Greetings all. Enjoy this discussion from earlier today with our dear friend Jane Kleeb, Chair of the Nebraska Democratic Party, President of the Association of State Democratic Chairs, and Vice Chair of the DNC. We cover a lot of ground in this discussion - the state of play in her home state Nebraska; the rise “prairie populism” that it is helping Democrats be more competitive in the heartland than we’ve been in many, many years; the importance of rebuilding the state parties so we can compete all across the country not just in the traditional Presidential battleground states; how the rise of grassroots fundraising in the Democratic Party is allowing more regular people to run for office and win; and our work together building The New Battlefield Project, a Hopium-inspired project that was launched by the state parties to drive the early vote, protect our elections, and ensure a peaceful transfer of power next year.
Yes, this is a meaty, timely, and informative discussion with one of our party’s most important leaders. Get to it as soon as you can!
From our discussion:
“The ways that ranchers described politics and protecting the land and water were basically very reminiscent, if you will, of even climate advocates. I often say that ranchers and farmers are the best environmentalists because they know all the land and water, every blade of grass. And there's this sense of independence among Prairie Populists where they deeply know that the government has a role to play, but that they want the government helping the people first and foremost, not big corporations. If you look at Rob Sand in Iowa running for governor or Dan Osborn here in Nebraska, they're talking about breaking up corporate monopolies. And this type of language is what you could argue Mamdani is also utilizing, or progressives, you know, in different blue cities.”
“I think sometimes people have a misconception of red states, of ag states, but these communities, the only way that they can exist is if they help each other. And so we as Democrats have left those communities behind for the last 20 years, Simon. We’ve gone to this model, as you know, of only investing in the battleground states, or national committees deciding on which 8-10 states are the ones to invest in. And you, and others with Ken Martin’s leadership, the DNC, have decided, no, we know that there are races to win everywhere, even in Ohio, Idaho, Nebraska, Iowa.”
“Because this cycle in particular we have candidates that actually look and sound like their community. You know, Dan’s a mechanic. Lynne Walz running for governor here is a teacher. Folks just look different. They sound different. It’s no longer just suits and ties.”
For more on what is possible with strong state parties watch any one of these recent discussions with this remarkable set of battleground state Democratic Party chairs:
Enjoy this wonderful conversation with our good friend Jane Kleeb, and keep working hard all. For we have a country to save, a party to rebuild and renew, and elections to win all across the country, together! Simon
Jane Fleming Kleeb is an experienced grassroots organizer, author, manager, political strategist, and nonprofit entrepreneur.
Since December 2016, Jane has served in a volunteer capacity as Chair of the Nebraska Democratic Party. She has been re-elected three additional times with her current term being served until November 2026.
Under Chair Kleeb’s leadership, Democrats elected up and down the ballot have grown from 500 in 2016 to over 900 in 2023. Innovative programs such as Block Captains, 93-County Voter Guides and the Candidates of Color Fund were created under her term. She is the longest serving Chair of our state party.
Jane serves on the Executive Committees of the Democratic National Committee and the Association of State Democratic Committees.
For her years of work in rural communities, Jane was named a Climate Breakthrough awardee in 2023, the highest honor in the climate change field. Jane is setting out to create a new project called Energy Builders that works with rural communities to change the economic model of large-scale clean energy projects to benefit the people who live on the land that is creating America’s next 100 years of energy.
Jane is the author of *Harvest the Vote: How Democrats Can Win Again in Rural America, *published in 2020.
Profiled by PBS in their short-film, “Blue Wind on a Red Prarie” and in the New York Times magazine, “Jane Kleeb vs the Keystone XL Pipeline” Jane is always working to elevate the national conversation on “red and rural” states.
In her professional work, Jane protects property rights while building an engaged base of citizens who care about the land and water. In 2010, she founded Bold Nebraska, which later became the Bold Alliance, a network of “small but mighty” coalitions in rural states working to protect the land and water with a focus on land justice and energy freedom with projects from the Pipeline Fighters Hub to the Easement Action Teams.
Jane started her career as a Commissioner and then training director for Florida’s Commission on National and Community Service. She went on to serve as one of the youngest directors of an AmeriCorps project and then assisted a national AmeriCorps project develop their literacy and youth outreach programs.
As Executive Director of the Young Democrats of America from 2004 to 2007, Jane implemented the first-ever national youth coordinated campaign to mobilize young voters and worked with an alliance of diverse groups ranging from Punk Voters to Stonewall Democrats creating the “hangouts and home” model of voter outreach. Jane went on to be the co-founder of the DNC’s Youth Council, bringing together the Young Democrats, College Democrats, and other organizations to enshrine youth engagement into the institution of the Democratic Party.
Jane worked for MTV as their Street Team reporter in 2007 and for years was a regular contributor on Fox News, MSNBC and CNN.
As Nebraska State Director of the SEIU Change That Works Project in 2008–2010, she brought together leaders from advocacy, faith groups, doctors, farmers, ranchers, and small businesses to secure a key vote for passage of the Affordable Care Act.
Jane has a B.A. in religious studies from Stetson University and an M.A. in international training and education from American University. She served as an elected Hastings School Board Member and currently serves on the boards of Our Revolution, Equation Campaign, Jane Fonda PAC and the Rural Democracy Initiative.
She currently lives in rural Nebraska with her husband Scott and three daughters– Kora, Maya, and Willa.
