OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — The Nebraska State Board of Education has received more attention than usual over the last year-and-a-half and now that appears to have translated into campaign dollars.
In his two races for the State Board of Education, Board Member Robin Stevens did a lot of campaigning but didn’t need to spend, or raise, a lot of money. This year that’s not the case.
“Unprecedented money is being spent,” said Stevens.
In 2018, after the primary elections, three of the candidates didn’t spend or raise $5,000 and weren’t even required to submit a report to the Nebraska Disclosure and Accountability Commission.
The other three candidates who advanced to the general election that year spent less than $36,000 combined.
In 2022 it’s a different story.
At least $20,000 have been spent on every primary race. In Stevens' race against Elizabeth Tegtmeier, more than $120,000 has been spent.
In total, more than $255,000 has been spent in the primary, dwarfing the 2018 figures.
Stevens said in past years you may need “maybe $10,000 but now you have to add another zero to that.”
UNO Political Science Professor Randall Adkins believes these increased donations are for three reasons.
He says people are just spending more money on campaigns right now and it can’t all go to major races in congress and, therefore, some of the money is going to down-ballot candidates for school board.
And that social media is amplifying education issues more than in the past. Plus, a couple of wedge issues that have risen in recent years.
“Think about things like Critical Race Theory and sex education and how those have been in the news lately,” said Adkins.
That appears to be true in Nebraska with four of the candidates left running firmly against sex education standards the State Board of Education considered last year.
All four of those candidates, Tegtmeier, Marni Hodgen, Kirk Penner and Sherry Jones, all Republicans, are endorsed by Protect Nebraska Children, which was formed to protest the sex education standards. And those candidates spent more money than their opponents in the primary.
The money those candidates received came from the likes of conservative state senators and gubernatorial candidate Jim Pillen, but also lots of grassroots money.
“We can be negative about it, why are they into it and conspiracy theories, and so on and so forth, but in reality, we should be thrilled about a group of people that are now becoming politically engaged,” said Stevens, a Republican who represents portions of western Nebraska.
And one of the largest donors, Governor Pete Ricketts spent over $30,000 on three of the candidates running in the primary.
State Board Member Deborah Neary told 3 News Now she thinks Ricketts wants to take over the board. Stevens sees it differently.
“For me to lecture the governor on how he should spend his money is inappropriate,” said Stevens.
Adkins says the extra money helps but only takes you so far.
“There may be more money on one side of the issue than there was on another side of the issue and we won’t know how that works out until after the election is over,” said Adkins.
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