Susanne Shore, wife of Nebraska’s Republican governor Pete Ricketts, is saying #imwithher.
She’s donated $4,700 to the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign and an additional $1,000 to a fund for down-ballot candidates.
In the wake of Donald Trump’s now-infamous Access Hollywood tape, Gov. Ricketts decided not to donate any more money to the GOP nominee’s campaign fund. Ricketts called the candidate’s remarks “reprehensible” and “dangerous” and his apology “insufficient,” but he hasn’t revoked his endorsement of Trump for president.
The First Lady of Nebraska hasn’t made a public statement about her decision to support the Democratic Presidential candidate. Her contributions were noted in Federal Elections Commission records.
Susanne Shore has always had her own mind about politics. Her family was Republican, but she registered Democrat at age 18. She’s switched between Republican, Democrat, and Independent parties, at times supporting Republicans such as Mitt Romney and George W. Bush. She also supported Hillary Clinton in her 2007 bid for the Democratic nomination.
In a 2015 interview, Shore said that she and her husband often debate the issues “respectfully” while listening to NPR in the morning:
“I’m more liberal than Pete is — let’s define it by me: He’s more conservative than I am. I don’t know that I make him less conservative. I think I maybe broaden his perspective.”
If it were any other year in traditionally red Nebraska, Susanne Shore’s willingness to vote blue when she deems necessary could be seen as a political risk. But the state’s Republican senators, Deb Fischer and Ben Sasse, have withdrawn their support of Trump. Sasse did so earlier than Fischer, and dealt with death threats as a result.
In a nasty Presidential campaign made more deplorable when a contingent of Trump supporters dared to speak of repealing women’s voting rights, Susanne Shore’s support for Clinton is an encouragement. Let’s hope that someday, a wife’s political independence will not be newsworthy.
Featured Image by Brendan Sullivan via The Omaha World-Herald
