimed Herbster had groped their buttocks, outside of their clothes, during political events or beauty pageants. That’s the hard part,” Bruning said. The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they choose to come forward publicly, as Slama has done. It’s all dirt,” he said. “I don’t trust any politician talking about any other politician. “This is one of the nastiest campaigns for governor in the history of Nebraska,” and may have affected the results, Herbster said, adding that it was “in God’s hands.” “We live in the greatest place on the planet, right here in Nebraska,” Pillen said in a victory speech late Tuesday as a crowd cheered and chanted, “Let’s go, Jim!” He said his opponents had called to concede. Republican voters in Nebraska picked Jim Pillen as their nominee for governor on Tuesday, siding with the University of Nebraska regent backed by the state’s outgoing governor over a rival supported by former President Donald Trump and accused of groping multiple women.

Lindstrom, a state senator and Omaha financial adviser, gained traction recently with a surge of money and is seen as a more moderate choice in the GOP primary.

Flood will enter the race as a strong favorite in the Republican-heavy 1st Congressional District, which includes Lincoln, small towns and a large swath of eastern Nebraska farmland. The allegations against Herbster weren’t much of a factor, she said. Carol Bruning, 59, of Omaha, said she went into Election Day debating between Pillen and Lindstrom, but went with Pillen because of his age and experience. Lindstrom faced a barrage of attacks as well, with third-party television ads funded by Ricketts that portray him as too liberal for the conservative state. In a story last month, the Nebraska Examiner interviewed six women who claimed Herbster had groped their buttocks, outside of their clothes, during political events or beauty pageants. That’s the hard part,” Bruning said. The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they choose to come forward publicly, as Slama has done. It’s all dirt,” he said. “I don’t trust any politician talking about any other politician. “This is one of the nastiest campaigns for governor in the history of Nebraska,” and may have affected the results, Herbster said, adding that it was “in God’s hands.” “We live in the greatest place on the planet, right here in Nebraska,” Pillen said in a victory speech late Tuesday as a crowd cheered and chanted, “Let’s go, Jim!” He said his opponents had called to concede. OMAHA, Neb. — (AP) — Republican voters in Nebraska picked Jim Pillen as their nominee for governor on Tuesday, siding with the University of Nebraska regent backed by the state’s outgoing governor over a rival supported by former President Donald Trump and accused of groping multiple women.

Mr. Pillen, a University of Nebraska regent backed by the state's departing governor, won a tight three-way race that included a scandal-plagued candidate ...

Mr. Lindstrom sought to rebuild the type of Republican coalitions that existed before Mr. Trump’s rise. He talked like Mr. Trump, adopted many of Mr. Trump’s policy positions and pledged to drain “the swamp” in Lincoln, the state capital. Democrats in Omaha nominated Tony Vargas, a state senator, to face Representative Don Bacon, a moderate Republican who is seeking his fourth term. Mr. Bacon is one of 10 House Republicans who hold a district carried by President Biden in 2020. Mr. Pillen’s opponents argued that he lacked charisma and was not prepared to discuss the state’s issues; Mr. Pillen said he was building coalitions away from the prying eyes of the news media. Mr. Pillen, a former defensive back for the University of Nebraska’s football team, became a highly successful veterinarian and pig farmer in the state. “We’re going to invest the farm in our kids, so all of our kids know, the grass is greenest in Nebraska.” Once Mr. Herbster began to gain traction in the race, the mild-mannered Mr. Pillen adopted some of his rival’s right-wing positions on social issues. Mr. Pillen, in his victory remarks in Lincoln, pledged to run an administration focused on education and agriculture, two pillars of the state. Mr. Pillen, 66, ran a campaign predicated on the idea that Nebraska Republicans were satisfied with the administration of Gov. Pete Ricketts, his main political benefactor and most prominent supporter, who is stepping down because of term limits. Mr. Herbster is the first candidate endorsed by Mr. Trump to lose a Republican primary in 2022. Mr. Pillen’s victory makes him an overwhelming favorite to become Nebraska’s next governor in November. Democrats have not won a statewide election since 2006.

In Nebraska, the governor's race has top billing, as polls show a close Republican contest between Charles Herbster, Brett Lindstrom and Jim Pillen.

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With Nebraska's Primary Election Day nearly here — and officials expecting higher turnout than previous such elections — 6 News has gathered all the ...

“And number two: in the larger sense, it’s about educating our children about the importance of exercising the franchise in this representative democracy, this republic we have.” The Nebraska Secretary of State is predicting a turnout of 35%. Primary turnouts have recently been much lower in non-presidential years. Half of those are ballots in counties where mail-in voting is the only option. As of Sunday 93,000 were still outstanding. AP has called Mike Flood as the projected winner of the Republican 1st Congressional District primary. Brett Lindstrom and Theresa Thibodeau have also been high-profile candidates in this race.

Jim Pillen is projected to have emerged as the victor in Nebraska's contentious GOP gubernatorial primary. · Pillen prevailed over businessman Charles Herbster, ...

Regardless, Democrats face an enormous task in flipping the governorship. Pillen narrowly bested businessman Charles Herbster, former President Donald Trump's pick in the race. Jean Stothert, mayor of Omaha, Nebraska, threw her support behind state Sen. Brett Lindstrom — a sign of just how divided Republican loyalties are in the race. One woman, state Sen. Julie Slama, went on the record with her account. Despite Ricketts' fierce opposition, Herbster appeared poised to become the Republican nominee for Nebraska governor. - Pillen is now favored to keep the governor's mansion in the GOP's hands.

Voters in Republican-leaning West Virginia and Nebraska cast their ballots Tuesday in the second wave of primaries that'll set the stage for the 2022 ...

The population across West Virginia declined 3.2% as of the 2020 Census, resulting in the lost U.S. House seat, the Associated Press reports. One of the most-watched races is between Republican Representatives David McKinley and Alex Mooney, who are competing in West Virginia's redrawn District 2. This would be a chink in the armor of Trump's endorsements so far this primary season. McKinley has bucked Trump, voting for President Joe Biden's $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill and to create a House committee to investigate the January 6 insurrection. "Charles W. Herbster will never bend to the RINOs, the media, or the radical left. McKinley had about a third of the vote, according to CNN. Behind him was Jim Pillen, a businessman and veterinarian backed by Gov. Pete Rickett with nearly 30 percent of the vote. Among the leading contenders are Charles Herbster, a Trump-backed businessman and cattle breeder. Jim Pillen, a businessman and veterinarian backed by Gov. Pete Rickett, is in second with less than a 2,000 votes behind Lindstrom, according the most recent count official count. A Democrat hasn't held the governor's office since the 1990s. - Tuesday's results were a mixed bag for former President Donald Trump, who has continued to wield outsizedinfluencein the party with his coveted endorsement. TheTrump-endorsed candidate, Charles Herbster, lost the primary after facing accusations of groping multiple women.

Former President Trump stands in front of a crowd. Former President Donald Trump arrives for a rally at the I-80 Speedway on May 1, 2022 in Greenwood, Nebraska.

NE-02 went for Biden by 6 percentage points in 2020, though Bacon also won the district that year, meaning Vargas isn’t likely to have an easy race ahead of him. During the primary, he touted his record of bipartisanship while in the state senate. As with many GOP primaries in secretary of state races across the country this year, the focal point of Nebraska’s race was Trump’s 2020 election lies. In actuality, Biden won the district by 22,000 votes, and Evnen has said that his office investigated every instance of alleged voter fraud, finding no “ validity or merit to any of them.” State Sen. Tony Vargas prevailed in the Democratic primary over mental health practitioner Alisha Shelton and will face incumbent Republican Rep. Don Bacon in the fall. Mooney quickly made the former president’s backing the centerpiece of his campaign, using it to fend off questions about a campaign finance ethics investigation and accusations that he was a carpetbagger (though he’s represented West Virginia since 2015, Mooney once led the Maryland GOP). While the Democratic establishment didn’t select a favorite in the race, Vargas was generally seen as the stronger candidate, given that he already has legislative experience in government. While both Mooney and McKinley are pretty conservative, the latter was known for taking more bipartisan stances than his counterpart. Rather, it’s the result that might have been expected of a troubled candidate who was openly criticized by a popular Republican governor. He also faced scrutiny for being with members of the Trump family during the January 6 insurrection. Mooney’s win can be read as a sign of Trump’s enduring influence. But the Nebraska result is an important reminder that Trump’s endorsement doesn’t guarantee a win.

Lindstrom, a state senator and Omaha financial adviser, gained traction recently with a surge of money and is seen as a more moderate choice in the GOP primary.

Flood will enter the race as a strong favorite in the Republican-heavy 1st Congressional District, which includes Lincoln, small towns and a large swath of eastern Nebraska farmland. The allegations against Herbster weren’t much of a factor, she said. Carol Bruning, 59, of Omaha, said she went into Election Day debating between Pillen and Lindstrom, but went with Pillen because of his age and experience. Lindstrom faced a barrage of attacks as well, with third-party television ads funded by Ricketts that portray him as too liberal for the conservative state. In a story last month, the Nebraska Examiner interviewed six women who claimed Herbster had groped their buttocks, outside of their clothes, during political events or beauty pageants. That’s the hard part,” Bruning said. The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they choose to come forward publicly, as Slama has done. It’s all dirt,” he said. “I don’t trust any politician talking about any other politician. “This is one of the nastiest campaigns for governor in the history of Nebraska,” and may have affected the results, Herbster said, adding that it was “in God’s hands.” “We live in the greatest place on the planet, right here in Nebraska,” Pillen said in a victory speech late Tuesday as a crowd cheered and chanted, “Let’s go, Jim!” He said his opponents had called to concede. OMAHA, Neb. — (AP) — Republican voters in Nebraska picked Jim Pillen as their nominee for governor on Tuesday, siding with the University of Nebraska regent backed by the state’s outgoing governor over a rival supported by former President Donald Trump and accused of groping multiple women.

Former President Donald Trump's candidates had mixed success in Republican primaries in West Virginia and Nebraska Tuesday night, underscoring the ...

In the lawsuit, he alleged that her statements have done "grievous harm to his reputation" and she filed a countersuit. Adopting the aggressive tactics that Trump championed during his own controversies, Herbster sued his first named accuser, Republican state Sen. Julie Slama, who said Herbster sexually assaulted her Recent interviews in the state suggest that the popular governor's backing could carry as much, if not more, weight for many of the state's GOP voters than Trump's endorsement. The Examiner said that all eight accounts were corroborated But Nebraska Republican Jim Pillen, a hog farmer and University of Nebraska Board of Regents member who ran with the support of term-limited Gov. Pete Ricketts, will defeat a Trump-backed candidate for the state's GOP gubernatorial nod, CNN projects. He also supported the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law,

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The top race in Tuesday's primary elections in Nebraska is a heavily contested Republican primary for Nebraska governor.

He is considered the more moderate option to Herbster and Pillen. His main rival is University of Nebraska regent Jim Pillen, a former college football player and veterinarian who owns a hog farm operation and swine breeding-stock company. Herbster has recently faced allegations that he groped young women, including a Nebraska state senator and a former legislative staffer.

Jim Pillen has won the primary for the GOP nomination in Nebraska, beating the Trump-backed candidate Charles Herbster and Brett Lindstrom.

He also reaffirmed his desire to "end abortion in Nebraska" and spoke about the desire to focus on agriculture and education. Trump, who won every county in the state in 2020, backed Mooney because of that "no" vote. In Nebraska's 1st Congressional District, the seat formerly occupied by Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, who resigned in March after he was convicted of lying to federal authorities about an illegal campaign donation from a foreign national, state Sen. Mike Flood won. I'm going to go to the event tomorrow and have the chance to shake Jim Pillen's hand." "We have to try to unite the Republican Party in Nebraska. It's going to take some work," Herbster said. Still, he called on the GOP to unify going forward.

Jim Pillen beat Charles Herbster, the Trump-backed business executive whose campaign was rocked after multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct.

Trump campaigned with the embattled candidate at a rally in Greenwood, Nebraska, days after the Examiner's report had thrust Herbster into the national spotlight. The former president claimed without providing evidence that Herbster is "innocent of these despicable charges." Herbster had closely tied himself to Trump and his allies since receiving the former president's endorsement last fall. Most of those women spoke to the news outlet on condition of anonymity. He has filed a defamation suit against Slama, who is countersuing and alleging sexual battery. He has strongly hinted that he may run for president again in 2024, though a growing list of Republicans also be mounting their own White House bids.