by Madison Wheeler
Carol Blood won election to the Nebraska Legislature, the country’s only unicameral state legislature, in 2016.
Her ads tout her as bipartisan and a good steward of tax money. She earned endorsements by the Omaha World Herald and the Nebraska State Education Association.
Rick Holdcroft is running against Blood in the 3rd Legislative District. He’s a Navy veteran and is running on conservative values.
According to Holdcroft’s ads, if elected he will support the police, provide tax relief and increase access to health care.
The number of political ads is growing, and 2020 saw more than twice as many broadcast ads than the 2016 election. Political ads are also increasingly negative.
Numbers of ads are also growing across the country in state legislatures.
The Nebraska Legislature is not just the only unicameral state legislature, but it’s also the only nonpartisan state legislature in the country.
“The nonpartisanship of the Unicameral makes party affiliation less relevant.” according to Legislature.
State Sen.John McCollister said at the nonpartisan nature of the legislature means that independents are “not locked out of the process.”
In the primary election, the two candidates with the most votes go on to the general election. Party affiliations are not printed on the ballot next to the names of the candidates.
That doesn’t mean that the candidates don’t belong to a political party, though.
Blood, a Democrat, received endorsements friom the Sarpy County and Nebraska Democratic Parties. She was also endorsed by Republicans like Bellevue Mayor Rusty Hike and La Vista Mayor Doug Kindig.
Holdcroft is a Republican, and has likewise been endorsed by the Sarpy County and Nebraska Republican Parties. He has also been endorsed by Rep. Don Bacon, R., Neb..
Blood’s ads tend to focus primarily on issues or her endorsements. On Twitter, she says that “people are sick and tired of negative campaigning.”
One study found that women, Democrats, and incumbents are all more likely to use endorsement ads, and Blood is all three.
A separate study found that while running negative ads could negatively impact an incumbent, the same isn’t true for challengers.
While some of Holdcroft’s mail ads have focused solely on issues or endorsements, others have also asked voters not to vote for Carol Blood. These ads say that Blood has let police down.
However, funding for ads doesn’t have to come directly from a campaign.Outside groups can also pay for political ads.
Some ads about Holdcroft and Blood were paid for by the Nebraska Republican Party.
Many of these ads follow trends from across the country that call Democratic candidates “too liberal” for their state or say that their candidate will keep voters safer than the Democratic candidate.
Outside groups have run ads against Holdcroft. Some mail ads, paid for by Preserve the Good Life, argue that Holdcroft’s tax plan would end up costing voters more.
