Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst crossed the river on Saturday morning to lead a rally for volunteers outside the Trump Campaign office in Omaha. Ernst encouraged attendees to knock doors and tell their friends to vote early, kicking off a day of action to reelect President Trump in Nebraska’s second Congressional District (CD2).
“I love voting at the polls on election day … so I could say thank you to my poll workers and so forth,” Ernst said. “[But] I am going to early vote this year, because President Trump has asked me to early vote this year.”
Ernst on the Biden-Harris Record
Ernst also fired up the crowd by attacking the Biden-Harris record.
“You all know Daegen Page,” Ernst said, referring to the US Marine from Millard who was among 13 killed at the bombing of Abbey Gate in 2021. “I grew up with his mother, Wendy, over in Montgomery County in Iowa … We must never forget. And who was the last person in the room when Biden made that decision? Kamala Harris.”
Ernst also criticized Harris for the economic cost of “Bidenomics” over the past four years. “It’s about $1,100 every month, every month, and in over 20 percent inflation,” Ernst said. “Joy and vibe, that’s not going to put food on your family’s table.”
Grassroots Efforts
Grassroots engagement has been intense in Douglas County, with about 75% of the Douglas County Republican Party Central Committee involved directly in the Trump campaign, according to Nebraska Field Director Joe Haggerty. Several of the attendees were wearing Trump 47 patches, red Trump Caucus Captain T-shirts, and white Trump Caucus Captain hats — all prizes awarded to door-knockers in the district.
The “blue dot” on Nebraska’s electoral map, caused by Democrats winning a single electoral vote in CD2, has become so notorious that local Democrats have created a yard sign to promote it. The local GOP has responded with its own sign — a red Pac-Man with a Trumpian tuft of hair gobbling up a chain of “blue dots.”
Down the Ballot
With early voting already underway in Nebraska, several attendees discussed the importance of ballot-chasing and using slate cards to inform Republican voters who to support down ballot. Democrats are vulnerable in districts like LD3 and LD49, where Felix Ungerman and Bob Andersen respectively hope to gain seats. Those districts are considered “toss-ups,” but they both went for Trump by significant margins in 2020.
With a renewed focus on get-out-the-vote efforts, it’s quite possible a Trump victory in November will bring a stronger Republican supermajority to the Nebraska legislature next year.
