By Joan von Kampen | Editor-in-chief
“It wasn’t about him, and then the day of the (2016) election, I was there, and he won, and we didn’t think he’d win. Everybody hated him — the media, the people — and it was so — honest, it was so spiritual, it changed my life.” - Chea Polonia of Omaha, on why she has been a Trump supporter since 2016. She attended the president’s rally Monday in Grand Island.
Thousands of Nebraskans gather in Grand Island, Nebraska, on Monday, Oct. 5, 2026, at the Nebraska State Fairgrounds for a midterms rally featuring President Donald Trump. (Photo by Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)
GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
By Juan Salinas II
While the midterm environment seems gloomy for Republicans, thousands in Grand Island came to see and support President Donald Trump at his rally in the ruby red state. See more photos from the event here.
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen announces he has inducted President Donald Trump as the newest "admiral" of the largely honorary Nebraska Navy in Grand Island, Nebraska, on Monday, Oct. 5, 2026, at the Nebraska State Fairgrounds for a midterms rally featuring the president. (Photo by Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)
GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
By Zach Wendling
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen bestowed the largely honorary title of admiral of the Great Navy of the State of Nebraska upon President Donald Trump on Monday. It’s not unusual for governors to bestow the honor on friends or celebrities and dignitaries who visit Nebraska.
A red cedar grows near Wauneta, Nebraska. (Getty Images via Grist)
ICYMI
By Bekah Stolhandske McNeel
Shelly Kelly has spent her life on the prairies of the High Plains. As a child, she made bouquets of flowering grasses and hunted for mudpuppies in the interdunal buffalo wallows on her parents’ ranch. Now a rancher herself, she’s trying to preserve the landscape she loves against the usual suspects — overgrazing and overharvesting — and one surprising new threat: trees.
Nebraska Auditor of Public Accounts Mike Foley testifies before the Legislature's Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee. Feb. 5, 2026. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)
NEBRASKA GOVERNMENT
By Erin Bamer
Nebraska State Auditor Mike Foley raised concerns over the Nebraska Public Employees Retirement System reportedly paying its departing executive director over $23,000 in salary and benefits for roughly five weeks of unperformed work.
President Donald Trump speaks at the Mitchell Center at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama on Oct. 2, 2026, as he campaigns in GOP-leaning states ahead of the midterms. (Photo by Dan Anderson/Alabama Reflector)
D.C. BUREAU
By Jonathan Shorman
President Donald Trump wants to sharply curtail mail ballots. He’s called them “inherently corrupt” and baselessly condemned them as a major source of fraud.
But with Republicans falling behind in the polls, the president is now urging his supporters to vote in the midterm elections any way they can, including by mail.
(Photo by Sarah Ladd/Kentucky Lantern)
NATIONAL
By Kevin Hardy
Household water bills are increasing faster than inflation and income, according to a new analysis.
The environmental advocacy nonprofit Food and Water Watch analyzed water bill data among the nation’s 500 largest community water providers. Those systems serve a collective 155 million people — nearly half the nation’s population.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Trump asks Nebraska to ‘pretend’ he’s on the midterm ballot | Juan Salinas II
COMMENTARY
Asking a lot not too much to ask | George Ayoub
Nebraska must overhaul tax system to prosper | Steve Erdman
EDITOR'S CHOICE
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