By Erin Bamer | Reporter
“This cycle has shown us that absolutely this is an area where money is going to be spent to impact politics in meaningful ways that Nebraskans want to know about, but they can’t right now. They can’t do anything,” - Common Cause Nebraska Executive Director Gavin Geis, commenting on Nebraska’s campaign finance disclosure laws.
John Cartier of Lincoln, left, and Robin Richards of Ralston respectively led creation of the America First Party and Nebraska Working People Party and served as the inaugural chairs of the parties. Richards is also the 2026 U.S. Senate nominee for her party. (Photos courtesy of John Cartier, Robin Richards and the respective political parties | Nebraska Capitol photo by Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)
GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
By Zach Wendling
LINCOLN — Candidates and ballot-measure campaigns petitioning to appear on Nebraska’s ballot must disclose how much is spent on signature gathering.
But Nebraska law doesn’t require new political parties to disclose their finances until they are qualified to have candidates on the ballot.
A couple hundred protesters in front of the Nebraska Capitol in Lincoln on Oct, 17. 2026. (Juan Salinas II/Nebraska Examiner)
POLITICS
By Juan Salinas II
LINCOLN — Angela Unruh, a 39-year-old Lincoln resident, said she came to the Nebraska State Capitol on Saturday to remind protesters that everyone is human.
“We’re all humans, and we all matter … we’re not really trying to screw each other over, we just have totally different sources of information,” Unruh told the Examiner.
Vice President JD Vance speaks on stage on the second day of the 2026 Republican midterm convention at the American Airlines Center in Dallas on Sept. 10, 2026. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
ELECTION 2026
By Juan Salinas II
LINCOLN — The Republican National Committee has announced another midterm rally in Nebraska, this time with Vice President JD Vance.
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen leads a news conference announcing he will seek changes to how Nebraska oversees the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program for low-income families on Friday, Oct. 9, 2026, in the Nebraska State Capitol. (Photo courtesy of Gov. Jim Pillen’s office)
COMMENTARY
By George Ayoub
Three thoughts …
Whether Nebraska wants to be like Florida is an open question. I’m a hard pass, but when the feds OK’d a plan to put the kibosh on certain kinds of spending for Nebraskans receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families’ Aid to Dependent Children funds, we became the second state they approved. Florida was the first.
Former State Sen. Julie Slama of Dunbar leads a news conference for the Fairness for Girls campaign that seeks to constitutionally designate sex-separate athletics for K-12 and collegiate sports on June 30, 2026. (Photo courtesy of Julie Slama/Fairness for Girls)
ICYMI
By Zach Wendling
LINCOLN — The Nebraska Supreme Court on Friday unanimously upheld the validity of a 2026 ballot measure seeking to cement sex-separate school sports requirements in the Nebraska Constitution.
A volunteer helps a young person fill out a form on National Voter Registration Day in 2025. For some young voters, abortion remains a defining issue, but for many others it ranks behind more immediate economic concerns. (Photo courtesy of Alliance for Youth Action)
ABORTION POLICY
By Kelcie Moseley-Morrism Anna Spoerre
Boise State University senior Cade Syvock opposes abortion. As president of the school’s chapter of the conservative group Turning Point USA, the organization founded by the late activist Charlie Kirk, Syvock helped coordinate anti-abortion protests on campus.
But he’s not spending much time this fall campaigning against an Idaho ballot initiative that would restore abortion access. Not for lack of interest — he calls the proposed law “very, very extreme” because it allows abortions after viability in certain emergency cases — but because of pressing economic issues he’d rather be working on.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
COMMENTARY
EDITOR'S CHOICE
Nebraskans are used to cheap energy, but the aging grid and data centers are driving costs up | Daniel Wheaton, Midwest Newsroom
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