Ricketts: Ads ‘misleading,’ cost of living top concern on campaign trail
Published 1:33 pm Monday, October 12, 2026
U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts spoke with the Enterprise on Wednesday, Oct. 7, at the American Legion in Fort Calhoun, where he appeared at the monthly Washington County Republican meeting.
“Commercials say that you made 30% on your money since you got into office,” the Enterprise said. “If that’s the case, you’re not doing as good as the S&P.”
Ricketts replied, “The commercials are definitely misleading, but that’s what you find in political ads this time of year. So you’re exactly right that if you think about 30% over four years, that I’m underperforming the S&P stock market. And it’s because I’ve got a very conservative portfolio.”
Asked why he did not address his opponent’s “Billy Bob” comments during his remarks that evening, Ricketts said, “You know, there’s so much to talk about with Democrat Dan, sometimes I forget everything. But you’re right, that’s a great example of how he is disparaging the very people he seeks to represent.”
On what voters are telling him is most important, “Well, the most important thing people are talking about is the cost of living, right? We saw record inflation under Joe Biden. Grocery prices went up 20%, and grocery prices have been sticky. They haven’t come back down in many items. And of course, gas prices were down, but with the conflict in the Middle East, those have come up. So that’s definitely one of the things, and that’s why you see President Trump, for example, taking the steps to relieve farmers and ranchers of the taxes on diesel right now. It’s a short-term solution. We have to look for longer-term solutions on things like creating more refining capacity, getting the Straits of Hormuz regular, flowing, and we are getting more oil out now. We need to get more refined products out as well. And then, with regard to the beef industry, expanding the size of the herd. So there’s many things we should do for the long term to be able to help bring prices down for families.”
Asked whether the war is weighing on the campaign, “Well, certainly, again, gas prices are creating a burden for everybody’s budgets. A country that chants ‘Death to America’ can’t be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. They’ve killed tens of thousands of their own people. They would kill hundreds of thousands of ours. So what we need to do is keep the pressure on them to the point where they recognize that they have to give up that ambition to have a nuclear weapon, because we’re just not going to allow that to happen.”
On the importance of the election, “Well, Nebraska could be the deciding state in who controls the U.S. Senate, which is why making sure we get everybody to turn out to vote in this midterm election is so important. And that’s one of the messages I had here tonight from Washington County GOP.”
