Jon Bruning is battling some serious conservative cred problems.
While the Nebraska attorney general is the front-runner in the state’s U.S. Senate Republican primary, Bruning is facing a growing perception that he goes both ways. While he touts a strong conservative party line, his backing of Eric Holder as Attorney General – seven of the 18 AG’s who endorsed Holder’s nomination were Republicans – has earned him the enmity of more than a few GOP faithful.
Adding to that is the accusation from right-wing blogger Erick Erickson that Bruning was one of several state AGs who signed a letter backing the nomination of Assistant U.S. Attorney General Thomas Perez in 2009. For conservatives, the unsubstantiated claim lumps Bruning in with boogeymen like Americans for Democratic Action, Human Rights Campaign and People for the American Way, all of whom signed their own letter of support for Perez.
Having his Republican bona fides up for debate is not a good spot for Bruning, despite his solid lead in fundraising and poll numbers.
Nebraskans backed John McCain in 2008 with 56.8 percent of the popular vote; nationally, he garnered 46.6 percent. The reliably red trend in the state’s presidential politics reaches back to 1968. The state’s meager Beltway delegation of five consists of one Democrat, the retiring Sen. Ben Nelson, whose seat Bruning is vying for.
He faces State Treasurer Don Stenberg and state Sen. Deb Fischer.
The Bruning campaign reports that its own polling in March shows the AG with a 33-point lead in the primary race over Stenberg, while a February survey commissioned by a PAC run by Stenberg supporter Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., shows Stenberg down by 6 points.
And conservative polling firm Rasmussen Reports shows if Bruning were to square off against presumed Democratic Senate candidate Bob Kerrey, he would win with a handy 55 percent of the vote. But the lead was not statistically different than Stenberg’s advantage in a head-to-head match with Kerrey.
And the list of accusations of shaky dealings by Bruning grows.
Last year, it was revealed that Bruning went in on a $675,000 lakeside home with two executives from student loan financier Nelnet, whom Bruning had sided with four years earlier in an AG ruling that negated a $1 million settlement over the company’s business practices. Records show that one of the execs, Jeff Noordhoek, has contributed $4,800 to Bruning’s federal campaign since 2007, while the other, Terry Heimes, donated $2,500 in January 2011. Noordhoek and Mike Dunlap, CEO of Nelnet and a developer of land where the lake home was purchased, have also contributed to Bruning’s attorney general campaigns.
And in January, a state watchdog group uncovered a $100,000 grant to the state’s leading agriculture group that was shoved through the approval process at the behest of Bruning – who ended up presenting the check in person.
Bruning’s campaign did not return several phone calls.
“I don’t think the average voter really cares about whether Bruning thought Eric Holder was qualified for the job,” said Mike Wagner, a political science professor at the University of Nebraska. Stenberg’s camp has driven much of the attacks on Bruning, he said, and that’s only because “he feels his best chance at an upset is to say that he is a more reliable conservative.”
But the lake house, the hint of quid pro quo, and the wealth, well that could be troubling to voters, Wagner added.
“Americans feel pretty strongly about politicians feathering their own nest,” Wagner said. “And if that kind of thing keeps coming out, it could be toxic for him in the general election.”
Yes, the general election, because barring some truly jarring news, Bruning is likely to prevail on May 15, even as he takes some pretty tight hits.
Stenberg and Bruning are scheduled to meet in forums or debates three times in April, although Stenberg hopes to have at least six head-to-head contests before the primary election, two in each of the state’s three congressional districts.
Stenberg acknowledged that he and Bruning share a number of common goals – reducing the deficit, getting rid of Obamacare, and a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
“But there are substantial differences between us as well,” Stenberg said in an interview Wednesday. He cited the Holder endorsement, an $500,000 earmark that Bruning allegedly requested in 2009 and the growth in Bruning’s personal wealth in the past dozen years, mostly after he became attorney general in 2003, as a few.
“As attorney general, he’s become a multimillionaire,” noted Stenberg, who served as the state’s AG from 1991 to 2003. “He’s acquired businesses and is now worth between $12 million and $61 million. I think when you are going to serve in a full-time public position, you should focus on public service.”
Bruning has denied his earnings have taken him away from his job and claimed that he never asked for the earmark. He has frontrunner political skills and the backing of a number of strong establishment Republican operations: Citizens United and the Tea Party Express, as well as 17 state attorneys general and conservative media entertainer and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.
Stenberg meanwhile boasts the backing Club For Growth, Sen. DeMint and his Senate Conservatives Fund, and The Madison Project.
Wagner, the poli sci professor at the University of Nebraska, said that cozy arrangements like the Bruning’s lake house purchase can’t do a lot for Stenberg without the funding to spread the word. Bruning had outraised Stenberg, 7-to-1, and had $1.6 million on hand, as of the end of December.
“I don’t know that enough voters are aware of the issue for it to matter too much right now,” Wagner said. “If Stenberg were better funded, he could run some negative ads about it. But he doesn’t have that kind of campaign money.”
Stenberg, who is running his fourth bid for the U.S. Senate, is sure this year is the one.
“I can get there this time,” he said. “I’ve been a consistent conservative, and the climate has never been better.”
Steve Miller covers congressional campaigns for the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity.
