Nebraska GOP closes ranks, endorses federal delegation

Nebraska Republican Party chairman Eric Underwood speaks during a Turning Point Action event with Charlie Kirk in Omaha in April 2024. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)

LINCOLN — The Nebraska Republican Party’s spring of discontent with some of its elected leaders gave way this weekend to what the party hopes will be a fall of reconciliation and a rally against Democrats.

Most would expect the state GOP’s central committee to endorse the five members of Nebraska’s all-GOP federal congressional delegation, as it did Saturday during a meeting in Hastings.

But the Nebraska GOP has spent more than two years sorting out disagreements between some in the party’s grassroots and others those partisans call “the political establishment.”

Reconciliation after January

The party made headlines in January by stressing parts of its constitution that required it to endorse only candidates who asked for its backing — and none of the congressional delegates  sought the endorsement.

The party’s constitution doesn’t have such a requirement for general election endorsements. Such endorsements seemed likely in May , when former Omaha mayor and U.S. Rep. Hal Daub proposed endorsing former President Donald Trump and the full federal delegation in the general election.

But the congressional endorsements stalled when some balked at embracing the status quo, days after some contentious primary elections.

Some still unhappy

Some Republicans still grumbled Saturday when the party endorsed U.S. Sens. Deb Fischer and Pete Ricketts, along with U.S. Reps. Mike Flood, Don Bacon and Adrian Smith.

Many of those resisting are loyal to candidates who lost in the primary, especially backers of Dan Frei over Bacon in the Omaha-based 2nd District.

The Nebraska Freedom Coalition issued a statement after the endorsement expressing frustration about the endorsements, saying the incumbents had not supported the new GOP.

Endorsements broadly supported

But several people attending told the Examiner the incumbents were supported on a voice vote by about 2-to-1.

Party leaders issued a statement Sunday saying they sought to consolidate GOP support and reinforce the party’s “foundational values.”

Eric Underwood, state party chairman, said in a statement it was time for the party to respect its primary voters, who overwhelmingly sided with the incumbents.

“We support the candidates whom Republicans chose in the Primary Election,” Underwood’s statement said. “We are the party that is OF, BY, and FOR the PEOPLE.”

Delegation grateful

Fischer thanked the group Sunday for its support. She is likely to face nonpartisan Dan Osborn of Omaha.

“It’s critical that we have a strong and unified Nebraska Republican Party focused on winning this November,” she said in a statement. “Together, we will elect Republicans up and down the ballot to stop the dangerous and failed Democrat agenda.”

Bacon, in a statement Sunday, thanked the GOP for “respecting the wishes of Republican voters in the 2nd District.”

“We are a big-tent party, and I look forward to their support so we can keep this district red!”  said Bacon, who faces Democratic State Sen. Tony Vargas of Omaha.

Andrew Hudson, Flood’s campaign manager, said local Republicans “need to be united to stop” the “far-left” Democratic agenda of Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. “I’m grateful that Nebraska Republicans are united, energized, and ready to win in November!”

“A united Republican Party is a stronger Republican Party,” Smith said in a statement Monday afternoon. “A united Republican Party will help deliver a Republican majority in Congress to work with President Trump to secure the border, strengthen the economy and defend our constitutional freedoms.” Ricketts, in a statement Tuesday after the endorsement, focused on races other than his own.

“A unified Republican Party is critical to success in November,” Ricketts said. “We must help Don Bacon hold NE02 and reclaim the Omaha electoral vote for President Trump.”

The state GOP also endorsed a slew of down-ballot Republicans in contests ranging from school boards to the Legislature.

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