Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon on Tuesday dismissed state Capitol chatter that he might be a 2020 candidate for the U.S. Senate following a recent meeting in the White House initiated by a member of the president's staff.
Brewer said William Crozer, special assistant to the president and deputy director of intergovernmental affairs, told him that "you could do a lot of good things" and "he talked about future events, but he did not get into any politics or positions."
In any event, the first-term state senator said he will not be a Republican challenger to GOP Sen. Ben Sasse, who appears on course to seek re-election to a second term. Sasse will make that decision this summer.
"I think I can get some things done here" in the Legislature, Brewer said.
"I see what is almost the chaos of Washington, D.C., and I think that place is for some people," he said. "But I don't value that title or position. And I think Sasse is doing a pretty good job."
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Brewer was a candidate for Congress in 2014 when he sought the House seat held by Republican Rep. Adrian Smith, but he said he's much happier to be in the Legislature now after being elected to a four-year term in 2016.Â
"I have nothing against Adrian today; he hustles," Brewer said.Â
"My hands are kind of full now," he said. "I think I can make changes here."
Brewer, the Legislature's only Native senator, led the way in shining a spotlight on the tragedy of Whiteclay, where four beer stores that annually sold millions of cans of beer to residents of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota were finally forced to close their doors after losing their liquor licenses.
And he won legislative approval of a proposal to honor Chief Standing Bear with a statue to be mounted in the nation's Capitol.
"I can actually make a difference here," Brewer said. "Would those things have happened?"
Brewer said he believes that "you need to keep grounded in what makes you happy, and that includes family and friends, so you can sit on the porch some day, look out and say 'I did OK.'"