LINCOLN — The Nebraska Republican Party’s spring trend of dissatisfaction with some of its elected leaders gave way this weekend to a trend toward reconciliation and unity against Democrats.
Most would expect the state Republican Central Committee to endorse the five members of Nebraska’s all-Republican congressional delegation, as it did at a meeting in Hastings on Saturday.
But the Nebraska Republican Party has spent more than two years trying to resolve differences between some members of the party’s base and others who refer to those partisans as the “political establishment.”
Reconciliation after January
The Party made headlines in January By emphasizing parts of their Constitution that required them to support only candidates who asked for their support – and none of the convention delegates sought that support.
The party’s statutes do not provide for such a requirement for general election recommendations. Such recommendations seemed likely in Maywhen former Omaha Mayor and U.S. Representative Hal Daub proposed supporting former President Donald Trump and the entire federal delegation in the general election.
But congressional support stalled when some refused to maintain the status quo just days after the disputed primaries.
Some still dissatisfied
Some Republicans were still grumbling Saturday as the party endorsed U.S. Senators Deb Fischer and Pete Ricketts and U.S. Representatives Mike Flood, Don Bacon and Adrian Smith.
Many of the resistance fighters are behind the candidates who lost in the primaries, especially those who supported Dan Frei over Bacon in Omaha’s 2nd District.
The Nebraska Freedom Coalition issued a statement after the endorsement expressing frustration with the endorsements and saying the incumbents did not support the new GOP.
Recommendations receive broad support
However, several people in attendance told the Examiner that incumbents received 2:1 support in a voice vote.
Party leadership issued a statement on Sunday saying it wanted to consolidate Republican support and strengthen the party’s “core values.”
Eric Underwood, chairman of the state party, said in a statement that it was time for the party to show respect to its voters in the primaries, who overwhelmingly sided with the incumbents.
“We support the candidates the Republicans chose in the primaries,” Underwood’s statement said. “We are the party that is OF, BY and FOR THE PEOPLE.”
Delegation grateful
Fischer thanked the group for its support on Sunday. She will likely face nonpartisan Dan Osborn of Omaha.
“It is critical that we have a strong and united Republican Party in Nebraska focused on winning this November,” she said in a statement. “Together, we will vote Republican on every ballot to stop the Democrats’ dangerous and failed agenda.”
In a statement, Bacon thanked the GOP for “respecting the wishes of Republican voters in the 2nd District.”
“We are a party with a lot of public interest and I look forward to your support so we can keep this district red!” said Bacon, who is running against Democratic Senator Tony Vargas of Omaha.
The state Republican Party also supported a number of lower-ballot Republicans in races ranging from the school board to the legislature.
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