On Thursday, Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen (R) tapped former Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts (R) to fill the Senate seat vacated by former Sen. Ben Sasse (R) earlier this month.
Ricketts will now serve until January 2025, according to The Hill. Under Nebraska state law, Rickets will have to run in a special election in 2024 to fill the remaining two years of Sasse’s term. He would then have to run again in 2026 in order to win a full six-year term.
The former two-term governor, who also co-chaired the Republican Governors Association during the 2022 campaign cycle, was among those who officially applied for the vacancy with Gov. Pillen.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has been pushing for Ricketts to take the seat for months as it would be considered a safe bet that the party will hold the seat, likely taking the state off the map in the 2024 general election.
The GOP leader in October made clear his preference for Ricketts to nab the seat, having called him a “great choice.”
“I’ve talked to Gov. Ricketts,” McConnell told CNN at the time. “We’re hoping that he will end up in the Senate.”
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Well , if Mitch wanted Rickets to replace Sasse, then you can bet that Rickets is an Establishment RINO and will not represent the conservative republicans. If he is anything like Mitch, he will sell us out in a second.