Latest news with #PeteRicketts
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ricketts joins the ranks of well-heeled businessmen buying land in Nebraska
U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts, at left, then Nebraska's governor, celebrates his hunt near Chadron in 2022 with State Sen. Myron Dorn of Adams. Ricketts has now bought land in the area. (Courtesy of Nebraska Governor's Office) CHADRON, Nebraska — U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts has joined the likes of Ted Turner and Bill Gates as a well-heeled businessman buying large plots of land in Nebraska. Like those purchases, there's concern it might result in higher property taxes for neighbors, though a Dawes County commissioner calls those concerns unfounded. Ricketts, whose net worth is estimated at $182 million by the investment research website Quiver Qualitative, bought nearly 3,459 acres in the scenic Pine Ridge area of northwest Nebraska in December for $7.45 million. The purchase, which averaged $2,154 per acre, involved two groups of land once owned by a Wahoo businessman, Dan Kreitman, whom Ricketts had appointed to the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission in 2016. One parcel is just east of Chadron State Park. The second is just west of East Ash Road. Both parcels are in the scenic Pine Ridge area of Nebraska, south and southwest of Chadron in Dawes County. It is rugged canyon land known for strong populations of deer and turkey, and even some elk and mountain lions. Part of the land the senator purchased was burned during wildfires over the past 20 years, leaving behind lots of blackened trees and newly restored grassland. Ricketts, who enjoys turkey and deer hunting, purchased the land for recreational purposes, according to a realtor with knowledge of the sale. His father, Joe, raises bison on land he owns. There was no indication that Pete will be raising livestock on the new land. Messages sent to Ricketts' senate office seeking comment did not result in a response by Friday. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX While past purchases of Nebraska ranch land by Turner, the founder of CNN, and acquisition of farmland by Gates, the Microsoft billionaire, raised the ire of some nearby landowners, a former Chadron radio news director said feelings might be different with Ricketts' purchase because he's from Nebraska and is a former governor. 'He's not an outsider,' said John Axtell, a longtime Chadron-area radio news and sports reporter who is now retired. Dawes County Commissioner Jake Stewart, who owns Pine Ridge ranch property not far from the Ricketts land, said the purchase is considered a 'private sale' — one not used to set property values for nearby land — that should not impact property valuations and property taxes for neighbors. The price paid by Ricketts, $2,154 per acre, is higher than the average price for all property in northwest Nebraska of $965 an acre, according to a report this year by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Center for Agriculture Profitability. The average price paid for non-tillable grazing land, which is most of what Ricketts bought, was $630 an acre. But the price for so-called 'recreational land' that provides a private hunting preserve can go much higher. Current listings for such property in the Pine Ridge can leap above $4,000 — to as high as $12,000 an acre. Ricketts, when governor, proclaimed that Nebraska was the 'best destination in the United States' for turkey hunting. Besides that, he posted photographs of deer hunts, and the Pine Ridge is known for its ample populations of mule deer and wild turkeys. 'Land in the Pine Ridge is prized by big-game hunters, regardless of whether they're rich or poor,' said a veteran western Nebraska realtor, who asked not to be named to avoid upsetting clients. 'It's one of the last wild places in the United States.' There also are likely some mountain lions on Ricketts' land. In 2020, the Lincoln Journal Star wrote a story about Kreitman shooting a deer on his Pine Ridge ranch land, but when he located the animal, a mountain lion had already begun feeding on it. Gates, according to a Flatwater Free Press story in 2024, owns 20,000 acres of farmland across 19 counties in Nebraska. But most of Gates' holdings are tillable farmland in eastern Nebraska, not rocky outcroppings in the Pine Ridge. In 2018, the Omaha World-Herald reported that Turner owned approximately 500,000 acres of ranch land, mostly in the Sand Hills region of the state, where he raises bison. John Malone, who made billions in running telecom companies including Liberty Media, also is a major owner of Nebraska property, according to the realtor interviewed by the Examiner. So, said Axtell, the former radio reporter, Ricketts' purchase in the Pine Ridge area pales by comparison. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Dan Osborn enters Nebraska Senate race
NEBRASKA (KCAU) — Dan Osborn, who's registered as an Independent, has announced his bid for a seat in the Nebraska Senate. On Tuesday, Osborn posted on X, saying, 'I'm running for Senate against billionaire Pete Ricketts In Nebraska.' He also launched a campaign website. A spokesperson from Rickett's campaign team released a statement in response to the news, stating in part, 'Senator Ricketts has consistently worked for and voted to secure the border and cut taxes for Nebraska workers, families, and seniors. Dan Osborn is bought and paid for by his liberal, out-of-state, coastal donors.' claims there are currently three candidates for the seat. They are Pete Rickets, Edward Dunn, and Dan Osborn. In 2024, Dan Osborn ran as an Independent against Deb Fischer. She won with about 53% of the votes over his 46%. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Toronto Star
08-07-2025
- Business
- Toronto Star
Independent Dan Osborn launches new US Senate bid to challenge Nebraska Republican Pete Ricketts
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A former labor union boss who drew national headlines in his race last year as an independent candidate challenging Nebraska Republican U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer is again throwing his hat into the political ring — this time to challenge Nebraska's junior senator, Republican Pete Ricketts, in 2026. 'I'm running for Senate because Congress shouldn't just be a playground for the rich,' Dan Osborn said in a video released Tuesday to announce his candidacy. He criticized Ricketts, a former two-term Nebraska governor and multimillionaire who is the son of billionaire TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts, as a lawmaker who 'bought his Senate seat.'
Al Arabiya
08-07-2025
- Business
- Al Arabiya
Independent Dan Osborn Launches New US Senate Bid to Challenge Nebraska Republican Pete Ricketts
A former labor union boss who drew national headlines last year as an independent candidate challenging Nebraska Republican US Sen. Deb Fischer is again entering the political arena–this time to challenge Nebraska's junior senator, Republican Pete Ricketts, in 2026. 'I'm running for Senate because Congress shouldn't just be a playground for the rich,' Dan Osborn said in a video released Tuesday to announce his candidacy. He criticized Ricketts, a former two-term Nebraska governor and multimillionaire who is the son of billionaire TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts, as a lawmaker who bought his Senate seat. Ricketts' campaign responded by touting his voting record to secure the border and cut taxes for Nebraska workers and painted Osborn as beholden to Democrats. 'Dan Osborn is bought and paid for by his liberal out-of-state coastal donors,' Ricketts' campaign spokesman Will Coup said in a written statement. That was a reference to the nearly $20 million Osborn received last year from political action committees, including those that tend to support Democratic candidates. As he insisted last year, Osborn said he would serve as an independent if elected and has no plans to caucus with either Democrats or Republicans. He pointed to Ricketts' vote for Republicans' massive tax cut and spending bill last week that contains $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and cuts Medicaid and food stamps by $1.2 trillion. 'Congress spends their time bickering about how much we should cut taxes for billionaires and multinational corporations. We're just an afterthought,' Osborn said. 'My kids and yours deserve an American dream, too.' It's a familiar refrain from Osborn, who centered his campaign last year on representing working families he says are being steamrolled by an ever-growing wealth gap and policies that favor the rich over the middle class. Osborn was known in labor union circles as the Omaha industrial mechanic who successfully led a labor strike at Kellogg's cereal plants in 2021, winning higher wages and other benefits. He was a political newcomer when he challenged Fischer, outraising her by more than $1 million and coming within 6 percent of the two-term senator, who was used to winning by wide margins. Osborn acknowledged that it would be difficult to pose a campaign finance threat to Ricketts, one of the richest members of the US Senate. Federal campaign finance reports show Ricketts' campaign had more than $800,000 cash on hand at the end of March. But Osborn believes his populist message appeals more to Nebraska voters than campaign war chests. 'I think if you throw $100 million of your own money into Nebraska, I don't know that that moves the needle any more than $30 does,' he said. 'I think we're going to win this the old school way: Go out to where people are. Just hold town hall after town hall and talk with the good people in Nebraska.' Ricketts is seeking reelection next year after winning a special election last year to finish out the term of former Sen. Ben Sasse, who resigned in 2022. Ricketts was appointed to the seat by his successor, fellow Republican Gov. Jim Pillen, to fill the vacancy–a move widely panned as having the appearance of backroom dealing, as Ricketts had heavily supported and donated more than $1 million to help elect Pillen.
Washington Post
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Independent Dan Osborn launches new US Senate bid to challenge Nebraska Republican Pete Ricketts
OMAHA, Neb. — A former labor union boss who drew national headlines in his race last year as an independent candidate challenging Nebraska Republican U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer is again throwing his hat into the political ring — this time to challenge Nebraska's junior senator, Republican Pete Ricketts , in 2026.
