Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), who faces an unexpectedly competitive re-election fight, claims more than that 1,000 messages of support – a group that includes current and former elected officials, conservative activists, farmers and businesspeople.
But until he added 76 names this week, Fischer’s total remained well under 1,000.
And perhaps most importantly, some of the people on her list may not be people whose blessings are worth advertising.
Take Michael Hannum, a conservative activist from Douglas County who the Fischer campaign describes as a “pro-life fighter for Fischer.” In 2016 Hannum pleaded guilty illegally voted in both Kansas and Nebraska in the 2012 elections. He paid a $5,500 fine as punishment. Ironically, Hannum, who claimed the double voting was a mistake due to traveling between homes in the two states, became entangled in a Kansas state law that gave then-Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R) the authority to investigate alleged election fraud prosecute. Kobach, a right-wing demagogue, has unsuccessfully argued that massive voter fraud damaged former President Donald Trump both in the US and in the US. 2016 And 2020 elections. Meanwhile, Hannum is not the first Republicans are being arrested for a crime that the right claims is being committed en masse by the left.
Jack Poulsen is another not so healthy name on the endorsement page. Poulsen, who is listed among the endorsements as a Wheeler County commissioner, although the Provincial Commission website no longer has his name, pleaded guilty to federal bank fraud charges in May. The Justice Department accused Poulsen of using his position as president of a regional bank to make illegal loans to a family member, costing the bank $800,000 in losses. Poulsen’s actions contributed to the 2020 collapse of the bank he led, which had existed for more than 60 years. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison in August.
In addition, Fischer commends the endorsements of five former Republican elected officials or candidates who have been credibly accused of physical or sexual misconduct.
Former State Senator Bill Kintner (R) was fined in 2016 for using his government computer for cybersex on Skype. He Resigned in 2017 after retweeting a message from a conservative commentator suggesting that a group of Women’s March participants were too ugly to be sexually assaulted.
State Senator Bill Halloran (R) was formally reprimanded in April for violating the state Legislature’s workplace harassment policy. Halloran had inserted the names of Democratic senators into his reading of a graphic rape scene from a novel during a March committee hearing on allegedly inappropriate books in school libraries. He repeated the names of two male Democratic senators once, but used Senator Machaela Cavanaugh’s name four times, claiming he wanted to draw their attention to the inappropriateness of the text for children.
Former state senator Mike Groene (R) resigned in February 2022, amid allegations that he took inappropriate photos of a female employee, such as zoomed-in parts of her body, and distributed them via email with graphic comments.
Charles Herbster, a former gubernatorial candidate, was accused of groping young women, including Sen. Julie Slama (R), during political events in April 2022. The alleged behavior was condemned by then-Gov. Pete Ricketts (R) and all 13 women in the Nebraska Senate.
Former Lt. Gov. Lavon Heidemann (R) left office in 2014 after his sister obtained a restraining order against him for alleged physical abuse.
Finally, Fischer has criticized Chinese telecommunications infrastructure maker Huawei, arguing that the use of its materials in US infrastructure has exposed the United States to Chinese surveillance, especially in rural areas where US military and national security facilities are located. The United States Federal Communications Commission banned the sale of equipment from Huawei and other Chinese companies in 2022 based on similar concerns, but Fischer wants to go further and require telecommunications companies to remove Huawei hardware from existing infrastructure such as cell towers.
But Fischer also highlights a statement of support from former U.S. Rep. Lee Terry (R). Terry, who left Congress after losing re-election in 2014, worked as a lobbyist for Huawei in 2021 at a time when the company was hoping to avoid the kind of restrictions the FCC imposed in 2022.
The Fischer campaign declined to comment on the controversial people whose endorsements appear on its campaign website.
When HuffPost presented the campaign with evidence that the number of duplicate names and deceased people on Fischer’s list of endorsements brought the total number of endorsers well below 1,000, the campaign presented an alternate list of more than 1,000 names from which it said duplicates were excluded and promised that there will soon be 76 additional expressions of support.
In fact, the new list the Fischer campaign provided to HuffPost still contained more than 100 duplicate names or deceased people, bringing the total number of signatories, including 26 organizations, to about 930. The addition of another 76 names, those took place after HuffPost’s investigation, brings her total to more than 1,000.
Nebraska is a solidly Republican state that Trump carried by 19 percentage points in 2020.
In a presidential election year, Fischer, a two-term conservative, would normally be headed for re-election; she is still the big favorite.
But independent Dan Osborn, a union industrial mechanic turned steamfitter and anti-corruption populist, is taking a serious stab at it. His internal polling has him within striking distance, and Republicans believe the race is too close for comfort. The Senate Republicans’ official campaign arm, and two deep-pocketed GOP super PACs, are all now spending money on Fischer’s behalf in a cycle where they were more likely to invest in races to oust vulnerable Democratic incumbents.
