I wonder how those 71% of Nebraskans will feel in November. Will those who voted for medical marijuana in 2024 remember who worked hard to nullify their vote? Do they care about elected officials honoring the will of the people as much as they cared about legalizing a medicine that can help people suffering from numerous different ailments?

Or will they just look at the R after the person’s name when they cast their ballot?

Do the 71% who voted for the medicinal herb even realize the hell that Mike Hilgers, Jim Pillen, Pete Ricketts and other Nebraska officials put Crista Eggers and the leaders of the petition drive through for the last two years? Do they even care?

The Nebraska Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, ruled against a lawsuit that has dragged on through the courts, finally putting an end to the legal battles a Nebraska mom and her team had to face just because they wanted to offer some relief for people with epilepsy, cancer, chronic pain, and other ailments.

There are qualified candidates running to oppose the Governor, the Senator, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of State. Will the 71% take a serious look at those candidates when they go to the polls?

Or will the power of incumbency, the deep pockets, and the R after their names be enough to make those voters forget all about the intimidation, the legal wrangling, and the tax dollars spent to try to take away their voice?

This election cycle has been anything but conventional. Besides the Republican, Democratic, Libertarian, Legal Marijuana Now, and Independent candidates on the ballot, two new parties popped up overnight to join the mix.

Both those two new parties have put up candidates, but little is known about who’s behind setting those parties up or how much money they’ll be able to spend to have their candidates run a competitive campaign.

Or if they even want their candidates to run a competitive campaign.

The word on the street originally theorized these parties were set up to confuse voters enough to take away votes from either Pete Ricketts or Dan Osborn in the Senate race.

But with the America First Party putting up credible candidates for both governor and secretary of state, the plot thickens.

Brett Lindstrom would make a good governor. But then again, so would the Democratic candidate Lynne Walz. Either would be better than the current man in office. The question people are asking is, will Brett take votes away from Pillen or Walz? It’s anybody’s guess.

The Secretary of State’s race is a little different and just as important, if not more so than the governor’s race. Scott Petersen is an election denier who would oversee our elections if he’s elected. That’s a very dangerous position.

Sarah Slattery is the Democrat opposing Petersen, and she has been traveling Nebraska and working hard to generate support. From social media posts, it appears she’s getting good crowds across the state.

Former State Senator Bob Krist is the America First candidate. He’s perhaps the most qualified candidate for the post. He has more statewide name recognition than Slattery, but a later start and limited funds will make it an uphill battle, to say the least.

Will Krist take enough votes away from Petersen to give Slattery the job? Will the people who have supported him in the past rally around him to put together a viable campaign?

More unanswered questions.

Which brings me back to my first unanswered question. Will the 71% of Nebraska voters who voted for medical marijuana remember that the Governor, Attorney General, and Secretary of State worked hard to nullify their vote?

Crista Eggers, who headed up the drive to get medical marijuana on the ballot, is working to get Jocelyn Brasher elected to the AG’s office. Brasher is the Democrat in the race who is running against her former boss. She, too, has limited funds and an uphill battle.

But then again, the people who wanted to legalize a natural medicinal herb also had limited funds and an uphill battle, and they succeeded. They fought the hard fight. They stood up for what they believed in. They didn’t listen when people told them it would never pass.

They kept on fighting until they finally won in the courts in a real David vs Goliath moment.

I wonder if the 71% of Nebraskans will remember that come November 3rd?

Conventional wisdom says the majority won’t. But then again, there’s been nothing conventional about this election.

Tom Becka is a long time Nebraska broadcaster who for over 30 years has been covering Omaha and Midwest issues on both radio and TV. He has been a guest on numerous national cable and news shows, filled in for nationally syndicated talk radio programs and Talkers Magazine has recognized him as one of the Top 100 talk show hosts in the country 10 times. Never afraid to ruffle some feathers, his ‘Becka’s Beat’ commentaries can be found online on Youtube and other digital platforms.