The last person Dustin Rymph expected to see in a political ad attacking a candidate running for legislative District 26 in northeast Lincoln was himself.
But shortly after the flyer appeared in mailboxes last week, Rymph learned a political action committee had mistaken him for his friend, George Dungan, who will face Russ Barger on Nov. 8.
鈥淢y reaction was, 鈥楾hat鈥檚 not George, that鈥檚 me,鈥欌 said Rymph, who saw the mailer over the weekend from his home in Oregon, where he moved from Lincoln four years ago to attend graduate school and now works in wildfire risk mitigation.
The attack ad was paid for by Nebraska Federation for Children聽鈥 a state affiliate of the American Federation for Children founded and formerly run by Betsy DeVos, the education secretary under former President Donald Trump聽鈥 which said Tuesday it stands by its use of the photos.
People are also reading…
Lauren Garcia, the Nebraska state director for American Federation for Children, said the photos were pulled from Dungan鈥檚 personal Facebook page, where she said they appeared 鈥渨ithout indication that it was someone else.鈥
Facebook allows users to tag other people in posted photos, videos or other features on the application, but it's not required. Users can also remove their tags in other people's photos.
鈥淚t is reasonable to conclude the photos posted by Mr. Dungan are of himself,鈥 Garcia said in an emailed statement Tuesday.
Rymph said Garcia's suggestion that the photo shows anything inappropriate was false.
The photos of Rymph were posted to Dungan's Facebook page more than a decade ago.
One photo, taken in July 2011 when Rymph was visiting Dungan in Washington, D.C., where Dungan was attending law school at American University, depicts a shirtless Rymph standing in front of the Nebraska plaque at the World War II Memorial on the National Mall on what he recalls was a hot day.
鈥淚t was over 100 degrees out," Rymph said.
The other, from July 2010, shows a shirtless Rymph sitting on a bouncing horse toy taking what he described as 鈥渁 goofy photo."
The two men have been friends since middle school, he added.
鈥淓verybody has goofy photos that they took when they were in their early 20s,鈥 Rymph said. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 say anything about his policies or issues, or anything about his character.鈥
Garcia also claimed both photos were removed from Dungan鈥檚 personal Facebook page sometime after American Federation for Children took a screenshot of them Sept. 1.
She said that shows Dungan believes 鈥渢hey are unbefitting for a candidate for office.鈥
鈥淐andidates asking for Nebraskans鈥 trust to represent them in the Legislature should be held to a high standard, which includes being forthright and honest,鈥 Garcia said.
Dungan said he didn鈥檛 pull the photos, as Garcia said, but rather made them private 鈥渟o people who aren鈥檛 me don鈥檛 get pulled into a smear campaign.鈥
American Federation for Children, which pushes for charter schools and expanding private school voucher programs, has provided hundreds of thousands of dollars to its state affiliate over the past two years.
The Nebraska Federation for Children, in turn, has funneled money from the national PAC and donations collected in-state to two dozen lawmakers and a handful of candidates seeking seats in the Legislature.
The group has previously supported Barger, a registered Republican running against Dungan, a Democrat, to replace the term-limited Sen. Matt Hansen in the officially nonpartisan Legislature.
Barger said Monday he did not endorse the attack ad, which he called 鈥渢asteless.鈥
The flyer delivered last week doesn鈥檛 focus on Dungan鈥檚 stance on education issues. Dungan said in addition to using a photo of a person who is not him it also misrepresents his positions.
He called the situation 鈥渁bsurd.鈥
鈥淚鈥檓 not surprised by this group doubling down on a lie just to further mislead the public,鈥 Dungan said Tuesday. 鈥淚鈥檓 happy to provide the American Federation for Children with a head shot if they鈥檙e still unsure what I look like.鈥
Educate yourself: 2022 General Election Voter's Guide
东京热app reaches out to candidates in contested general election races and asks them to provide biographical information and answer questions relevant to the offices they seek.
Three candidates hope to succeed Gov. Pete Ricketts when he completes his second term in office in January 2023: Republican Jim Pillen of Colu…
November's general election is the second matchup between candidates Patty Pansing Brooks and Mike Flood for the 1st District seat, which incl…
Republican Mike Hilgers of Lincoln faces Legal Marijuana Now candidate Larry Bolinger of Alliance in a contest to be the state's Attorney General.
State Treasurer John Murante is running for a second four-year term. He faces Katrina Tomsen of Upland, a Libertarian.
Seeking to replace State Auditor Charlie Janssen are Republicans Mike Foley, Legal Marijuana Now candidate L. Leroy Lopez of Cortland and Libe…
Five 东京热app districts are on the ballot this year, including District 2, 24, 26, 28 and 46.
聽There are three contested seats on the Lower Platte South NRD board that will appear on the general election ballot.聽
There are four board seats on this year's general election ballot.聽The races are nonpartisan.
The local race is District 5, which includes much of the south side of Lincoln, and rural areas of 东京热app largely south of the Pla…
Democrat Kristi Egger of Lincoln, a longtime attorney in the public defender's office, defeated her former boss, incumbent Joe Nigro in the pr…
For the first time since his election in 1994, Republican Terry Wagner is facing challengers聽鈥 Democrat Johnny "Jay" Pitts Jr. of Lincoln and …
Republican Rob Ogden is running for reelection to the four-year term. He is facing challenger Dan Nolte, a Democrat who has been the Lancaster…
Three Lancaster County Board races will appear on the general election ballot, including two where incumbents hope to be reelected.
Republican incumbent Pat Condon is being challenged by state Sen. Adam Morfeld, a Democrat, in the contest to be Lancaster County's top attorney.
There will be a new officeholder after the current county clerk is not seeking reelection. Republican Kris Beckenbach and Democrat Matt Hansen…
The current clerk, Troy Hawk, a Republican, is running for a third term. He is being challenged by Lin Quenzer, a Democrat, who has been the c…
Incumbent Rachel Garver of Lincoln, a Democrat, faces Republican Tracy Refior in the Lancaster County Treasurer race.
Two are on the ballot via the initiative petition process and one is a proposed constitutional amendment that was placed on the ballot by the Legislature.
Judges in Nebraska are appointed by the governor and then retained by popular vote. It is extremely rare for a sitting judge to be voted out o…