Ben Sasse is expected to run for reelection next year and is likely to announce his campaign this summer, according to three Republicans familiar with the matter.

While no final decision has been made and the Nebraska Republican still has to discuss the matter with his family, Republicans believe Sasse has every intention of running for his seat despite intense speculation to the contrary. One source who spoke to Sasse recently said the senator is committed to running but is taking his time with making his decision official.


The GOP senator has been linked to an open position heading the University of Nebraska, whose president is retiring, while some senators have privately wondered if he would retire rather than seek reelection after tangling with President Donald Trump and expressing frustrations with the Senate and U.S. politics. Sasse has long said he would evaluate whether to run again midway through his fifth year in the chamber.

But Sasse has been raising money and helped Republicans campaign in the state during last year’s midterm elections. He also has high approval ratings in the state among Republicans, according to a recent survey.

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James Wegmann, a spokesman for Sasse, said the senator has “a rock-solid conservative record, a team that’s up and running, and a mega war chest already nearing $3 million.”

“But, most importantly, he's got a family meeting with Melissa and his kids on the calendar this summer and, like he's said a hundred times since he was elected in 2014, they're not making their formal announcement until that final family meeting,” Wegmann says.


Nebraska and Washington Republicans said they would be shocked if Sasse has come this far only to announce he’ll retire or seek other employment.

“I think the senator plans to run for a second term and frankly he’s doing everything right a candidate would do to succeed at that,” said J.L Spray, an RNC committeeman for Nebraska.

One of the biggest questions facing Sasse if and when he gets in the race is whether or not he will endorse Trump. Sasse was one of Trump’s most prominent critics in the 2016 election, but has said since that he speaks to the president fairly regularly in private and has generally shied away from antagonizing Trump, though he still occasionally splits with him.

Sasse did not break with the president on his national emergency declaration at the border, but did vote to maintain sanctions on Russian companies. He also voted against a criminal justice reform bill that the president supported.


James Arkin contributed to this report.

