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Douglas County GOP central committee flips endorsements to Dan Frei and John Glen Weaver • Nebraska Examiner

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Douglas County GOP central committee flips endorsements to Dan Frei and John Glen Weaver • Nebraska Examiner


OMAHA — Newly elected leaders of the now-populist Douglas County Republican Party brushed aside questions about the legitimacy of hosting its April meeting Tuesday without the approval of its chairman and flipped the party’s federal endorsements.

U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., thanks about 50 elected Republicans for supporting his reelection campaign. He announced their support Monday at Memorial Park in Omaha. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)

Until this week, Douglas County had been the lone county GOP in the Omaha-based 2nd Congressional District to endorse Nebraska’s Republican incumbents in the House and Senate, including Rep. Don Bacon and Sens. Pete Ricketts and Deb Fischer.

Members of the group’s central committee who attended Tuesday’s meeting voted to withdraw endorsements of Bacon and Ricketts and voted by voice without an audible objection to endorse their opponents in the primary, Dan Frei and John Glen Weaver. Fischer kept her endorsement.

State GOP Chairman Eric Underwood and national committeewoman Fanchon Blythe basked in victory over a county party they and local organizers worked to change. Blythe said she helped register 100 delegates for the county convention.

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For nearly two years since populists took over the state party, the Douglas County GOP fought to preserve a place within a more traditional party structure for the moderate Republicans who have won races in the more politically divided 2nd District. 

“I’m proud of what you’ve done,” Underwood said of the takeover. “But there are next steps…. More and more people are coming to this party because of the stability that you’re bringing.”

Censure vote rare

The group also censured Bacon. The Douglas County GOP last rebuked a member of the congressional delegation  — then-U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse — in 2021.

That Sasse censure vote fell short of passage when an organized group left the room, so it passed as a separate sense of the group, or rebuke.

Nebraska 2nd District U.S. House candidate Dan Frei seeks the endorsement of the new leadership committee of the Douglas County GOP on Tuesday. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)

The 2nd District primary winner will face Democratic State Sen. Tony Vargas of Omaha, who lost to Bacon in 2022 by three percentage points.

State and local populists have faced pushback from current and former county party leaders who preferred a big-tent party and those who back Bacon and Ricketts. Both incumbents hold sizable leads in primary polling and are likely to win. 

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One upset Republican, speaking on the condition of anonymity, expressed concerns that an active and engaged local GOP chapter had turned against itself. He said new party leaders “are the dog who caught the car. Now what are they going to do with it?”

No immediate comment from Bacon, Ricketts

Neither the Bacon nor Ricketts campaigns had any immediate comment. Both have previously criticized some of the actions of the state party in pushing to flip local parties in a new direction, including in Sarpy County and more recently in Saunders County.

Bacon announced more than 100 endorsements Monday from state and local Republican elected officials, many of whom said the party should be unifying around the GOP candidate who can win a general election in the Omaha area.

Douglas County Republican Party chairman Chris Routhe, at  left, speaks to campaign volunteer Andy Allen during the party’s “day of action” for down-ballot candidates on Tuesday. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)

Ricketts, long a top donor for the state GOP, has stopped giving to the party since the new leaders ousted a team in 2022 that was loyal to him. None of Nebraska’s all-GOP congressional delegation sought the state party endorsement this year.

Douglas GOP Chairman Chris Routhe, reached on a “day of action” he organized Tuesday for local down-ballot Republicans, said he did not call the county GOP meeting, as required by the county party constitution. He called the gathering “unsanctioned.”

Routhe said late last week that he was waiting until after the primary election to hold the party’s next meeting, following the county party convention. His critics said he tried to cancel a long-planned regular meeting that included a reserved room at a hotel.

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“While I and many others were out knocking on doors for … candidates across Douglas County, two NEGOP state party leaders organized an unconstitutional meeting,” Routhe said. “Therefore the results of tonight’s unofficial meeting are null and void.” 

‘MAGA patriots’

Those assertions mattered little in a Marriott Regency ballroom packed with people who called themselves “MAGA patriots” loyal to former President Donald Trump. Nor did they worry Mike Moran, the chair of the county GOP’s constitutional committee.

Moran argued that 85 of the county party’s 115 central committee members were present and that the party’s constitution allows them to call a meeting on their own.

U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., speaks to supporters during his campaign kickoff event Aug. 23, 2023, in Omaha. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)

“We govern, not the chairman,” Moran said. “The decision of whether we are going to have this meeting lies with this group.”

The group elected former Douglas County GOP chair Jon Tucker to chair the meeting. Tucker and interim 2nd District chair Scott Petersen spoke at the meeting, evoking their similar roles in organizing a county party leadership change in 2012. 

Weaver told the group, “I came to this body before, and I was denied, so I’m persistent. I knew when the vessel-less cowards that are controlled by Pete Ricketts did not endorse me, I knew they were cowards.” 

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Doing enough for Trump?

Weaver and other speakers complained that Nebraska’s congressional delegation wasn’t doing enough to support Trump. Weaver said if he were in the Senate today, he’d be in New York City, “going after the judges and crooked judicial systems that we’ve got” there.

Nebraska U.S. Senate candidate John Glen Weaver is running against U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)

Trump is on trial in New York on 34 felony counts, accused of conspiring with a tabloid publisher to conceal hush money paid to a porn star with whom Trump allegedly had an extramarital affair. Prosecutors allege he wanted to avoid a potentially negative campaign story during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Frei also was endorsed Tuesday by the Saunders County GOP, which changed leadership recently as well. The previous leaders had not endorsed in the 2nd District House race.

Frei, speaking at the Marriott, criticized Bacon’s support for aid to Ukraine, saying he would never “tell you one thing on the campaign trail and do something different in Washington.”

Several of those in attendance asked whether the county party could stop airing and sending radio advertisements and mailers proclaiming the county GOP’s endorsements of Bacon, Ricketts and Fischer, but were told they might be too late to stop.

The effort to remove Bacon’s endorsement received 76 votes, Tucker told the county party crowd. The push to rescind the Ricketts endorsement received 63 votes, after a handful of people left the meeting.

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Underwood said the time for “transactional politics” was done. He said it was time to find “people that you want to validate.”

“Politically, this is changing our mindset,” he said.

Andy Allen, a Douglas County GOP volunteer who participated in Routhe’s call for helping local candidates, said he thinks Republicans pushing to flip the endorsements should have sought them when the incumbents did.

He said both sets of candidates could have been endorsed. He said party members need to remember that Douglas County is diverse and requires appealing to more than just the support of people who are “my way or the highway.”

“Sometimes you have to be willing to listen,” he said. “We’ve got some people that don’t seem to understand that listening is an important part.”

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Nebraska Football Offers In-State Legacy Offensive Lineman

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Nebraska Football Offers In-State Legacy Offensive Lineman


New Husker offensive line coach Geep Wade has stayed busy in his first few weeks on the recruiting trail for Nebraska football.

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Nebraska extended a scholarship offer Saturday to in-state offensive lineman Barrett Kitrell. The 6-foot-4, 270-pound Class of 2027 interior lineman from Ashland confirmed the offer on social media. Iowa offered him earlier in the week, and he has other Division I offers from South Dakota State, Kansas and Iowa State.

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Kitrell has visited a number of schools through his junior season, stopping at South Dakota State, Wyoming, Iowa State, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska.

Kitrell has family ties to Nebraska football across two generations. His father, Barry, was a fullback for the Huskers from 1984-88. His brother Bo was a Husker fullback and tight end 2014 to 2018.

In addition, Barrett’s brother Blake was a Tulsa wide receiver, while brothers Brett and Bryce played at Ohio, having been recruited by Frank Solich.

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Barrett Kitrell is a three-sport athlete for Ashland-Greenwood, competing in football, basketball, and track and field for the Bluejays. He has seen varsity action in all three seasons of his football career, playing in 33 games. The Bluejays have won a playoff game each of the past three seasons, advancing to the Class C1 semifinals this past year.

Kitrell becomes the third offensive line prospect offered by Wade and the Huskers this week, joining Grinnell, Iowa, prospect Will Slagle and 2028 prospect Wyatt VanBoening from Mundelein, Illinois. VanBoening also is the son of a former Husker, Simon VanBoening, a linebacker on the Huskers’ 1997 roster.

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Nebraska offensive line coach Geep Wade | Nebraska Athletics

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The Huskers are aiming for a massive overhaul of their offensive line, starting with replacing Donovan Raiola as the position coach. Wade, who came to Nebraska from Georgia Tech, has been retooling his line in early 2026 with transfer portal additions, bringing in Iowa State’s Brendan Black and South Carolina’s Tree Babalade. Nebraska has seen three linemen choose to exit via the portal: Brian Tapu, Houston Kaahaaina-Torres and Jason Maciejczak.

Kitrell could add athleticism to the offensive line, as he finished second in the Class B discus as a sophomore with a personal-best throw of 172’2 while finishing fourth in the shot put. Kitrell averaged four points and four rebounds per game for the Ashland-Greenwood basketball program as the Bluejays claimed the Class C1 championship in 2025.

Kitrell becomes the 16th interior offensive line offer for Nebraska’s 2027 class. The class is headlined by four-star quarterback Trae Taylor and in-state rising stars Tory Pittman III and Matt Erickson.


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IU dominated but then ‘it was just turnovers’ to blow 16-point lead vs Nebraska

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IU dominated but then ‘it was just turnovers’ to blow 16-point lead vs Nebraska


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  • Indiana men’s basketball lost to Nebraska 83-77 after leading by as many as 16 points.
  • Coach Darian DeVries cited a bad stretch, including key fouls on Tucker DeVries and turnovers, as the turning point.
  • The Hoosiers have three more opportunities for a Quad 1 win in their upcoming games.

BLOOMINGTON — Indiana men’s basketball coach Darian DeVries thought his team played well for about 28 minutes Saturday afternoon.

In those 28 minutes, IU built up as much as a 16-point lead against undefeated Nebraska. The Hoosiers went on a 12-2 run to end the first half, then extended that lead early in the second half.

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Then, the defense started crumbling. Tucker DeVries picked up two fouls in the course of 21 seconds, forcing him to the bench. The Hoosiers started turning the ball over.

And Indiana’s upset bid fell apart, as the Hoosiers dropped an 83-77 decision to the Cornhuskers (16-0, 5-0 Big Ten).

“It’s disappointing, for sure,” Darian DeVries said. “We played well for a good 25, 27, 28 minutes, whatever, and then just had a bad stretch in there, and the game flipped. That’s why the turnovers are a big piece of that. We had, (a 16-point lead) and Tucker picked up his third and fourth foul on back-to-back possessions. Then they went on a 10-0 run right after that. That was a big turning point in the game, I thought, when he picked those two up.”

It seemed like the coaching staff (and fans) didn’t agree with those fouls, either.

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Tucker DeVries’ third foul came as he fell on the ground while trying to defend Berke Buyuktuncel’s shot. Buyuktuncel continued to attempt a shot after the fall, and he got tangled in DeVries’ legs, falling himself, and officials called a foul on DeVries. Both Tucker and Darian DeVries, along with the crowd of 13,000 fans, didn’t agree with that foul.

Tucker DeVries’ fourth foul, which forced him to the bench for eight minutes, came just 21 seconds after his third. On the Hoosiers’ next offensive possession, DeVries attempted to shoulder his defender to get more space, and got called for the offensive foul and the turnover.

Indiana (12-4, 3-2) turned the ball over on four of its next five possessions, Darian DeVries said, and Nebraska capitalized for a 12-2 run to tie the game.

“I just think we didn’t have the type of possessions we needed after (Tucker DeVries) went out again, and most of them, it was just turnovers,” Darian DeVries said. “We didn’t get shots at the goal. I thought there might’ve been one or two in there where I think Lamar (Wilkerson) drove it hard and tried going through contact, and we didn’t get one there, but outside of that, we just didn’t get very good possessions. Our movement wasn’t as good.”

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After Nebraska went on that run, all the momentum shifted to the Cornhuskers. In ways, the Hoosiers couldn’t get out of their own head, and the mistakes kept coming.

“We’ve talked to them a lot about that next play mentality,” Darian DeVries said. “Win that next play, and not compound mistakes. I thought tonight, again, for a stretch there was a period where we let one mistake turn into two. Then, instead of digging in and really making sure we get a quality possession the next time, we compounded it with another turnover. It led to back-to-back-to-back. All of a sudden your lead is gone, and momentum is real. It shifted pretty quickly there.”

This game, especially taking into account the 16-point lead Indiana once had, was a crucial opportunity for the Hoosiers to get their first Quad 1 win of the season.

But the Hoosiers, sitting at No. 30 in the NET rankings, still have three straight Quad 1 opportunities coming up in two road tilts at Michigan State and Michigan and a home game against Iowa in the next two weeks.

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Those games, much like Nebraska, will be tall tasks. But, DeVries said, if the Hoosiers can execute for a full game like they did in those 28 minutes on Saturday, they’ll have a chance at them.

“When they’re executing the way that they did the first 25 minutes, it looks really good,” DeVries said. “And they’re doing a great job, and they’re defending and getting movement and things.”

Want more Hoosiers coverage? Sign up for IndyStar’s Hoosiers newsletter. Listen to Mind Your Banners, our IU Athletics-centric podcast, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Watch the latest on IndyStar TV: Hoosiers.



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$3,125 Nebraska Pick 4 winning ticket sold in York

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,125 Nebraska Pick 4 winning ticket sold in York


LINCOLN, Neb. (KSNB) – One lucky player who bought a Nebraska Pick 4 ticket for the Thursday drawing is holding a ticket worth $3,125.

The ticket was sold at Pump & Pantry #16, 109 Lincoln Avenue, in York. The winning numbers from Thursday’s Nebraska Pick 4 draw were 09, 06, 01, 02.

Winning Nebraska Lottery Lotto tickets expire 180 days after the drawing. Tickets with total prize amounts of $501 to $19,999 must be claimed by mail or at a Regional Lottery Claim Center. Additional information about claiming prizes can be found at the Nebraska Lottery website, nelottery.com, or by calling 800-587-5200.

Nebraska Pick 4 is a daily Lotto game from the Nebraska Lottery. Players select four numbers, each from a separate set of digits 0 through 9, for a chance to win up to $6,000. Players decide what type of play style and potential prizes to play for by choosing from one of six bet types. The odds of winning the $3,125 prize in Nebraska Pick 4 are 1 in 10,000.

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