Why Is a GOP Super PAC Spending $1.4 Million to Help Pete Ricketts?

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

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Journalism’s Power: She Kept Asking Questions. The Story Went National.

Journalism’s Power: She Kept Asking Questions. The Story Went National.

Sep 12, 2026 |

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.

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Nebraska Story Goes National: Pillen Investigation Hits the New York Times

Nebraska Story Goes National: Pillen Investigation Hits the New York Times

Sep 11, 2026 |

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.

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What happens when a reporter keeps asking questions the governor doesn’t want to answer?

What happens when a reporter keeps asking questions the governor doesn’t want to answer?

Sep 11, 2026 |

Flatwater Free Press reporter Yanqi Xu and executive editor Matthew Hansen join The Dan Parsons Show for a behind-the-scenes conversation about Xu’s reporting on Gov. Jim Pillen, Pillen Family Farms and the use of immigrant labor.

Xu recently tracked down Gov. Pillen after a news conference to ask him directly about her reporting. His response: “That’s an old story” and “It’s not true.” Pillen later accused Flatwater of being a “left-leaning news outlet” attempting to take out conservative leadership.

But this story goes back years.

Dan first met Yanqi when she and Matthew appeared on his radio show to discuss her reporting on nitrate contamination involving Pillen’s hog operations. Days later, Pillen dismissed the reporting in a radio interview and referenced Xu’s Chinese background.

In this episode, Yanqi and Matthew talk about:

• What the latest investigation found
• How Yanqi pursued the governor for answers
• Pillen’s response to the reporting
• What it’s like to become part of the story you’re covering
• The Omaha World-Herald’s coverage of the confrontation
• And what this episode says about journalism, political power and holding public officials accountable

It’s also a story about persistence: asking the question, following the evidence and showing up when the person in power would rather move on.

Subscribe to The Dan Parsons Show for independent conversations about Nebraska politics, journalism and the people shaping our state.

And for more from Dan—including the new “Off the Record” segment—join us on Patreon.

Flatwater Festival 2026: https://flatwaterfreepress.org/events/flatwater-festival-2026/

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