Written by: Mark Kolterman (Former) State Senator, District 24, Seward
Recently, mailboxes across our community were hit with a glossy mailer screaming that Senator Jana Hughes “FAILED” her constituents. Paid for by Americans for Prosperity (AFP) the piece is heavy on sensational language but light on facts. As someone who values honest political discourse and transparent governance, I believe it’s important to set the record straight.
AFP, which was founded by two billionaire brothers from Kansas, is headquartered in Virginia and was estimated to have spent well north of $100 million during the last campaign cycle. Apparently, AFP is already in attack mode for the 2026 elections.
Unlike Senator Hughes, AFP does not have to disclose its donors nor be transparent about its political spending.
Political attack ads are nothing new, but this one goes too far. It doesn’t just critique—it misrepresents. It doesn’t just question policy—it smears character.
On Property Tax Reform
The mailer accuses Senator Hughes of “stealing property tax credits” and “raising property taxes.” That’s simply not true. What she supported was part of a broader, more responsible approach to tax reform—one aimed at creating real, long-term relief for homeowners and businesses.
The property tax credits I worked to put in place during my time in the Legislature were designed to provide Nebraskans with sustained property tax relief. Senator Hughes has brought forward policies to take property tax relief to the next level. She has emerged as a key leader in pushing for policies that will fundamentally change state spending in a manner that will ease the burden on Nebraska’s families, farmers, and small businesses.
On Sales Tax Adjustments
The claim that she “voted to raise hundreds of millions in new sales taxes” is another half-truth. Yes, Senator Hughes supported adjustments—but in the context of shifting Nebraska away from an overreliance on property taxes. These reforms were designed to broaden the tax base while protecting lower-income families with specific sales tax exemptions. Reforming a tax system is never simple.
Voting to remove sales tax exemptions on such luxury items as limousine rentals, chartered jet flights and pool cleaning can hardly be called a tax increase. These items were all taxed when Nebraska’s sales tax was created in 1967. Special interests and their hired lobbyists got these exemptions put in place. If you can afford to hire a chartered jet at rates of $20,000 an hour, I’m pretty sure you can afford to pay the sales tax on that service.
I must also add that Senator Hughes did successfully pass Nebraska’s first excise tax on vaping products. This was Senator Hughes’s first step in moving to regulate the growing use of vaping products among young people in our state. Senator Hughes also passed bills to regulate these products, prohibit the marketing of these products to kids, and banning their online sale for delivery. This legislation has become a model for other states.
More recently, Senator Hughes passed the first-of-its-kind legislation to regulate and tax alternative nicotine products as well as products called nicotine analogues, which were developed to avoid taxation and regulation. If AFP would like to be more precise in their criticism, they could have stated that Senator Hughes implemented a tax to better enforce the regulation of addictive products, which are intended to be used by adults but were being used by kids.
On Harm Reduction and Public Health
The most inflammatory claim may be that Senator Hughes “worked with liberals to give free government-funded needles to addicts.” In reality, she backed evidence-based harm reduction efforts—strategies proven to save lives, reduce the spread of infectious diseases, and connect people to recovery services.
This bill would have allowed communities who wished to participate to do so on a voluntary basis. It won the support of a bipartisan majority of the Legislature before being vetoed by the Governor, although it had the support of law enforcement in the communities most impacted by rampant drug abuse and that were experiencing high rates of HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, and other blood-borne diseases. Public health should not be used as a political punching bag.
On “Government Handouts”
Finally, the suggestion that she supports wasteful government “handouts” is a mischaracterization of her commitment to investing in Nebraskans. Senator Hughes has championed workforce development, education, and family support initiatives—programs that give people tools to succeed, not crutches to rely on. That’s not wasteful spending—it’s smart leadership.
Further, Senator Hughes supported spending cuts and other efforts to erase a more than $300 million budget shortfall this past spring to balance Nebraska’s budget. I’ve been there, these are difficult choices, but it is the constitutional responsibility of the Legislature. It’s unfortunate that AFP’s donors don’t have the same accountability over their contributions to the organization. If they had you’d probably not have been bothered with having to take their misleading mailer out of your mailbox.
In Conclusion
Let’s be clear: the mailer sent by Americans for Prosperity isn’t about accountability—it’s about distortion. It’s about weaponizing fear to sway voters. Jana Hughes’s record deserves honest scrutiny, not slander. She’s a leader who listens, learns, and legislates with principle and purpose. She’s also willing to admit when she’s made a mistake. I challenge AFP to admit its misrepresentation.
Before we let national political organizations tell us who’s “failing” Nebraska, let’s take a moment to recognize who’s actually showing up to do the work.
