Election 2022: Blood, Pillen address Omaha Rotary

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - Less than three weeks until the mid-term election Nebraska’s candidates for governor are sharpening their messages and attacks.

Since Republican Candidate Jim Pillen is declining to debate his opponent, Democratic State Sen. Carol Blood, the two are using events to tell voters where they stand on the issues.

One week after Columbus resident Pillen addressed Omaha’s Rotary Club at the Field Club, his opponent, a Nebraska State Senator from Bellevue, appeared at the same venue in front of pretty much the same audience.

Blood said if elected, she would immediately come up with what she calls a “strategic plan” that includes public safety, health care, spending on roads and bridges, as well as education.

Pillen also talked to the Rotary Club about education last week. He said good education leads to a good economy.

“Our kids need the skillset so they can get out of poverty, have a great wage and income — our workforce that we need to grow our economy,” he said last week. “It’s not only the right thing to do; it’s what our state needs as well.”

Blood said her position is very different.

“When I talk education, my plan would be Pre-K through (grade) 12 education, with infrastructure in place to provide up to a two-year degree to every senior in Nebraska, without any cost,” she said. “So that means they could get a 6-month certification, a one- or two-year degree in healthcare, IT, trades, ag — and doing this with a public-private partnership.”

Despite being outspent, Blood insists this race is closer than many people believe. She said she has Nebraska, and knocked on thousands of doors. The democrat is touting herself as the pragmatic problem-solver, not the big-money candidate.

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