GOP senator touts 'support' of colleague — who didn't endorse her

Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE) is facing a competitive election for the first time in years — and she's trying to whip out bipartisan credentials to stave off the threat.

The problem is, the senator whose "support" she touted didn't actually endorse her for re-election, Politico reported.

Fischer sent out a campaign mailer touting her legislative work with Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with the Democratic Party.

“I’ve been working with my Republican colleague, Deb Fischer of Nebraska, to make the Paid Family and Medical Leave tax credit permanent. By making this extension permanent on a bipartisan basis, we’re prioritizing people over politics,” stated the quote from King plastered on the mailer. Fischer also said in a recent radio ad that King "supports me."

While King worked with her on the tax credit legislation, and his PAC transferred $5,500 to her campaign, King hasn't endorsed her — as his spokesperson confirmed to Inside Congress.

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Asked to comment on this, Fischer's campaign denied that these ads were meant to imply an endorsement, with a spokesperson saying, “She meant what she said, which is that Senator King supports her" and noted that he is "not listed as a formal endorsement" on her campaign website.

Nebraska is not generally a state for competitive elections, beyond the Omaha-based 2nd Congressional District, which in recent years has trended toward Democrats and awards a presidential elector separately due to the state's unusual election system. However, polls have shown a surprisingly tight race between Fischer and Dan Osborn, a Navy veteran and steamfitter who has been running as an independent.

Osborn holds a unique mix of political views; for example, leaning more liberal on abortion rights but closer to the GOP on immigration. He has not made any commitments about which party he would caucus with if elected, or whether he would caucus with a party at all. However, Democrats have broadly backed his campaign as an outside chance to weaken Republicans in a Senate cycle where Democrats have few states in which to play offense.