Former Governor of Nebraska Appointed To Replace Sen. Ben Sasse

Daily Caller ^ | 01/12/2023 | Michael Ginsberg

[SeekAndFind]

Republican Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen appointed his immediate predecessor Pete Ricketts on Thursday to serve two years of the term vacated by former Sen. Ben Sasse.

“Gov. Ricketts assured me that no matter who calls for a different job, he is committed to the United States Senate,” Pillen said at a press conference. “No matter who calls him to be a vice president of the United States, who calls him to be … Secretary of State or any other thing, he’s committed to this seat; and he and Susanne have committed to winning elections at a minimum of 10 years, and I’m praying it’s gonna be longer than that, and you’re gonna love it there, Susanne.”

As expected, @jim_pillen today is naming Pete Ricketts the next U.S. senator from #Nebraska. Here they are walking into the press conference from the Governor’s Office now occupied by Pillen. Ricketts was one of Pillen’s top supporters in a tough GOP primary race.


pic.twitter.com/cSbdBnLRsP

— Aaron Sanderford (@asanderford) January 12, 2023

Sasse, who was reelected in 2020, officially resigned on Sunday to take over as the University of Florida’s president. Ricketts will serve through 2024, when a special election will be held for the remainder of the term ending in 2026. Ricketts previously ran for Senate in 2006, and is likely to run in the special election. (RELATED: University Of Florida Students Melt Down Over Ben Sasse Considering Leadership Role)

“There’s a fallacy in Washington, D.C., that government can’t work and we have to expect failure, but that’s not true. We proved that’s not true here in Nebraska,” Ricketts said at the press conference. “We need to hold Washington, D.C., accountable for making sure they’re providing the same level of high service that we do in state government.”

Critics of Ricketts’ impending appointment argued that the former governor effectively bought the seat. Ricketts gave $100,000 to Pillen’s 2022 gubernatorial campaign directly, and more than $1 million to a pro-Pillen political action committee. Pillen pushed back on those claims during the press conference, noting that he interviewed nine candidates for the seat.

“Anybody who knows me, that’s not part of my DNA. Just doesn’t work,” Pillen said. “Integrity of the process and commitment to the process was highest priority.”

[WMarshal]

These self-serving politicians are insufferable.

[Fiji Hill]

Ricketts supported Trump, so there’s an improvement in that department.

[Wuli]

And who was he supposed to appoint???

[WMarshal]

"And who was he supposed to appoint???"

Oh, I don't know, a random name picked from a phone book would be a better choice than the current crop of scum politicians that we are plagued with.

[bigbob]

Since Ricketts is a great pro-Trump choice I suspect you don’t have a clue what you’re bitching about.

[Wuli]

“Oh, I don’t know, a random name picked from a phone book would be a better choice than the current crop of scum politicians that we are plagued with.”

You know you are referring to a GOPer who supported Trump, right???

[WMarshal]

I despise the ability of governors to chose who inherits an elected official truce that is vacated. There should be a special election for every elected office that is vacated. You are defending the Deep State’s ability to insulate themselves from the vote.

[Wuli]

“There should be a special election for every elected office that is vacated.”

I would compromise with you. There should be special elections to fill vacancies in U.S. Congressional seats, but governors should appoint someone to fill the vacancy until after that special election is held.

Given that the appointee in most cases (and in this case) is only serving the remainder of a term, I can see laws allowing the exception for when that term remainder is less than 1/2 of the otherwise full term, in which the next election will take care of your concern.

By your lights the voters should reject this guy in 2024 merely because he is now being appointed to serve office for the next 22 and 1/2 months.

[Svartalfiar]

Ricketts said at the press conference. “We need to hold Washington, D.C., accountable for making sure they’re providing the same level of high service that we do in state government.”

...Or, you could be working to get FedGov OUT of the "providing service" job, because there's almost nothing in the Constitution that gives FedGov the role of providing much of anything to the general population. Especially in people's day-to-day stuff.

[Svartalfiar]

Given that the appointee in most cases (and in this case) is only serving the remainder of a term, I can see laws allowing the exception for when that term remainder is less than 1/2 of the otherwise full term, in which the next election will take care of your concern.

By your lights the voters should reject this guy in 2024 merely because he is now being appointed to serve office for the next 22 and 1/2 months.

Per the article, the full term actually ends in 2026. So he's filling in the middle third of it until a special election is held in 2024. So I'm guessing they're just lumping it in with the rest of the 2024 general election, instead of holding one on its own just for this seat.

[Wuli]

“Per the article, the full term actually ends in 2026. So he’s filling in the middle third of it until a special election is held in 2024. So I’m guessing they’re just lumping it in with the rest of the 2024 general election, instead of holding one on its own just for this seat.”

Yes, it makes sense to not have a separate special election here in 2023.

[kvanbrunt2]

THe senate was originally a state legislature appointed office. The leftist changed the constitution to allow direct voting.

In 1913 the Seventeenth Amendment officially became a part of the U.S. Constitution, providing for the direct popular election of senators. This was a major departure from the plan adopted by the framers in 1787. According to Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution, “The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each state, chosen by the legislature thereof for six Years.” The framers believed that in electing senators, state legislatures would cement their ties with the national government. They also expected that senators elected by state legislatures would be freed from pressures of public opinion and therefore better able to concentrate on legislative business and serve the needs of each state. In essence, senators would serve as “states’ ambassadors” to the federal government. Unfortunately, problems with this system soon arose, particularly when state legislators failed to agree on a Senate candidate, causing frequent Senate vacancies. By 1826 proposals for direct election of senators began appearing, but it took reformers nearly a century to achieve this constitutional change.

[TangoLimaSierra]

Sarah Huckabee seems to like him. So I’ll reserve judgement.