Pete Ricketts

Pete Ricketts holds Nebraska's junior Senate seat, initially appointed by his successor as governor in January 2023 to fill the vacancy Left when Ben Sasse resigned to become president of the University of Florida. Ricketts won a special election in November 2024 to serve the remainder of the term. In the 2026 cycle, Fellowship PAC — a Cryptocurrency-aligned committee — spent ,000 on his campaign, part of its broader effort to elect crypto-friendly Senate incumbents.

Ricketts served as Nebraska's governor from 2015 to 2023, focusing on tax cuts, opposition to Medicaid expansion, and capital punishment. He comes from one of America's wealthiest families: his late father Joe Ricketts founded TD Ameritrade, and the broader Ricketts family owns the Chicago Cubs. Pete Ricketts spent million of family money in his first successful governor's race in 2014.

In the Senate, Ricketts has aligned closely with Republican leadership and opposed most Democratic legislative priorities. His seat is not considered competitive in 2026 — Nebraska is a deep-red state — but his presence in crypto PAC spending patterns places him in the broader story of how the digital-assets industry is attempting to reshape the Senate composition.