NE Republican Faces Calls To Resign After Inserting Rep’s Name Into Reading Of Graphic Rape Description

March 19, 2024 Politics, Republicans

Omaha’s ABC affiliate reports:

There are calls for Hastings Sen. Steve Halloran to resign his seat following explicit language used during debate over LB 441 on Monday night at the Nebraska State Capitol. The bill, introduced by Sen. Joni Albrecht, would remove a prosecution exemption for schools that provide obscene materials to students in kindergarten through 12th grades.

Toward the end of debate, Halloran read an excerpt from “Lucky” by Alice Seabold, which he said could be found in at least 16 school libraries in Nebraska and was assigned reading for some accelerated reading classes.

When reading the passages, which lasted about 83 seconds, he inserted Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh’s name into the text several times. The book is about rape, and the passages read include sexual violence and vulgar terms.

The Nebraska Examiner reports: 

Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh told Halloran his speech was harassment. She said that while she and Albrecht disagreed about the bill, Albrecht remained professional during the debate. Halloran did not, Machaela Cavanaugh said.

“That was so out of line and unnecessary and disgusting to say my name over and over again like that,” Machaela Cavanaugh said.

“You don’t know anything about anyone else’s life, and I can tell you that women in this body have been subjected to sexual violence,” she continued. “I didn’t know you were capable of such cruelty. That was so unbecoming of you and unbecoming of this body, and I hope that some other people who are Republicans will stand up and defend me.”

Omaha’s NBC affiliate reports:



“I have an apology to make,” Halloran said. “I apologize for interjecting senators’ names in the middle of reading a transcription… should I have done that maybe not, but what I was trying to do was get their attention to what I was reading from the book.”

Halloran said his intent was to make the public aware of what’s in some books students are required to read. He said the book “Lucky” is about a woman who survived a rape by a serial rapist and murderer who felt “Lucky she survived.”

He said he understands the context of what he read and it was difficult to read, so his point was it shouldn’t be in schools. “What I said yesterday is it’s a lesson on how to rape and that’s what we should be outraged about,” Halloran said.

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