Thibodeau in Imperial just ahead of Primary

    As this newspaper issue is published, the Primary Election is already over.
    However, that didn’t stop Republican gubernatorial candidate Theresa Thibodeau from spending a couple of hours in Imperial last Friday, just days before the voting.
    She said there’s a big difference between her and the three other Republicans with whom she was polling among the top four last week.
    “I’m not buying the election,” she said.
    “I’m traveling the state, meeting people one on one. I think voters need to meet the people they are voting for,” she said.
    Thibodeau and Lieutenant Governor running mate Trent Loos visited with about 15 people at Broken Arrow Cellars.
    Both candidates visited informally, then addressed issues important to them before taking several questions.
    Thibodeau grew up in Omaha, graduating from UNO where she was an all-American athlete on the cross country team.
    In 2014, she opened the Primrose School of La Vista, focusing on early childhood development. When COVID-19 hit in 2020, she had 185 students and 48 teachers.
    While she was forced to reduce occupancy due to the state’s Directed Health Measures, she stayed open and kept her staff employed, she said.
    COVID mandates brought a question from the audience on her thoughts.
    Noting the fact her husband is a physician, she said they were all scared at the start.
    However, she questioned the need for mandated closings.
    “Why in the world could they say churches, schools and businesses had to shut down?” she asked.
    “We’re all adults with individual responsibility. We have to quit relying on government to make our decisions,” she said.
    She said she is pro-2nd Amendment, and has her conceal/carry permit.
    “I am pro-life. I grew up that way. I prayed at abortion clinics with my parents and volunteered at pregnancy centers. A child is a child at the moment of conception,” she said.
    Although an Omaha resident, she said she knows that Nebraska’s farm community represents 80% of Nebraska’s economy.
    She believes Nebraska needs to get rid of its current school funding formula, and supports funding schools “per child.”
    “No matter where you live, each child should get the same amount” of money in the distribution formula, she said.
    To help pay for that lower reliance on property taxes, “we will have to do a deep dive at all government levels,” and bring in an outside audit firm to review each state agency and department, she said.
    A look at all state government programs would also be conducted if she was Governor.
    “Why do we need 100 economic development employees in Lincoln?” she asked.
    She believes they should be out living in the Nebraska communities they want to develop.
    With her background in early childhood development, she had a strong statement on some of what’s happening with education in the state and across the U.S.
    “If you want to damage a child, sexualize them at an early age,” she said.
    As Governor, she pledged to be a strong supporter of parents.
    Thibodeau served in the Unicameral after her appointed by Gov. Pete Ricketts in 2017. Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert appointed her to the Omaha Personnel Board, and she was elected chair of the Douglas Co. Republican Party in 2019.
    Her husband of 20 years, Joe Thibodeau, is a cardiologist who serves several rural clinics. The couple has three children.
    In his remarks, Loos said he’s a sixth generation rancher who lives south of Broken Bow, where he raises cattle, sows and horses.
    He was among some of the first people involved in speaking out against the Biden Administration’s 30 x 30 Plan.
    He was at the first meeting in Nebraska in Valentine, at which 420 people attended. Since then, he’s attended and/or spoken at 30 x 30 meetings in 41 states.
    With the federal and state governments now owning 33% of U.S. land and another 12% in conservation easements, if another 30% of land is owned by the government that would equal 75% government-controlled land, he said.
    “And who would end up paying for that? The consumer,” he said.
    Loos said he received a call from a friend in Omaha last October who wanted him to meet Thibodeau.
    “We met, talked for three hours and found no topic on which we disagreed,” he said.
    Of the nine Republicans running for Governor, “no one knows more about agriculture than her,” he said.