Republican voters in Nebraska picked Jim Pillen as their nominee for governor, siding with the University of Nebraska regent backed by the state’s outgoing governor over a rival supported by former President Donald Trump.
CNN reported the results were proof that Trump’s hold on the Republican Party “is not complete” after the loss, and the Associated Press called it a “setback” for the president.
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However, Trump’s endorsed candidates had won 55 races and lost zero before last night. Although most faced minimal competition, his big endorsement wins in Ohio earlier this month and West Virginia last night show that the former president’s influence remains extremely potent.
Pillen defeated eight challengers, including Charles Herbster, a businessman who faced groping allegations late in the campaign, and Brett Lindstrom, a state senator and Omaha financial adviser. He was generally viewed as a more moderate choice.
“We live in the greatest place on the planet, right here in Nebraska,” Pillen said in a victory speech late Tuesday as a crowd cheered and chanted, “Let’s go, Jim!” He said his opponents had called to concede.
The Trump-endorsed candidates won primary races in West Virginia for the U.S. House on Tuesday.
Trump has issued hundreds of endorsements and staged his signature campaign-style rallies in support of his preferred candidates to cement his place as Republican kingmaker ahead of another possible presidential run in 2024.
In Nebraska, the allegations against Herbster, a longtime supporter of Trump, dragged down his candidacy. Herbster alluded to the groping allegations in a concession speech late Tuesday.
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“This is one of the nastiest campaigns for governor in the history of Nebraska,” and may have affected the results, Herbster said, adding that it was “in God’s hands.”
Lindstrom congratulated Pillen on his victory and said he would support him in the general election.
In a story last month, the Nebraska Examiner interviewed six women who claimed Herbster had groped their buttocks, outside of their clothes, during political events or beauty pageants. A seventh woman said Herbster once cornered her privately and kissed her forcibly.
One of the accusers, Republican state Sen. Julie Slama, said Herbster reached up her skirt and touched her inappropriately at the Douglas County Republican Party’s annual Elephant Remembers dinner in 2019.
Herbster filed a defamation lawsuit against Slama, saying she falsely accused him in an effort to derail his campaign. Slama responded with a countersuit against Herbster, alleging sexual battery.
Despite the Trump-backed candidate’s loss in the Nebraska governor’s race, his influence proved decisive in West Virginia.
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In a race pitting two Republican incumbents against each other, Trump’s candidate, Rep. Alex Mooney, defeated Rep. David McKinley, who had angered Trump by voting for President Joe Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure package and the creation of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The Associated Press contributed to this article