Trump-Endorsed Charles Herbster, Accused Of Sexual Misconduct, Loses Nebraska Gubernatorial Primary

Former President Donald Trump‘s endorsed nominee Charles Herbster, who was accused of sexual misconduct, lost Nebraska’s Republican gubernatorial nomination on Tuesday.

Jim Pillen, who was endorsed by current Gov. Pete Ricketts (R) who is term-limited, won the GOP nomination over Herbster and state Sen. Brett Lindstrom. Pillen drew in 33.9% of the votes while Herbster gained 30.2% of the votes. Lindstrom trailed with just 25.8% of the votes.

Herbster was accused of forcibly kissing and groping eight women, including state Sen. Julie Slama (R) at the Douglas County Republican Party’s 2019 Elephant Remembers dinner. Later, Elizabeth Todsen, who was a legislative assistant to state Sen. Dave Murman at the time, said that Herbster groped her while greeting her table at the same event.

Trump traveled to Nebraska to rally with Herbster earlier this month. At the time, he defended Herbster despite the allegations.

“It’s a shame,” Trump said. “That’s why I came out here. I defend people when I know they’re good. He’s a good man. He was with us from the beginning … he’s an innocent human being.”

During his campaign, Herbster maintained that he was innocent and that the allegations were this opponent’s attempts to scare him out of the race.

Pillen will go up against Democrat Carol Blood in November in the race to to suceed Ricketts. He is highly favored in the election since no Democrat has been govenor in Nebraska since 1999.