McCollister endorses Biden, invites other Nebraska Republicans to join – Lincoln Journal Star

Sen. John McCollister of Omaha said Friday he’s joining a number of fellow Republicans in deciding to formally endorse Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in his bid to unseat Republican President Donald Trump.

Biden would be “a real president,” McCollister said, “not the disaster” that occupies the White House today.

“Principled Republicans are jumping ship,” the two-term state senator said, and he’s disappointed that “Republican officeholders in Nebraska have not spoken up against this president and his dreadful policies.”

McCollister pointed to former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, former Secretary of State Colin Powell and former Ohio Gov. John Kasich as Republican leaders who made the case against Trump at this week’s Democratic National Convention.

“I think I’m in good company,” he said during a telephone interview.

McCollister, who serves in the nonpartisan Legislature, often makes the case for the Republican Party to return to its traditional values on his Twitter account, @SenMcCollister, which has attracted 52,000 followers.

His most recent tweet suggests that “every Republican officeholder in Nebraska should be calling out this dangerous QAnon conspiracy nonsense,” a pro-Trump movement that sees an approaching conflict with Satan-worshiping pedophile Democrats. 

“I don’t care if these people vote for you,” he wrote. “Call this out. There are some things more important than winning elections.

“Protect our democracy,” he wrote.

In a recent response to a Twitter critic, McCollister wrote: “You can have Trump. I’ll take Lincoln.”

During an interview, McCollister said it will be “interesting to see how the Republican Party reconstitutes itself after Trump gets beaten” in November.

“I think institutions in our country are so strong” that the president could not successfully contest election results if he is defeated, McCollister said.  

Trump often suggests that he might challenge the results of an election that is likely to be primarily conducted by mail.

“I would not be surprised if Biden wins the Omaha (congressional) district electoral vote,” the senator said. Former Democratic President Barack Obama won that vote in 2008.

“I think this November’s ballot issues give Democrats a tailwind,” McCollister said.

Ballot issues in Nebraska may include expanded gambling, approval of medical marijuana and a curb on payday lending interest rates.