Are you Shore?
Susanne Shore says she's a Democrat. When it counted, she stood with Nebraska Republicans.
Everything on this page comes from Susanne Shore's own words, her own campaign finance filings, and public reporting. The filings and sources are linked so you can check them yourself.
MAGA Senator Pete Ricketts' one Democrat in 2026? Susanne Shore.
"I usually vote straight Republican, but Susanne will be my one Democrat exception in 2026!" Sen. Pete Ricketts, statement to the Nebraska Examiner, Feb. 19, 2026
Ricketts is vice chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the Senate GOP's campaign arm, and a vocal ally of President Trump.
Sources: Nebraska Examiner, Feb. 19, 2026 · NOTUS
Her vote for U.S. Senate: MAGA Republican Pete Ricketts. Her reason: she "knows his character."
Asked about the 2026 U.S. Senate race at the Sweet Circle/Gifford Park Neighborhood Association candidate forum at Yates Illuminates on Monday, Oct. 19, 2026, Shore said she voted for the MAGA Republican over the independent challenger.
Watch the video
Death penalty. Medicaid. Abortion. Shore couldn't name one issue where she's stood up to her husband.
At the Sweet Circle/Gifford Park Neighborhood Association candidate forum at Yates Illuminates on Monday, Oct. 19, 2026, an audience member asked: "Can you give me an example where you've stood up to your husband?" Shore pointed to her 2022 endorsement of a congressional candidate, Patty Pansing Brooks, and "everything that's been in the paper." Then she said, "I'm not sure I've been in the position."
We found no public record of Susanne Shore opposing her husband on the death penalty, Medicaid expansion or abortion, three of his signature fights.
His record
Pete Ricketts has spent years on issues that matter to District 4 families:
- He vetoed the Legislature's 2015 repeal of the death penalty, then gave $300,000 to the campaign to bring it back.
- He opposed Medicaid expansion. After voters passed it in 2018, he warned it would mean less money for K–12 education.
- In 2024, he put about half of his $2.2 million in Nebraska political giving into the abortion ballot fight that kept the state's 12-week ban.
Video: Full forum video · Sources: KIOS, Oct. 2016 · KLKN, Nov. 2018 · Flatwater Free Press, Dec. 2024
The Ricketts family has spent $4.3 million picking Regents. Now Pete Ricketts is backing one more: his wife.
Regents set tuition, approve the budget and hire the university's president. The $4.3 million came from Pete Ricketts and PACs funded mainly by his family.
See the numbers
| Year | From | To | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Pete Ricketts | Kathy Wilmot for Regent | $20,000 |
| 2022 | Ricketts family PAC | Ads attacking Matt Williams | $314,000 |
| 2024 | Common Sense Nebraska | Regent Rob Schafer's committee | $667,009 |
| 2024 | Common Sense Nebraska | Regent Jim Scheer's committee | $3,300,000 |
| Total | $4,301,009 |
Common Sense Nebraska is funded mainly by Marlene Ricketts. Both 2024 committees also ran ads for the abortion ballot measure.
District 4 needs a regent who answers to students and families, not to Nebraska's biggest political donors.
Read the details
- The Board of Regents governs NU's four campuses, nearly 50,000 students and 16,000 faculty and staff. Regents set tuition, approve the budget and hire the university's president. In June 2026, the board raised tuition 4.25%.
- Regents serve six-year terms.
- In 2022, Pete Ricketts gave Regent candidate Kathy Wilmot $20,000, and his family's PAC spent $314,000 on ads attacking her opponent, Matt Williams, calling him a "RINO." Williams said the goal was to "stack the board" and replace NU's leaders. Wilmot won.
- In 2024, Common Sense Nebraska, funded mainly by Marlene Ricketts, gave $3.3 million to Regent Jim Scheer's committee, though he was unopposed, and $667,009 to Regent Rob Schafer's.
- Over the 12 years through 2024, Pete Ricketts and his family spent at least $18.6 million on Nebraska campaigns and causes.
Sources: Flatwater Free Press, Dec. 2024 · Nebraska Examiner, Oct. 2022 · Ballotpedia, 2022 results · UNMC, June 2026 · University of Nebraska
10 maxed-out checks to Nebraska Republicans. Then she asked Democrats for their votes.
Before she launched, she gave $43,000 to Nebraska Republicans in federal races. Nebraska Democrats running for U.S. Senate or Omaha's House seat got $0.
See her contributions
See the numbers
| Recipient | Party | Years | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Don Bacon for Congress (incl. Bacon Victory Fund) | R | 2016–2024 | $20,900 |
| Pete Ricketts for Senate (incl. Pete Ricketts Victory Fund) | R | 2023–2025 | $18,600 |
| Ben Sasse for U.S. Senate | R | 2019–2020 | $3,000 |
| Lee Terry for Congress | R | 2014 | $500 |
| Patty for Congress (Pansing Brooks, NE-1) | D | 2022 | $7,000 |
See the numbers
| Date | Recipient | Election | Amount | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 16, 2017 | Don Bacon for Congress | 2018 primary | $2,700 | FEC image |
| June 29, 2018 | Bacon Victory Fund → Don Bacon for Congress | 2018 general | $2,700 | FEC image |
| Mar. 6, 2019 | Don Bacon for Congress | 2020 primary | $2,800 | FEC image |
| Mar. 6, 2019 | Don Bacon for Congress | 2020 general | $2,800 | FEC image |
| Mar. 6, 2023 | Pete Ricketts Victory Fund → Ricketts for Senate | 2024 primary | $3,300 | FEC image |
| Mar. 6, 2023 | Pete Ricketts Victory Fund → Ricketts for Senate | 2024 general | $3,300 | FEC image |
| June 30, 2023 | Don Bacon for Congress | 2024 primary | $3,300 | FEC image |
| Mar. 31, 2024 | Don Bacon for Congress | 2024 general | $3,300 | FEC image |
| Dec. 29, 2025 | Pete Ricketts for Senate | 2026 primary | $3,500 | FEC image |
| Dec. 29, 2025 | Pete Ricketts for Senate | 2026 general | $3,500 | FEC image |
- She maxed out to Don Bacon in 2024, the year he faced Democrat Tony Vargas.
- On Dec. 29, 2025, she gave her husband's 2026 reelection campaign the maximum for both the primary and the general. Fifty-two days later, she launched her campaign as a Democrat.
Source: FEC Schedule A records for Susanne Shore, Omaha. Totals count each contribution once; money given through joint fundraising committees is counted at the amount she gave, including $2,300 that went to Bacon's PAC and $5,000 to American Excellence PAC. Key filings: Ricketts, Dec. 2025 · Ricketts Victory Fund, 2023 · Bacon, 2024 general · Bacon, 2024 primary
Minimum wage. Medicaid. Paid sick leave. Abortion rights. Public schools. Shore didn't sign a single petition.
- Medicaid expansion (2018)
- Raising the minimum wage (2022)
- Protecting public school funding (2023 and 2024)
- Paid sick leave (2024)
- Protecting abortion rights (2024)
Of the [X] Omaha Democrats with 20 years of voting history, only 66 have never signed a single ballot petition. Susanne Shore is one of them.
Source: [petition signature records, Nebraska Secretary of State]
$40,000 for Lincoln's mayor. $3,000 for North and South Omaha.
See the numbers
| Recipient | Date | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Leirion for Lincoln Mayor | Mar. 30, 2023 | $15,000 |
| Leirion for Lincoln Mayor | Apr. 28, 2023 | $25,000 |
| Margo Juarez for Nebraska Legislature | Aug. 9, 2024 | $3,000 |
| [Confirm no other District 4 officeholders] |
Source: NADC contribution records for Susanne Shore, April 2022 to September 2026.
Shore didn't give the Nebraska Democratic Party a federal dime until she needed its votes.
Read the details
- She gave Women Who Run Nebraska PAC $5,000 on March 27. The PAC endorsed her on April 17. She gave another $5,000 on Aug. 26.
- $663 to the Douglas County Democratic Party, starting in March 2026.
- $73,113 to state and local candidates and committees, and $13,725 to federal candidates and committees.
Sources: FEC Schedule A and NADC records for Susanne Shore, Feb. 19, 2026, through the latest reports (NADC Sept. 18, 2026; FEC Aug. 22, 2026). Excludes her contributions to her own campaign.
A Republican when the 2022 primary counted. A Democrat now that she needs your vote.
In 2022, Shore switched her registration to Republican to vote in the May primary, the one that nominated Jim Pillen for governor. Her husband spent heavily to elect Pillen, who later appointed him to the U.S. Senate.
Read the details
- It wasn't the first time. The Hill reported in 2016 that Shore "has switched her party registration" before.
- [Dates of each registration change, from the county record]
Sources: Nebraska Examiner, June 16, 2022 · The Hill, 2016 · [Douglas County Election Commission record]
How we counted
- Federal figures come from FEC Schedule A records for Susanne Shore at her Omaha address, 1999–2026. State and local figures come from NADC contribution records, April 2022–September 2026.
- Memo entries, which re-list money already given through joint fundraising committees, are not counted twice. A 2024 Sinema redesignation that nets to zero is excluded.
- A "maximum" contribution is one at the federal per-election limit for that cycle: $2,700 (2017–18), $2,800 (2019–20), $3,300 (2023–24) and $3,500 (2025–26).
- "Since launch" totals exclude small platform tips to ActBlue and contributions to her own campaign.