U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse, Nebraska representative, recently changed out of his suit into more labor-suitable clothing to spend a few hours with employees of Ace Sanitation Service on one of their several local trash/refuse routes. This time, Sasse was in town as part of the kickoff of his statewide re-election campaign, in which he plans to swing through all 93 counties mingling with local residents and assisting a variety of state operations.
“Nobody works harder than Nebraskans – and this campaign is going to work just as hard to earn our state’s votes,” said Sasse through a provided statement. “Just like we did last campaign, my family is hopping back in the RV, getting out on the road to meet Nebraskans, talking to them about the American idea, about limited government, and about freedom.”
Sasse was first elected to the Senate in 2014 and will rely on the votes of state constituents in November 2020 to retain his Senate seat. Mitchell Peterson, owner of Ace Sanitation Service, said that the first time Sasse visited his family’s business – then owned by his parents, Don and Mary – that he was still learning the ropes of the operation. Peterson purchased the business from his parents the first of this year.
“The first time he came along was right after he wrote ‘The Vanishing American Adult.’” Peterson said. “And it was funny because it’s about blue-collar work disappearing and about how the work ethic is kind of disappearing, and he was seeing me at the time fresh out of college preparing to take it (the business) over.”
This year’s meet-up was coordinated through a family friend of the Petersons working on the Sasse campaign. Interestingly enough, Ace Sanitation recently bought out another local refuse business, Big Red Sanitation, which Sasse has ties to.