In a triumph of family over politics, Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE), a loyal ally of President Donald Trump in the Senate, is endorsing his wife for a key state education special election — even though she’s a Democrat.
Susanne Shore, the former first lady of Nebraska when Ricketts served as governor, is running for the Omaha-based district of the University of Nebraska Board of Regents, which oversees the largest public university system in the state.
According to the Nebraska Examiner, “She says she wants all NU campuses to learn from what others are doing well — at NU and elsewhere. She wants NU to use that data to innovate in learning, research and student experience. She would like to see the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of Nebraska at Kearney emulate the University of Nebraska at Omaha in studying what its students need to succeed.”
The Omaha NU regents district has a crowded field, with five other Democrats competing in the special election, which is officially a nonpartisan office. The seat was vacated when regent Elizabeth O’Connor got in a car wreck allegedly under the influence of alcohol, and resigned to avoid impeachment by the legislature.
On the vast majority of issues, Ricketts has been a solid supporter of Trump and the Republican Party.
However, on occasion he has voiced criticism of the president in recent months as Trump’s favorability has cratered, in particular calling on him to apologize after he posted a racist video depicting former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle as non-human apes.
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