Nebraska Pol Quits Over 2K Late-Night Calls to Women

Lt. Gov. Rick Sheehy already had marital problems
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 2, 2013 5:07 PM CST
Nebraska Lt. Gov. Quits After Late-Night Phone Calls to Women
Neb. Lt. Governor Rick Sheehy is seen in a file photo from March 29, 2012 in South Sioux City, Neb. Sheehy resigned on Saturday Feb. 2, 2013.   (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

Nebraska's lieutenant governor quit today and didn't have a word to say about it. Gov. Dave Heineman announced Rick Sheehy's resignation after a newspaper uncovered 2,000 late-night phone calls Sheehy made to women other than his wife. "I've got a knot in my stomach," said Heineman. "I'm deeply disappointed. He's done a lot of good things for the state, but that trust was broken, and he's resigned." Heineman had personally chosen Sheehy as his right-hand man and most likely successor in 2015. Both are Republicans.

Sheehy's resignation came swiftly after the Omaha World-Herald reported the phone calls to four women on a state-issued cell phone over the past four years. CNN reports that Sheehy's wife filed to divorce him last year, saying their 29-year marriage was "irretrievably broken"; Sheehy called it a "personal family matter" and refused to resign. Now the next governor's race "has been turned completely upside down," says one analyst. “[Sheehy's] been the Nebraska equivalent of the vice president.” (More Rick Sheehy stories.)

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