LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska gubernatorial candidate Jim Pillen has scored a big endorsement from Gov. Pete Ricketts, a fellow Republican who backed the University of Nebraska regent to be his successor.
Ricketts picked Pillen on Tuesday out of a crowded GOP field ahead of the party’s primary election on May 10.
Ricketts says he backed Pillen because of his conservative credentials and longstanding ties to Nebraska and agriculture.
Pillen is a family farm owner and veterinarian who grew up in Nebraska, played football for the Huskers and now serves on the university’s governing board.
The endorsement comes less that three months after one of Pillen’s competitors, Falls City agriculture businessman Charles Herbster, won support from former President Donald Trump.