J.L. Schmidt has been covering Nebraska government and politics since 1979. He has been a registered Independent for more than 20 years.
Many people touted this year’s legislative session as a Republican dominated conservative body that could easily work with the Republican administration to get things done.
They reasoned that 32 Republicans in the officially nonpartisan body would win out over the 17 Democrats. They tried valiantly to get 33 Republicans elected, a so-called “magic” number that could withstand filibusters by the dis…