Summary
GOP Sen. Ben Sasse, an occasional critic of Donald Trump, has nevertheless been endorsed by the president. Chris Janicek is his challenger.
We rate the race for U.S. Senate in Nebraska as Solid Republican.
Politico 4/19/20
OnAir Post: Nebraska – US Senate 2020 Election
News
Nebraska’s 2020 U.S. Senate race is a rare oddity.
The Nebraska Democratic Party does not support the winner of the party’s May primary election, Chris Janicek of Omaha, and instead has drafted Preston Love Jr. of Omaha as its designated write-in candidate to oppose Republican Sen. Ben Sasse.
Party leaders abandoned Janicek, 57, an Omaha baker, after a sexually-charged text message that he sent to his campaign staff surfaced and he subsequently refused the party’s demand that he withdraw from the race.
6 News, – September 10, 2020
In an announcement Thursday from a popular north Omaha eatery, the Nebraska Democratic Party said it is backing Preston Love Jr. as a write-in candidate for U.S. Senate in the November election.
Love is the 2nd associate chairman of the state Democratic party and also serves at the 1st vice president of the Omaha chapter of the NAACP. According to a news release from his campaign, he “worked in the civil rights movement alongside many icons of the movement” and today is teaching Black studies and politics at the University of Nebraska-Omaha.
“2020 has been a unique year,” he said in a news release. “Many of our young people can’t go to school, many of our adults are not working, evictions are at an all-time high, disparities for peo
Nebraska Democrats may be poised to encourage voters to support a Black write-in candidate for the U.S. Senate this November at a time when the national political spotlight shines on issues of racial injustice and separation.
State party leaders have scheduled a 2 p.m. event Thursday in Omaha to announce their support for a specific write-in candidate to oppose Republican Sen. Ben Sasse and Democratic nominee Chris Janicek.
The party abandoned Janicek after he sent a sexually charged text message to members of his campaign team and subsequently refused a demand from party leaders that he withdraw from the race.
Embattled Democratic Senate candidate Chris Janicek said Monday that he’s not backing away from challenging incumbent Sen. Ben Sasse in November.
“First of all, I want to make it very, very clear that I am the Democratic party’s nominee for United States Senate here in Nebraska,” he said.
Janicek said he’s the best chance to beat Sasse in November and had harsh comments for the Nebraska Democratic Party, who he said sat down to discuss the matter of his candidacy following remarks he made about a staff member in a group text message — something he said never should have come to light.
Ben Sasse
Current Position:Â US Senator since 2015
Affiliation:Â Republican
Candidate:Â 2020 US Senator
Like many Nebraskans, Ben learned about hard work in corn and bean fields at an early age. The son of a coach and a graduate of Fremont High, he was recruited to wrestle at Harvard and subsequently earned a PhD in American history at Yale. An occasional professor, Ben has spent most of his worklife helping companies and institutions through technological and leadership disruptions. He’s worked with the Boston Consulting Group and McKinsey and Company, as well as private equity firms and not-for-profit organizations, to tackle failing strategies across dozens of sectors and nations.
A member of the intelligence, judiciary, finance, and banking committees, Ben is focused on the future of work, the future of war, and the First Amendment. He worries that the Senate lacks urgency about cyber and about the nation’s generational debt crisis. An opponent of perpetual incumbency, he has no intention of spending his life in the Senate.
For more information, see this Ben Sasse post.
Chris Janicek
Current Position:Â small business owner
Affiliation:Â Democrat
Candidate:Â 2020 US Senator
Hi, I’m Chris Janicek and I’m asking for your vote representing Nebraska in the United States Senate. COVID-19 also known as the coronavirus has disrupted our lives and it may disrupt the Nebraska primary election on May 12th. I’m originally from a farm family in David City and now make my life in Omaha as a small business owner. Our agribusiness industry has been shattered by this administration. Coming from a farm family, I understand.
I understand the issues for Nebraskans. The challenges we face like 2nd Amendment Rights, Immigration, Social Justice, Organized Labor, Wages, Nebraska Roads & Bridges, the Rural Economy and Women’s Rights are all real and need to be addressed.My focus on the many challenges for us in the Cornhusker State make me the candidate for the people and of the people.
This election is not about moving further right or further left, it is about moving this state and our country forward. The Good Life is what many of us miss.
For more information, see this Chris Janicek post.
Issues
Governance
Ben SasseÂ
Government Oversight
We have a moral obligation to pass along a country as great and free and opportunity-filled to the next generation as we were blessed to inherit from our grandparents. This will require a more serious Congress, committed to reforming entitlements and telling the truth about fake federal budgets. We need to have a long-term conversation about actually dealing with all the structural insolvency in our entitlement programs.
Limited Government
Loving America doesn’t mean you need to think that Washington has all the answers. It’s time to reduce the size and scope of the federal government.
Washington needs to do fewer things but tackle our most important challenges with greater urgency and more transparency. Healthy lives are lived primarily in the private sector, and the vast majority of good policy is created at the state and local level — and Washington should get better at talking honestly about these essential American realities.
Chris JanicekÂ
There is a problem in the United States and it must be fixed now. The denial of racism must be stopped. Black Americans are sick and tired of being sick and tired. Right now, black Americans are hurting because of blatant racism and their voices need to be heard.
The current protest is not just about George Floyd. They are about 400 years of injustice. Slavery and the plantations, Jim Crow, no voice at the voting booth, social and educational segregation, the assassinations of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King and so many others, and now this. The last few years and especially the last 10 weeks has hit the most vulnerable the hardest. How do we make sure change comes from this?
The protest has burdened lawmakers with the need for policy. We have created the condition for our policymakers to do some big and bold things. We are in the midst of moral reckoning and we have to address it with a level of intensity and urgency. The powerless have attracted the attention of the powerful. We have had ENOUGH. This is the basic dialogue of change in a big complicated democracy like this.
Let’s take a look at history and learn from it. Lyndon Johnson was able to do what he did because Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks and innumerable others did what they did. Woodrow Wilson signed the 19th amendment 100 years ago because of Alice Paul and Susan B. Anthony. Abraham Lincoln did what he did because of what Frederick Douglas and others had been doing to end slavery. So, this president and this administration have to be part of this unfolding conversation going on today. I fear that they are not capable of that fix.
I’m not sure we get another shot at this as a country. Most of America wants to get this right, but I don’t think the breaking point is in this flash that just happened. We knew this was there, we knew these were problems. Eric Garner, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd. We have to acknowledge the many emotions that are running through people right now as human beings. The anxiety people are feeling, especially when night time falls. The anxiety of shopping black. The anxiety of driving black. The anxiety of walking black. That daily life of just existing is hellish anxiety because you’re existing black.
See post for more info.
Economy
Ben SasseÂ
Agriculture
Nebraskans lead the world in agricultural production and innovation. Our state’s economy depends on agriculture and our farmers and ranchers depend on certainty from Washington and deserve smarter farm policies that put agriculture ahead of red tape.
Economic growth
Government doesn’t grow the economy; the private sector does. It’s time for comprehensive tax reform that simplifies the tax code by eliminating special-interest loopholes and lowering taxes on individuals and business. In addition to tax relief, eliminating burdensome rules and regulations will help to unleash America’s economic potential, and help the next generation recover a sense of optimism about the American Dream for everyone of every race in every neighborhood.
Chris JanicekÂ
In Nebraska, organized labor play key roles in our economy, our quality of life and the basic foundation of our democracy.
Fewer lives are now lost on the job, wages are better, and working hours are more reasonable.  Today’s workers also can get medical coverage and several weeks of paid vacation. All of these factors contribute toward better health and stronger purchasing power for consumers.  Many voters have the wrong idea about unions due to what some call the “Walmart Effect”. The big-box discount retailer claims that the savings it generates from limiting the power of organized labor enable it to offer lower prices to its customers.
Other retailers may feel compelled by Walmart’s example to renegotiate terms with the chapters of organized labor that represent their workers. The contention the retailers often present is that they will be forced to cut salaries or eliminate jobs to remain competitive with Walmart if the unions do not renegotiate. Before you jump to conclusions, know that organizations like the Nebraska Chapter of the AFL-CIO, Nebraska Farmers Union or the Nebraska State Education Association make Nebraska better. What you see or hear from anti-union groups or many elected officials is just an agenda to harness power. The Janicek For U.S. Senate Campaign is firmly behind organized labor and to any elected representative in Nebraska that is not,  I say…
The current administration will tell you that unemployment is at an all time low. There are some things you should know about statistics like this. First, the more the rural the geography, the less accurate or meaningful the data is. When you look at the statistics for Nebraska, most times you only get glance at Lincoln and Omaha. What about the rest of the state? What about the people that are no longer included in the statistics because it’s been longer than 27 weeks. What about the people who are considered employed just because their unemployment benefits ran out. Or they finally  had to take on 2 or 3 jobs just to struggle. Underemployment that doesn’t produce a living wage is the challenge no one remembers unless you are one of those that ARE underemployed. Here’s a shocker. FACT: 43% of college kids who graduated between 2000 and 2017 are underemployed.
The last election promised jobs and and an economy that could that support a living wage. It hasn’t happened. Most people are NOT better off than they were 2, 4 or 6 years ago.  What can we do? 1) Invest in education and meaningful marketplace skills. Offer guidance when it comes to learning a skill set. We have too many 17 and 18 year old kids that enter college or post secondary education aiming for a degree that will NOT ALLOW A COMPETITIVE CAREER. 2) Open new markets for technology positions. Support local leaders in getting that done. Don’t let the ConAgra’s and the Cabella’s of our state leave. 3) Overhaul the tax code. The burden of our tax revenue can not be on the shoulders of our everyday citizens and let loop holes provide the wealthy with a way to not do their share. Our current representatives have allowed this to happen.   I say…
See post for more info.
Education
Ben SasseÂ
N/A
Chris JanicekÂ
It’s time to view education as an investment and not an expense. We need to do a better job of teaching problem solving and learning how to learn. We have allowed many of our kids to get a college education and come away with no real marketable skills. We are failing them. Organized labor stands ready to help to partially remedy this situation but our current elected officials turn their heads the other way.
Some politicians are talking about FREE this and FREE that. I have a question. How did education costs get so high to begin with? We certainly are not overpaying teachers. Budget cuts have taken away some of the arts in our public school systems. I pledge to unite the private sector and government so that our young people are the beneficiaries. Don’t let anyone tell you that FREE education is the answer. AFFORDABLE education is the answer. Our country is built and ready to produce great doers and thinkers but like anything worth having, it will take our investment in education to reap the rewards.
I will start at the top. Recruit an expert educator in both the administration of learning as well as the curriculum of learning. The current administration installed a Secretary of Education that knows nothing about education and has done nothing for education. The House and the Senate sat their and let it happen.
Environment
Ben SasseÂ
N/A
Chris Janicek
The Janicek for Senate Campaign has recruited four young, talented minds to be the voice of our Climate Change policy. It is with great excitement that we introduce you to our campaign aides who individually and collectively, have significant interest in our (and their) future environment. Former and present Creighton University students have made it their business to not only be our voice, but also our experts for you on Climate Change.
We need to admit climate change is real. Just ask any of the Farmers & Ranchers in Nebraska. In 1910, Glacier National Park had 150 glaciers. Now, less than 30. The Himalayan Glaciers will completely disappear by 2035, that’s only 15 years from now.  Climate Change and its negative effects is not a recently propagated theory. The idea of emissions-induced global warming was first proposed in 1896 by Svante Arrhenius, a Swedish scientist. Seeking to understand the cause of the Ice Ages, Arrhenius was able to predict after seeing the correlation between Co2 and the Ice Ages that “the enormous combustion of coal by our industrial establishments suffices to increase the percentage of carbon dioxide in the air to a perceptible degree”. We are seeing his 120-year-old predictions become our reality today. Policy makers have systematically avoided addressing it because it is not politically convenient. Enough. We need a paradigm shift in Washington, leaders humble enough to defer to the scientists who actually know what they are talking about. And what they are talking about isn’t being reflected in policy.
Click here for information Carbon Emissions, Energy, Pollution, RecyclingÂ
Health Care
Ben SasseÂ
Health care
To expand access and lower costs for health care, it’s time to modernize the way we deliver health care in our country. We need greater portability and flexibility in our health care structure.
Chris JanicekÂ
There are many reasons 180 thousand Nebraskans don’t have healthcare.
The cheapest catastrophic plan costs $226.80 per month with a $8,150 deductible for a 20 year old male.  Corporate employer family plans cost about $20,000 per year, or $1,667 per month with half to three quarters of the cost paid by business.  The minimum wage in Nebraska is $9, and federally is $7.25. At those rates, a family can’t buy health insurance if they want to eat and have a place to live.
Unfortunately, many of your current Nebraska representatives get support from lobbies that represent the healthcare machine that has spun out of control.  In 2017, they tried to take healthcare away from Nebraskans. Remember “repeal and replace”? It became repeal but no replace. We must reform healthcare.
That said, we are for a single payer system that gives everyone the right to affordable and accessible healthcare.
HERE’S WHAT WE KNOW.
1.  According to Nebraska Rural Health, many hospitals in rural Nebraska are struggling with low or quickly declining operating margins. The most recent data shows that thirty-nine (39) out of seventy-one 71 rural Nebraska hospitals have a 2% or less operating margin. Twenty-two (22) of those having a negative three percent (-3%) operating margin or worse.
​2.  There is a growing sense of urgency in Western Nebraska. When a hospital closes, the community struggles. Pharmacies close, grocery stores close, companies choose not to locate to a place where their employees won’t have access to a hospital. More is at stake, it seems, than convenient access to the services hospitals provide.
​3.  According to the Omaha World Herald, Omaha’s economy is dependent on insurance as an industry. In the metro area, the private finance and insurance industry accounted for 13.1 percent of the private industry GDP in 2016, as opposed to 7.6 percent for the U.S., according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. If private health insurance becomes illegal, the shift — and loss of jobs — could hit Omaha harder than the rest of the country.
See post for more info.
Immigration
Ben SasseÂ
N/A
Chris JanicekÂ
“We need to increase awareness of how the war on immigrants is playing out in Nebraska exampled by the ICE raids in O’Neill, Lincoln and Omaha. Additionally, the AG supporting efforts to end DACA and our own Governor willing to send more national guard troops to the southern border at the request of President Trump are just a few of the injustices in our own backyard.” Janicek said.
“It’s unthinkable how this country and the state of Nebraska are treating immigrants. I believe we are a better party working towards a pathway to citizenship for both current and arriving immigrants and strengthening the importance of DACA” Janicek said. “We support reform and progress in our state and country’s policies” he continued.
I am not for “open borders.” I live here and want U.S. borders protected, all of us do. This ridiculous argument has to stop.
Our current immigration policy is not working and is a violation of U.S. immigration law and human rights. Immigrants crossing the border through legal ports of entry seeking asylum should be immediately documented and within 48 hours have a legal decision on residency. Our broken system cost the U.S. taxpayer millions of dollars on a daily basis. Is this where you want your money going? It destroys families and lives through separation and unending detention. We have the opportunity to to integrate the people coming here into our workforce, our economy and our society. They are coming here in search of a better life and to work.
Immigrants who cross the border illegally should be subject to our legal system to determine eligibility for documentation and/or returned to their country. Those that break and violate our laws should be deported. I do not want to hear the argument that they all bring drugs and crime- we know the system includes and is fueled by the dependence from people right here in this country. Yes, it’s a problem, but we have to address the entire problem.
The United States has close to 900,000 DACA protected immigrants. (Deferred action for early childhood arrivals.) This protected status could be removed at anytime under our current administration. I advocate protecting and putting all DACA immigrants on a path to citizenship. The United States is the only home they have ever known.
Safety
Ben SasseÂ
N/A
Chris JanicekÂ
Has gun violence affected you and your community? How serious a problem do you think gun violence is in Nebraska? In America? As a gun owner myself, these are questions you and I have to ask ourselves. I support and respect the 2nd Amendment. Common sense interpretation of the second amendment respects rights while protecting people. It protects gun ownership as well as those affected by gun violence.
Over 90% of gun owners in the U.S. support common-sense gun laws. I am an advocate for enforcing our current gun laws. Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.
With your input;Â I support criminal background checks on people, not guns. We need to close the loopholes that allow criminals and other dangerous people to easily buy guns without background checks.
I support better-developed policy and enforcing current laws that keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers.
I support better policy and enforcing current laws that give law enforcement officials better tools for shutting down gun trafficking operations and prosecuting gun traffickers.
I support gun registration, training and licensing insurance, and a national database for ownership of semi-automatic firearms, with an off-premise “assault weapon library” storage facility, with check out accessibility.
I know that as your Senator my job is to represent you, not dictate to you. Gun lobbies, special interest groups, and other powerful organizations have influenced your current representatives, yet they haven’t listened to you. I want you to know I am listening.
