LINCOLN, Neb. (Nebraska Examiner) — Since she was 18, Maxine Moul has been a registered Democrat.
She remained a Democrat while serving as Nebraska’s first female lieutenant governor under Gov. Ben Nelson in the 1990s and during a run for Congress in 2006.
Not now.
Moul recently switched her political party registration to Republican, joining what appears to be a small, but possibly significant shift to vote in a hotly contested gubernatorial primary.
Shift of about 2,000
Between March 1 and April 1, registered Republicans grew by 1,985 voters while Democrats lost 1,787.
That number could make a difference in a close primary race, said political consultant Perre Neilan, pointing out that Gov. Pete Ricketts won his first GOP gubernatorial primary, in a six-way race, by only 2,300 votes.
University of Nebraska at Omaha political science professor Randy Adkins said that “savvy Democrats” probably realize that the race for governor will be decided in the GOP primary and that they may have motivation to switch if there’s a clear difference between the candidates.
Nonpartisans urged to switch
He added that he got a text message Monday urging him to switch his registration to Republican by someone identified as “Dan from RAS.” The text, Adkins said, appeared to be aimed at voters like him who are registered independents, a group more likely to be swayed in their voting preferences.
(The Nebraska Examiner was unable to identify the “RAS” group. It was neither registered with the Nebraska Political Accountability and Disclosure Commission or the Nebraska Public Service Commission, which registers entities doing robocalls. An Examiner reporter, also a nonpartisan, received the same text. But the phone number listed as sending the text “could not be reached as dialed.”)
While multiple reasons could explain why voter registration shifts occur, including deaths and people moving out of state, at least three former Democrats, including Moul, said they were motivated to switch because their vote could make a difference in a contested GOP primary.
Babysat Lindstrom’s relatives
Moul, who now lives in Lincoln, said she was partly inspired because her family grew up in the same rural neighborhood northeast of Oakland, Nebraska, as candidate Brett Lindstrom’s family.
“I babysat his dad and two uncles,” Moul said.
But, she added, she also appreciated that Lindstrom’s political advertising has stayed positive and has focused on the issues.
“He’s just set a tone that I like,” Moul said.
She added that Lindstrom’s politics are more moderate than either of the other front-runners in the Republican race, Falls City businessman Charles Herbster and University of Nebraska Regent Jim Pillen.
Krist also switched
Former State Sen. Bob Krist of Omaha, who switched from Republican to Democrat to run for governor in 2018 against Ricketts, recently switched back to the GOP.
Krist said that statistically speaking, the winner of the GOP primary has become the governor in Nebraska, so changing parties was a way to have an influence on the race.
He said he’s voting for Lindstrom, with whom he served in the State Legislature, because Lindstrom is a “consensus seeker” and the only qualified candidate.
“It’s time to have a governor who has legislative or executive experience,” Krist said.
Deadlines near for switching
He added that he didn’t think it would hurt the chances of the leading Democrat in the race, Bellevue Sen. Carol Blood. She is expected to advance to the general election, Krist said, when any voter can vote for her.
In the primary, only registered Republicans can vote in the GOP gubernatorial primary, so those registered as Democrats or nonpartisans must switch parties to cast a ballot in that race. The deadline for such a change is this Friday, April 22, if done online or by mail, and May 2 if done at a county election office.
The Nebraska Democratic Party, unlike the GOP, allows nonpartisans to select a Democratic ballot in the primary. Nonpartisans also get to select either a GOP or Democratic ballot in federal congressional races.
Nick Castner, a 26-year-old Lincoln resident who works in media and podcasting, said he’s been an independent and a Democrat in his voting years before switching to Republican this week.
Disgusted by ads
He said that it is very important to pick a quality candidate to lead the state and that the GOP race is a close one.
Herbster, Castner said, is “very far from my cup of tea,” and he said that he found Pillen’s “trans-phobic” advertising to be disgusting.
“I’ve had friends from across the country send screen grabs of the ads asking, ‘Who is this guy?’” Castner said of the Pillen ads.
Lancaster County Election Commissioner Dave Shively said it’s not unusual for voters to change party registrations ahead of a primary election.
He said the last time there was a significant shift in registrations to Republican was in the 2006 primary, when Gov. Dave Heineman fended off a challenge from Nebraska football coach and U.S. Rep. Tom Osborne.
Nebraska Examiner is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nebraska Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Cate Folsom for questions: info@nebraskaexaminer.com. Follow Nebraska Examiner on Facebook and Twitter.
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