Small efforts to create new political parties cause large accusations

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OMAHA — A petition is making its way around Omaha, seeking to put a new political party on the ballot for Nebraska’s November 2026 election. The party, called “Nebraska Working People Party,” seeks to provide another option to the usual political parties. Some suspect it’s being created to split the Democratic vote. Moreover, those suspicions also seem to assert that the movement is being funded by Nebraska Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts.

Organizers of the petition would be required to collect valid signatures from at least one percent of the total votes cast for governor at the most recent general election for the office. That comes to around 6,726 voters.

No website or Facebook page was discovered for “Nebraska Working People Party” and appears to be a tenth-hour grassroots effort.

“I don’t have any knowledge of this, said Red Willow County GOP Chair Pamela Frecks. “I stand behind our Republican candidates.”

If the group succeeds in collecting the appropriate signatures, Nebraska state law allows it to place its own candidates on the general election ballot, essentially letting the party bypass a primary election.

Nebraska Democratic Party Chair Jane Kleeb seems to have accused Ricketts of backing the effort, stating, “Billionaire Pete Ricketts is at it again. Nebraska Democrats are building a coalition to end one-party Republican rule – and with 130 days left before the election, there’s only one reason to launch a new party this late – divide the vote and create chaos. Voters see through spoiler games funded by special interests.”

Vice Chair Ron Kaminski echoed that sentiment with the statement, stating, “Nebraskans: If someone asks you to sign a petition for a new political party called the Nebraska working families party, don’t sign it. It is not supported by labor. It is not supported by the Nebraska AFL-CIO, Nebraska Building and Trades, or the Omaha Federation of Labor. It is being started by losing candidates and they are using that name to deceive voters. They are mad they lost their elections and don’t have any way to rip off donors any longer. It is also being funded by Republicans because all this new party wants to do is help Pete Ricketts, Jim Pillen, Mike Flood and Brinker Harding win their elections.”

Kleeb added a statement upon hearing of another political party filing, the America First Party, the allegations by the Nebraska Republican Party that Kleeb is behind the filing.

“We had no idea this new party was being formed. We are laser-focused on the hundreds of Democrats running across the state up and down the ballot. No matter how many parties get formed with billionaire backers, we are organizing and mobilizing a coalition of voters to end the corrupt one-party Republican rule in Nebraska.”

Media requests sent to Gov. Jim Pillen campaigns and the Nebraska GOP were not returned before story publication. After publication, Rickets stated he only just found out about the petition and added, "If you look at what the Democrats are doing, right, they endorsed the independent over a year ago, and tried to keep everybody out of their primary. Yeah, so if anybody’s trying to play around with the elections here, it's the Democrat Party of Nebraska."