Nebraska’s 3rd district, the most Republican of the Nebraska districts, has one of the most interesting races of recent years. Adrian Smith, the seven-term Republican incumbent, hasn’t had a close race for the congressional seat since his first run for election in 2006. In 2016 Smith won with no Democratic opponent filling to run in the general election. Smith has won over 70% of the vote, every election except 2006.

The Democratic challenger this year is a Northeast Nebraska farmer, Paul Theobald from Osmond. It is entirely possible this election will end in the exact same way the past six general elections have gone, with Smith winning by a very significant margin. Based on the stances on important issues for Northeast Nebraska and nationally, the staff of the Wayne Stater have decided to endorse the Democratic challenger Paul Theobald.

Theobald has admitted he is in an uphill battle as the district is historically Republican, but also the campaign fundraising differences. Smith’s campaign is funded mainly by contributions from PAC’s. The majority of Theobald’s funding has come from small and large individuals contributions. Smith has raised over $1 million for his campaign. Over $900,000 of that came from PAC contributions. Theobald raised just over $77,000 altogether which has made it hard for him to get his message out.

The time was right for Theobald to run in 2018, saying he is tired of seeing rural Nebraska counties lose population and small businesses. Which he believes will continue under policies put in place by President Donald Trump.

The Nebraska 3rd district is one of largest non-at-large congressional districts in the country. It is largely rural and covers nearly 65,000 square miles. Most of it farmland. Theobald who lives on a small farm in Pierce County, said he has the support of many farmers in the rural parts of the district who are upset with Republicans and the president for the administrations trade policy, which sparked tariffs by China and other countries that have harmed the U.S. agriculture business. Smith thinks the way Trump has handled his polices related to the agriculture business has been good. Including Trumps bailout in the form of $12 billion taken for the U.S. Treasury to pay producers in Agriculture. This bailout was suggested as far back as July and still resulted in no help for farmers.

Smith voted Yea on Securing America’s Future Act of 2018. The bill that ultimately failed, would have proposed funding for a boarder wall, limiting legal immigration, a mandatory worker verification program, allowing DACA recipients to apply for legal status and preventing separation of families at the border. This bill would have cut entire categories of visas designed to help reunite families. The bill would of also made being in the country without status go from civil violation to a criminal violation. Smith has routinely voted with the Republican Party no matter what the bill said or did.

Theobald is a farmer and agriculture teacher with stints at Wayne State College and Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa. We here at the Wayne Stater believe Theobald is the best candidate for our district and for our country.

The Wayne Mayor race is coming up as well. The candidates are Cale Giese and Pat Melena. Both candidates are very experienced and good candidates, but the staff of the Wayne Stater has decided to endorse Cale Giese for Mayor in the 2018 elections.

Cale Giese is a 5th generation resident of Wayne and attended Wayne State College. He decided to stay in Wayne after he graduated college and has served two terms on the Wayne City Council. And owns God Fathers Pizza in Wayne. Pat Melena is also a lifelong resident of Wayne and has over 30 years of experience in business and leadership roles. He has been on the Wayne Planning and Zoning Commission since 2005 and the chairman of the committee since 2011. Giese was the student body president while he was at WSC and owns his own business and runs another.

We encourage everyone to get out and vote for national, state and local elections and make yourself heard.