24 Nebraska Legislative Candidates Pledge To End Secret Votes For Committee Chairs

By Aaron Sanderford, Nebraska Examiner:

October 3, 2022

OMAHA — Republican Charles Herbster’s political action committee said Monday that 24 legislative candidates — a mix of incumbents and challengers — have signed its pledge to end Nebraska’s unique system for electing committee chairs by secret ballot.

The Nebraska First PAC announced that 24 of 46 candidates for Legislature had signed the PAC’s pledge seeking public disclosure of state senators’ votes for committee leadership and the Speaker of the Legislature.

Candidates who signed the pledge:

District 2: State Sen. Rob Clements (i)

District 4: Brad von Gillern

District 6: Christian Mirch

District 8: Marilyn Asher

District 10: Lou Ann Goding

District 12: Merv Riepe

District 14: State Sen. John Arch (i)

District 16: State Sen. Ben Hansen (i), Connie Petersen

District 18: Christy Armendariz

District 20: N/A

District 22: N/A

District 24: N/A

District 26: Russ Barger

District 28: Roy Christensen

District 30: N/A

District 32: N/A

District 34 Loren Lippincott

District 36: Rick Holdcroft

District 38: State Sen. Dave Murman (i), Tyler Cappel

District 40: Barry DeKay, Keith Kube

District 42: State Sen. Mike Jacobson (i), Chris Bruns

District 44: Theresa Ibach

District 46: N/A

District 48: Don Lease II, Brian Hardin

A dozen state senators who are not up for re-election this year have also signed the pledge: Joni Albrecht, Bruce Bostelman, Tom Brewer, Tom Briese, Robert Dover, Steve Erdman, Suzanne Geist, Steve Halloran, Mike Hilgers*, Kathleen Kauth, Lou Ann Linehan and John Lowe.

*- Hilgers is running for attorney general in November.

“I believe that we will have the votes in the Legislature to make all leadership votes public starting with the 2023 session,” said Rod Edwards, the PAC’s director.

The pledges are the latest step in a two-decade conservative push to change legislative rules to require recorded votes on leadership.

Gov. Pete Ricketts, former Gov. Dave Heineman and the Nebraska Republican Party have pressed potential legislative appointees and candidates for years on their willingness to step away from the longtime practice of the officially nonpartisan body.

They have said that the change would add transparency for the voting public.

“Voters deserve to know what is going on in the state’s governing body,” Edwards said.

Other legislative observers have argued the push to end secret balloting is an attempt by the GOP to assert partisan control of the Legislature.

Senators who support the current process have said the Unicameral Legislature kept its elections for committee chairs behind closed doors as a way to select the person they think best for a job, regardless of a person’s political party.

This is how Democrats and nonpartisans end up leading some legislative committees in a state where the GOP holds a 250,000-voter edge in party registrations and more legislative seats, political observers said. Many called secret balloting a moderating force.

Nebraska Democratic Party Chair Jane Kleeb said Republicans are trying to dismantle a proven legislative process that achieves broadly acceptable changes and shift it rightward. The GOP, she said, is replacing Ricketts with Herbster as “sugar daddy.”

“We’ve been able to maintain the nonpartisan spirit of our Legislature in the direction of our bills and in debate on the floor,” Kleeb said. “We will now become what Oklahoma and some other deeper red states are if Herbster gets his way.”

Edwards and others have argued that any senator can already call for a recorded vote under the Nebraska Constitution. He and others have questioned the legality of the Legislature’s practice. Another GOP group considered suing years ago.

Edwards said the PAC plans to run ads before and after the Nov. 8 general election, letting people know where candidates stand on secret balloting. Asked why ads would run after the election, he said the group wants to ensure those who have pledged stay true to their word.

Nebraskans want accountability from their elected officials and government. They want to know whether their tax dollars are being well-spent, whether state agencies and local governments are responsive to the people and whether officials, programs and policies are working for the common good. The Nebraska Examiner is a nonprofit, independent news source committed to providing news, scoops and reports important to our state.