Nebraska Democratic leaders shared an ad attacking Republican Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert with the campaign manager of her only Republican mayoral challenger weeks before they sent it to voters, according to emails posted online.

The ad, mailed to Omaha Democrats last week, ties Stothert to controversial moves by President Donald Trump. On the back, it says, “We are PROUD Democratic voters.” It makes no mention of the two Democratic mayoral candidates, John Ewing and Jasmine Harris.

Emails posted on Reddit show Jane Kleeb, chair of the Nebraska Democratic Party, forwarded the ad, prior to its mailing, to Barry Rubin. Rubin is the campaign manager for Republican Mike McDonnell, who left the Democratic party last year after the state party censured him.

The move, and Kleeb’s online response to it, has fueled talk among leaders in both political parties about the state Democratic party’s relationship to McDonnell, who, even after he switched parties, remained key to keeping Omaha’s lone electoral vote for U.S. president.

It could matter in Omaha’s nonpartisan mayoral election, where the top two vote-getters of any party advance from the April 1 primary to the general election. The two Republican candidates, the incumbent Stothert and challenger McDonnell, have raised and spent more money on the campaign than the two Democrats.

“It’s very concerning and not normal,” said Ewing, the mayoral candidate and current Douglas County Treasurer, of the ad and email exchange. He said he doesn’t believe that state Democrats are helping McDonnell, but also said he’s concerned, “about what kind of deal was made by Mike and his campaign.”

“I would always serve with integrity and do what’s best for the people based on their input,” Ewing said. “I would not take action … based on some type of deal.”

Kleeb, McDonnell and Nebraska Democratic Party executive director Precious McKesson did not respond to multiple emails, texts and calls requesting comment.

In a text message, Rubin, McDonnell’s campaign manager, wrote he and Kleeb are friends and speak occasionally. He said he wasn’t interested in indulging a conspiracy he attributed to Crystal Rhoades, who along with her husband Benjamin Onkka is managing Ewing’s campaign.

“We are not coordinating with the state party. There is no conspiracy. Real life is not a political movie plot,” he said. “The only thing we’re in concert on is that it’s time for Jean Stothert to go”

Rhoades said she had nothing to do with the Reddit post, but confirmed that she did share the Kleeb-McDonnell email with “several elected officials and donors” after it was posted online.

Rhoades said she believes “the emails speak for themselves.”

A Reddit post on Feb. 21 shows a screenshot of the email Kleeb forwarded to McDonnell’s campaign manager, with the ad attached, on Feb. 12, weeks before the ad was mailed.

In a follow-up email, also posted to Reddit, Kleeb said McDonnell’s campaign had no input in the ad, and seemed to respond to allegations that the state Democrats were aiding a foe.

“Anyone saying we are helping Mike (McDonnell) is spreading rumors for their own behalf and working to divide the party,” she wrote.

In her second email, Kleeb said she shared the ad with McDonnell’s campaign manager “because during the time when we were all working to save the blue dot a commitment was made by donors that we would hit Jean Stothert.”

When asked about this, Rubin said by text message, “I have no idea what you’re talking about or any knowledge of ‘donor’ commitments,” calling any suggestions to the contrary, “categorically false.”

Jasmine Harris, a nonprofit executive and Democratic mayoral candidate, said she’s not sure whether state leaders are working with an opponent. Ultimately she said it’s a distraction.

“For me, it’s really about ‘How is this going to impact the people of Omaha?’” she said. “If it’s not going to impact them, then it’s frivolous and I don’t have time for it.”

The Reddit user who posted the emails, whose username is WindomSioux, did not respond to direct messages.

McDonnell received national attention last fall as he weighed helping state Republicans revert Nebraska’s electoral college system to a “winner-take-all” approach, as it is in 48 states.

McDonnell had recently switched parties after facing criticism for his votes to restrict abortion access and gender-affirming care, which placed him on the opposite side of Democrats in the Legislature. Rubin, a former director of the Nebraska Democratic Party, also left the party and registered as nonpartisan.

Switching to a “winner-take-all” electoral system would have erased the Omaha area’s presidential vote, called the “blue dot” because it’s gone to a Democrat the past two elections. The area has continued to elect a Republican to Congress, bucking a rising advantage for Democrats.

Winning the Omaha-area district in the presidential race was part of Kleeb’s campaign for president of the Association of State Democratic committees, essentially the chair of all state chairs. She won the 4-year post in February.

CJ King, chair of the Douglas County Democrats, said he knows of no agreement with McDonnell, or any donors who may have influenced the attack ad or the sharing of it with the McDonnell campaign.

He also believes that McDonnell stayed firm in his commitment to protect the way Nebraska allots its electoral votes, though he suggested that McDonnell, while a state senator, may have “leveraged it.” 

Top Republicans, including Gov. Jim Pillen, have suggested that McDonnell tried to use his vote on “winner-take-all” to gain influence as he prepared to mount his mayoral campaign, though they have offered no evidence.

“Governor Pillen refused to let Mike McDonnell play political games and prioritize his own political fortunes over doing the right thing for Nebraska,” wrote spokesperson Andie Gage, who said Pillen is continuing the work to gather the necessary votes to revive “winner-take-all.” The Pillen campaign declined to answer other questions.

Rubin argued that McDonnell’s actions — switching political parties and taking votes that angered both sides — did not serve political interests.

“He always voted for what he thought was the right thing to do regardless of the political consequences and ultimately no one could convince him that changing the rules of an election 40 days out was the right thing to do,” Rubin wrote.

The Stothert campaign declined comment.

The Nebraska Democratic Party-backed Stothert attack ad, a two-sided color sheet, features images of Trump and Stothert with a list of “Trump’s first actions as president” including pardoning Jan. 6 insurrectionists, banning new wind projects and raising prescription drug prices.

It’s the back of the ad that bothers Ewing.

“That I don’t understand at all,” Ewing said. “If you’re going to say ‘proud Democrats,’ you should list the Democrats that are running so there’s no confusion in the Democratic Party and everybody knows Mike McDonnell is not a Democrat.”

By contrast, a similar ad in Lincoln featured the names and photos of Democrats running for city council under the headline “Lincoln Democrats get it done.” Democrat Leirion Gaylor Baird, not up for re-election, is also featured on the ad, which Kleeb posted to social media.

Ewing and Harris said they weren’t aware of any ads or other work by the state party to boost the Democrats or attack McDonnell in Omaha. King said the county party has not produced any ads.

Ewing and Harris have individually spoken out against McDonnell, specifically when he called the city’s homeless services coordinator a “DEI hire” that he would fire on his first day in office. Stothert, along with several Democratic activists and leaders, publicly criticized that comment as sexist. Ewing and Harris said they had not seen the Nebraska Democratic Party make any statements criticizing McDonnell for saying this. 

King said there has been too much focus on McDonnell and Stothert and not enough on Democrats. Democrats are also concerned with the lack of ads that attack McDonnell, King said, though he added he’s working on that.

The state party, along with the Douglas and Lancaster Democratic parties, pledged at least $100,00 for voter registration, voter guides and vote-by-mail and other voting resources during the Omaha mayor’s race, according to a Dec. 19 press release. In the email posted to Reddit, Kleeb said the party would soon be canvassing and providing research on opponents.

Harris and Ewing both said they didn’t know details of the state party’s strategy to elect a Democrat this May. Harris said at an early meeting, candidates got access to voter software as well as a rundown on how to broadcast their events through state party channels. Ewing said he was aware of some county strategies but declined to discuss them.

King said the county and state parties are working closely together, particularly on boosting voter turnout — a continual problem in city elections which attract far fewer voters than general elections.

Harris and Ewing both argued that a Democrat would make it past the primary on April 1 and that the party would coalesce around that person for the May 13 general election.

“The thing that concerns me was the email and everything else,” Ewing said. “I believe we’re going to be able to work through issues and get on the same page, but that will depend on the state and the county parties.”

This story was originally published by Flatwater Free Press, an independent, nonprofit newsroom focused on investigations and feature stories in Nebraska that matter. Read the article at: https://flatwaterfreepress.org/not-normal-democratic-mayoral-hopeful-irk...