Nebraskaâs Rural Rebellion
A native Nebraskan deconstructs the Cornhusker Stateâs conservative politics and culture and how Democrats fell so far so fast.
Trump rally at the Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln, January 6, 2021
Rewind to two decades ago, when centrist Democrats like Ben Nelson and Bob Kerrey were the partyâs standard-bearers in the Nebraska governorâs office and in the Senate. Since then, declining union influence, in-state infighting, and the national partyâs lack of interest in developing new leaders in hard-to-win states have eroded the partyâs fortunes beyond recognition. The steady coarsening of the national dialogue helped catapult this bastion of Midwestern cultural conservatism into a deep-red zone where Donald Trump crushed Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts took a hard line against the immigrants keeping the stateâs meatpacking plants in business, and a Republican who attended the January 6 rally before the Capitol insurrection now runs for governor.