As goes Mark Lakers, so go Nebraska Democrats

From today's Omaha World-Herald: 

Mark Lakers, the Democratic candidate for Nebraska governor, has amended his campaign finance report to the state, removing $157,000 in pledges from 12 individuals and 10 companies or organizations. In all, he removed about one-third of the individual pledges his campaign had earlier reported to the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission.

As news reporting has shown, there's no question that in some cases Lakers listed people as pledging donations when in fact they had not done so. Some of those individuals have publicly expressed surprise at being listed as contributors.

As we've noted before, gubernatorial contests are important for a state. They give the opposition party the chance to set out an alternate policy vision. And they provide an all-important occasion for voters to weigh the pros and cons of an incumbent administration.

Lakers' handling of his campaign reporting, then, has undermined not only his own candidacy but also his own party's ability to make its case effectively for itself and against Gov. Dave Heineman.