Pillen downplays roads and poll talk
With the brand new but always expected endorsement of Gov. Pete Ricketts—NU Regent, hog farming king Jim Pillen crisscrossed the state Tuesday just about a month after he said the Biden Infrastructure Law, bringing $3 billion to fix Nebraska roads and more should have never passed.
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December, 2021:
Pillen: Our federal government is out of whack. What has gone on in the Biden Administration is incredibly crippling. There's three words to describe it: big government socialism. Could we use some money for roads, broadband maybe. But not today they're not that bad.
January 18, 2022:
NCN’s Joe Jordan: Not long ago you described Nebraska road conditions as “not that bad.” The governor calls them “high quality.” Are they high quality or not that bad?
Pillen: Well you know what I think. Our business drives— number one— there's been nobody on Nebraska roads more than me and we drive trucks and trailers and couriers across the roads. People take things out of context.
NCN’s Joe Jordan: So are the roads high quality or just not that bad?
Pillen: We have roads that have opportunity to be improved. So we have roads that need to be improved and that was totally taken out of context.
Gov. Ricketts: I will be voting for Jim Pillen to be the next governor of the great state of Nebraska
As for that Ricketts endorsement it comes with less than four months until the GOP primary, which so far has been dominated by this:
Herbster Ad: Who’s the Trump choice for Nebraska governor? Charles W. Herbster.
NCN’s Joe Jordan: Mr. Pillen a couple of weeks ago the Herbster campaign released a poll. Their poll said they were 20 points ahead of you. Your campaign pretty much dismissed it, do you have different numbers?
Pillen: You know what matters in a campaign for Jim Pillen? I work harder than anybody else, longer than anybody else… game days is May 10th that's when it matters.