Mike Foley, who served as Nebraska’s Lt. Governor for the past eight years, will be resuming the role of state auditor, which he held before being nominated as Pete Ricketts running mate in 2014.

Foley won the seat handily in last month’s election, receiving over 68% of the vote against candidates from the Libertarian and Legalize Marijuana Now parties (the Democratic party did not run a candidate). Foley had previously expressed a desire to remain in his role as Lt. Governor, likely as Charles W. Herbster’s running mate, who he endorsed in the Republican gubernatorial primary. His candidacy for State Auditor seemed to be his “Plan B.”

Foley spoke with the River City Republicans on Monday about his roles as State Auditor and as Lt. Governor, presiding over the Nebraska legislature. He talked about the legislature’s secret leadership votes, which seem to run contrary to the Nebraska Constitution — an issue highlighted by Rod Edwards as part of the Nebraska First PAC (which is largely funded by Charles W. Herbster). Foley also supported returning Nebraska to a “winner-take-all” format for allocating Presidential electoral votes. “It’s a big problem,” Foley said, “because the national Democratic party pumps millions of dollars into Omaha so they can win that one electoral vote.”

One key part of Foley’s talk was the concentration of political power in urban areas in Nebraska, and he passed around map showing half the legislators are from there counties: Lancaster, Sarpy, and Douglas. Foley also supported Republicans eliminating the filibuster in the legislature. “It only takes 30 votes to overturn a Governor’s veto, but to pass a bill it takes 33 votes,” Foley said. “Republicans will not change that rule. Why? Democrats get really mad. So what? They’ll get over it.”

Foley will now be resuming the role of State Auditor, which he held prior to becoming Lt. Governor. He spoke about a few cases of financial fraud he oversaw during his tenure, including the case of Todd TerMaat, the Wyuka cemetery accountant who was arrested for stealing thousands of dollars from the publicly-owned cemetery in 2008.

Foley finished his talk answering questions about topics ranging from the newly-passed Voter ID law and the results of the 2022, where a few Republican candidates, such as Stu Dornan and Russ Barber, lost by only a few hundred votes. “Total Statewide turnout was around 55% — 45% of the people said ‘I can’t be bothered.’ We’ve got to change that.”