{"id":19161,"date":"2026-02-19T18:16:38","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T18:16:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/gop-senator-backs-democratic-wifes-bid-for-office\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T18:16:38","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T18:16:38","slug":"gop-senator-backs-democratic-wifes-bid-for-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/gop-senator-backs-democratic-wifes-bid-for-office\/","title":{"rendered":"GOP senator backs Democratic wife\u2019s bid for office"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

In a rare move, Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) is reaching across party lines to endorse his wife, Susanne Shore, who announced Thursday that she is running as a Democrat for a seat on the University of Nebraska Board of Regents.<\/p>\n

Ricketts said in a statement that his wife would be an \u201coutstanding voice\u201d for the university, noting her love for Nebraska and their shared goals of making higher education more affordable and accessible.<\/p>\n

\u201cI usually vote straight Republican, but Susanne will be my one Democrat exception in 2026!\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The former Nebraskan first lady is seeking an Omaha seat representing Douglas County after former Regent Elizabeth O\u2019Connor resigned in January following a charge of felony DUI. Shore described herself as a \u201cRegent-ready\u201d candidate, pointing to her background in university administration, health care and public service.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur university must be an engine, not a museum,\u201d she said in a statement. \u201cBy focusing on results over rhetoric, we can keep our university affordable, competitive and ready for the challenges of the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

The political split between the former two-term governor and his wife has been apparent for more than a decade. The two donate to opposing parties and have even backed candidates running against one another. Shore acknowledged the dynamic, saying differences at home are routine but respectful. In an interview with the Nebraska Examiner<\/a>, Shore said Ricketts has been \u201cnothing but supportive\u201d of her political aspirations.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s told me what it\u2019s like to run for office, and I\u2019ve seen it firsthand,\u201d she said. \u201cIt does feel different to be on this side, but so far it\u2019s been amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shore said her husband has his own campaign to worry about. He\u2019s facing off against Dan Osborn, an independent and former Omaha labor leader, in a competitive Nebraska Senate race.<\/p>\n

Ricketts has been a loyal supporter of President Donald Trump and the Republican Party, backing the administration on many of its key issues. He was, however, one of the few Republicans to criticize Trump after he posted a racist video to social media<\/a> depicting former President and first lady Barack and Michelle Obama as monkeys earlier this month.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if this was a Lion King meme, a reasonable person sees the racist context to this,\u201d he wrote on X<\/a>. \u201cThe White House should do what anyone does when they make a mistake: remove this and apologize.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a rare move, Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) is reaching across party lines to endorse his wife, Susanne Shore, who announced Thursday that she is running as a Democrat for a seat on the University of Nebraska Board of Regents. Ricketts said in a statement that his wife would be an \u201coutstanding voice\u201d for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congress"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19161\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}