LINCOLN- In the last 11 months, Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts spent over $3.8 million on political ads, candidates, and donations, with some speculating that his generosity may influence state leadership for years to come.

In 2022, Ricketts contributed around a dozen six-figure donations to various campaigns and political groups both in and out of the state.

Ricketts' largest donation this year came just days before May's primary election, and equated to around $775,000 to the Conservative Nebraska PAC. Over the past year, Ricketts has given around $1.28 million to the group.

Conservative Nebraska ran many attack ads against gubernatorial candidate Charles Herbster and State Sen. Brett Lindstrom before the primary. Both men were chief opponents of primary-winner Jim Pillen.

In January, Ricketts donated a whopping $100,000 to Pillen's campaign, but has not donated any money directly to Pillen's campaign since then.

Ricketts' most recent major contribution of $514,00 went directly to a newly founded PAC, the Nebraska Future Action Fund, which has issued attack ads against Sen. Matt William's campaign for the University of Nebraska Board of Regents, Greg Gonzalez's campaign for Douglas County sheriff, and another against Sen. Wendy DeBoer's reelection campaign.

One of the most common recipients of Ricketts' funds was the Nebraska GOP, but almost all contributions towards this group from the Ricketts family stopped after the controversial GOP convention in July, which prompted a mass exodus of party leadership that many saw as an act of resistance against Ricketts.

However, Ricketts still donated $20,000 to the Douglas County Republican Party last month.

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