Why is Measles Back? 😷 w/ Dr. Bob Rauner

Nebraska is one of the most Republican states in the country. Donald Trump carried it by roughly 20 points in 2024. Pete Ricketts is an incumbent U.S. senator with substantial campaign resources of his own.

So why is a Republican super PAC suddenly spending $1.4 million to help him?

The spending comes as Nebraska’s Senate race between Pete Ricketts and independent Dan Osborn draws increased attention. A recent SurveyUSA poll measured Osborn at 46% and Ricketts at 42%, while another poll showed the race tied at 47%. Individual polls have uncertainty and shouldn’t be treated as predictions, but the new outside spending provides another indication that Republican groups are taking the Nebraska contest seriously.

In this Why It Matters, Dan Parsons looks beyond the headline at what the $1.4 million ad buy tells us — and what it doesn’t — about Nebraska’s 2026 U.S. Senate race.

Beyond the Headlines.

#Nebraska #PeteRicketts #DanOsborn #NebraskaPolitics #NESen #Election2026 #WhyItMatters #TheDanParsonsShow

This is what holding power accountable looks like.

Flatwater Free Press reporter Yanqi Xu kept digging, kept asking questions and kept pursuing the story of immigrant hiring at Pillen Family Farms, even as Gov. Jim Pillen publicly pushed back against her reporting.

Then other journalists stepped in.

The New York Times partnered with Flatwater to bring the investigation to a national audience. The Omaha World-Herald helped amplify the story in Nebraska.

It took the tenacity of a reporter, and the willingness of journalists and newsrooms to work together.

That’s journalism.

#InvestigativeJournalism #Nebraska #Journalism #Accountability #PillenFamilyFarms #FlatwaterFreePress #NewYorkTimes #OmahaWorldHerald

What started as investigative reporting in Nebraska is now a national story.

Flatwater Free Press and The New York Times jointly published an investigation into immigrant workers and Gov. Jim Pillen’s family business.

Pillen is pushing back. I sat down with Flatwater reporter Yanqi Xu and Executive Editor Matthew Hansen to talk about what they found, the governor’s response, and why this Nebraska story is now getting national attention.

#Nebraska #JimPillen #FlatwaterFreePress #NebraskaPolitics #TheDanParsonsShow #newyorktimes