Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse confirmed Thursday that he will resign to become president of the University of Florida, which has named the Republican as the sole finalist for the post. Multiple media outlets report that Sasse’s departure will occur before the end of the year, which would allow Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts, who will leave office in early 2023, to appoint a successor. The Nebraska Examiner says that a special election would take place for the final two years of Sasse’s term in 2024, when fellow GOP Sen. Deb Fischer is also up.
Sasse held the post of president of Midland University in Nebraska when he entered the 2014 primary to succeed Sen. Mike Johanns, a fellow Republican who unexpectedly decided to retire after one term. Sasse had the backing of the deep-pocketed Club for Growth but still looked like the underdog for most of the campaign against former state Treasurer Shane Osborn, a retired Navy pilot who was detained by China in 2001 after his plane collided with a Chinese fighter.
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Osborn’s campaign, though, began to fall apart weeks before the primary when the media reported that he’d distributed a bogus Navy memo to defend his decision to land in China. Sasse soon pulled ahead in the polls, though his allies took action late in the campaign to stop a third contender, wealthy bank president Sid Dinsdale, from sneaking through. Ultimately, Sasse beat Dinsdale by a convincing 49-22, and he easily won the general election in this red state.
The new senator became a media favorite in Washington, D.C., especially after he emerged as a loud Donald Trump critic during the 2016 campaign, saying at one point that “if the Republican Party becomes the party of David Duke, Donald Trump, I'm out.” Sasse, though, was anything but out after Trump took the White House, and while he still loudly trashed him at times, the senator still loyally voted the administration’s way.
There was talk in 2020 that Sasse could be on the receiving end of a Trump-inspired primary challenge, but no one serious emerged even before Trump himself endorsed the incumbent. Sasse had no trouble winning a second term, and he went on to become one of the seven Senate Republicans to vote to convict Trump the next year. The Nebraskan, though, still voted the party line on all other major issues.
Democrats can build a blue wave if we get out every voter. Click here to find out all the ways you can help in the last days before Election Day.
Sasse held the post of president of Midland University in Nebraska when he entered the 2014 primary to succeed Sen. Mike Johanns, a fellow Republican who unexpectedly decided to retire after one term. Sasse had the backing of the deep-pocketed Club for Growth but still looked like the underdog for most of the campaign against former state Treasurer Shane Osborn, a retired Navy pilot who was detained by China in 2001 after his plane collided with a Chinese fighter.
Campaign Action
Osborn’s campaign, though, began to fall apart weeks before the primary when the media reported that he’d distributed a bogus Navy memo to defend his decision to land in China. Sasse soon pulled ahead in the polls, though his allies took action late in the campaign to stop a third contender, wealthy bank president Sid Dinsdale, from sneaking through. Ultimately, Sasse beat Dinsdale by a convincing 49-22, and he easily won the general election in this red state.
The new senator became a media favorite in Washington, D.C., especially after he emerged as a loud Donald Trump critic during the 2016 campaign, saying at one point that “if the Republican Party becomes the party of David Duke, Donald Trump, I'm out.” Sasse, though, was anything but out after Trump took the White House, and while he still loudly trashed him at times, the senator still loyally voted the administration’s way.
There was talk in 2020 that Sasse could be on the receiving end of a Trump-inspired primary challenge, but no one serious emerged even before Trump himself endorsed the incumbent. Sasse had no trouble winning a second term, and he went on to become one of the seven Senate Republicans to vote to convict Trump the next year. The Nebraskan, though, still voted the party line on all other major issues.
Democrats can build a blue wave if we get out every voter. Click here to find out all the ways you can help in the last days before Election Day.