Nebraska
Nebraska GOP pushes unity after primary fight with incumbents; delegates disagree • Nebraska Examiner
LINCOLN — Days after losing the three highest-profile races it endorsed in this spring, leaders of the new Nebraska Republican Party encouraged unity this weekend but faced pushback from their own delegates.
State GOP Chairman Eric Underwood said he would keep working to bring Republicans together after the primary, but he said he might need reciprocity from the elected officials angered by the party.
Fences need mending after the GOP didn’t endorse any of the state’s five-member, all-GOP congressional delegation for the primary. None in the state’s delegation sought the party’s endorsement, either.
All five — Sens. Deb Fischer and Pete Ricketts and Reps. Adrian Smith, Mike Flood and Don Bacon — easily won their primaries even though three of them — Ricketts, Smith and Bacon — were challenged by populist GOP candidates the state party endorsed.
Then the party’s delegates balked at a resolution Saturday to endorse the incumbents in November, delaying a decision until the next state central committee meeting.
Former U.S. Rep. Hal Daub led the floor resolution to endorse former President Donald Trump and all five members of the delegation. The step is usually a formality. Daub said his intention was “to have unity projected to the public.”
“Since our delegation won their primaries pretty substantially, we should let the public know that we appreciate the process and support the people,” he said.
The resolution faced immediate pushback from the majority of delegates, led in part by Bacon’s primary opponent, Dan Frei. Frei said he adamantly opposed endorsing members of the delegation because they hadn’t come to the meeting to ask for the endorsements.
Instead, delegates passed the endorsement of Trump and punted the delegation decision to a later date after it became clear the measure lacked enough votes. That step was proposed by a state party official.
“Endorsements are earned, not given,” said Frei. He conceded the race Friday but has yet to endorse Bacon, who won by 24 percentage points.
It remains unclear what kind of unity either side in the intra-GOP fight would accept.
“You have to ask where the trust has been lost,” Underwood said. “You have to look at the 2022 primary. We’re nowhere near that loss of trust, because the party wasn’t weaponized.”
Power of party endorsements
Critics of the party’s approach said that its endorsements were ineffective without financial assistance behind them — and that they held little sway with the wider electorate.
Bacon said after the primary that it was time for some “soul searching” by state and county GOP leaders who had “weakened the party and weakened the conservative movement in Nebraska.”
“He lied about four of my votes,” Bacon said of Underwood. “When a chairman lies about an incumbent in the federal delegation there is a problem.”
Underwood acknowledged that the party sent a mailer for 2nd District GOP candidate Dan Frei in his run against Bacon, but he said it’s different from how the party previously put its thumb on the scale.
He pointed to GOP criticism of the former state party leadership for aggressively taking sides in a legislative race between State Sen. Julie Slama of Dunbar and former state GOP volunteer Janet Palmtag.
Underwood said he would keep reaching out as he has to the delegation and to Gov. Jim Pillen. Elected leaders often help state parties in Nebraska and elsewhere raise funds for political activity.
Fundraising challenges
The Nebraska GOP, like many state parties taken over in recent years by populists, has had a hard time reconciling populist fervor and energy from the party’s base with its traditional leaders.
Fundraising has lagged, though Underwood said he expected to show a significant infusion of funds in the party’s pending May report to the Federal Election Commission.
One area the new GOP excels at is partisan energy. On Saturday, 360 delegates and more than 500 Republicans turned out for the state party’s annual convention at the Cornhusker Marriott in Lincoln.
Many of them came to hear retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, national security adviser under Trump, tell them they are ‘in the fight for our lives” this November in the presidential election.
Most came to update party rules, select delegates to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee and gather with other conservatives from around the state.
Congressional district caucuses discussed moving Nebraska to winner-take-all for presidential elections. They also discussed ballot security and border security.
The party also voted on other resolutions, including a 157-139 vote on one that was postponed at a previous meeting, to censure State Sen. Merv Riepe for opposing a proposed abortion ban after an ultrasound can detect a fetal cardiac activity, at about six weeks.
Flynn speaks to Nebraska GOP
Flynn, who twice admitted to lying to federal agents during the FBI investigation of Russian influence in the 2016 presidential election, then later recanted and was pardoned by Trump, said voters need to engage.
He reiterated his support for former Trump, who fired him 24 days into his term, at the height of public interest in the Russia investigation.
Flynn, Underwood and State Board of Education President Elizabeth Tegtmeier all urged those attending to pay attention to education races farther down the ballot.
Flynn told them to seek incremental victories and to focus on stopping the push to change American culture by reaffirming Christian beliefs and culture.
GOP focuses on education races
Tegtmeier said she and other conservatives on the State Board need voters’ help to remove books they consider inappropriate from school libraries.
People who object to removing books say such efforts often discriminate against books written by nonwhite or LGBTQ authors or about race, sex or gender.
She pointed to efforts by grassroots conservatives to oppose proposed health standards that included sex education in 2021 as a model for what they can accomplish together. She argued kids were learning too much too young.
Tegtmeier called on more investment in state and local education races, saying “the Democrats and the teachers union will not let go of the stronghold they have on the board without a fight.” She said that would take money.
She said she would like to see more emphasis placed on training young people for skilled trades.
“People are starting to realize that the state board races are just as crucial and important as our state legislative races,” she said, speaking in her personal capacity.
Flynn said getting involved at the local level is one of the best ways to push back against political opponents.
“I’ve seen the absolute worst of humanity,” he said. “In the long arc of history, good always prevails over evil. But there are times that it takes longer than you expect it to take.”
Flynn movie talk
About 700 people paid $35-plus for a Friday night screening of Flynn’s image-rehab documentary, “Flynn: Deliver the Truth Whatever the Cost.”
Flynn contended in the film that prosecutors coerced him into lying to FBI agents about his talks with the Russian ambassador in the run-up to Trump’s 2017 inauguration.
He said they did so by using his fear of them prosecuting his son, who was his business partner in a consulting firm.
Authorities have said Flynn illegally discussed sanctions with a foreign government before he was a formal representative of the United States. Flynn has said he made no direct pledge involving sanctions.
He tried withdrawing his guilty plea, saying he was misled by his lawyers. At one point, the Justice Department moved to drop the case against Flynn, but the judge disagreed with Attorney General Bill Barr and the case moved forward.
Fanchon Blythe, Nebraska’s national GOP committeewoman, asked Flynn to call former U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., saying he was similarly prosecuted.
Flynn said he was unfamiliar with the case. Fortenberry was convicted of lying to FBI agents about his knowledge of foreign funds illegally raised for his 2016 House campaign. Federal law prohibits raising foreign funds in congressional races.
A federal appeals court overturned his conviction because he was prosecuted in California, where the fundraiser was held, and not where Fortenberry allegedly lied. He was recently charged again, this time in Washington, D.C.
Kleeb criticized GOP, Flynn
Nebraska Democratic Party Chair Jane Kleeb criticized the state GOP for bringing Flynn to the state, saying it was evidence of a lost party.
“Given all the massive divides in their party where over 35% of the base votes for (U.S.) Rep. (Don) Bacon’s opponent one would think they would focus on building bridges,” she said. “It seems the only bridge the Republicans want to build is one to (Vladimir) Putin.”
In mentioning Bacon, she was stumping for state Democrats’ best opportunity to win a congressional race this year. Democratic State Sen. Tony Vargas of Omaha is challenging Bacon for the second time, after losing to Bacon in 2022 by about three percentage points.
Flynn told those attending he would be watching to see how many of them care enough to vote this fall. He chided them for a low turnout in the Nebraska primary, where 28% of registered voters turned in ballots.
“We have to get together, we have to unify and we have to figure out how to get past all the petty arguments and move forward as one nation,” Flynn said.
National committeeman will change
Also on Saturday, Blythe was re-elected national GOP committeewoman. She has been among the state party’s most aggressive organizers of county party takeovers. She has been criticized for defending people arrested after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
State GOP committeeman JL Spray, one of the last links to the former state GOP leadership team from 2022, will be replaced by William Feely of Aurora. Spray will still represent the party at the 2024 national convention. Feely will take over after that.
Nebraska softball finalized its coaching staff on Wednesday. Head coach Rhonda Revelle signed an extension that runs through the 2031 season. The program also finalized several previously announced coaching changes.
Revelle earned the extension after leading Nebraska to one of its best seasons in history, bringing the team back to the Women’s College World Series for the first time since 2013. The Huskers totaled a school-record 52 wins in Revelle’s 34th season as Nebraska’s head coach, helping solidify her as the winningest coach in Nebraska athletics history.
“As we said when we had the privilege of naming the field at Bowlin Stadium in her honor, Rhonda Revelle is Nebraska Softball. Rhonda is not only a great leader of our softball program, but she is a world-class individual who elevates our entire athletic department in many ways. The trajectory of our program is at an all-time high coming off a record-breaking season and we are excited for the years ahead under the leadership of Rhonda and her outstanding staff.”
Revelle also re-worked the responsibilities of her coaching staff, elevating existing staff members and bringing in a slew of former players as assistants. This comes following the retirement of long-time assistant Lori Sippel in June.
Diane Miller has been elevated to associate head coach, and Mandie Nocita was promoted to assistant coach. Olivia Ferrell and Jordy Frahm also join the staff and will serve as assistant coaches. Hannah Coor and Hannah Camenzind have been added as graduate assistants. Lauren Camenzind will be a graduate manager for the Huskers.
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Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen on Wednesday announced measures to further cut state spending, including a cut in state agency spending and a hiring freeze on most positions.
Pillen said in a news release that the measures are necessary after the state paid out $307 million more in state tax refunds than anticipated in fiscal year 2026, which ended June 30. Tax receipts have come in below projections in March, April and May, leading to a current expected deficit of $172 million.
That’s after lawmakers closed a $646 million budget hole in their most recent legislative session.
The governor has previously sought to cut spending to provide more property tax relief to Nebraska residents and had called for additional cuts during the current fiscal year.
“I am pleased with the progress we have made, but I’m not satisfied,” Pillen said in a news release.
Accompanying the release was a memo Pillen sent to state agencies, boards and commissions in which he called on them to “exercise additional fiscal restraint.”
Among the measures outlined in the memo:
- A freeze on creating any new positions or filling any vacancies without approval from the state budget office. The freeze does not apply to law enforcement or corrections positions.
- A 5% reduction in budgets for all state agencies.
- All agencies, boards and commissions must provide monthly cash flow projections.
- Agency leaders are directed to “concentrate” on eliminating redundant processes, services regulation and aid programs.
- Agency leaders are directed to reduce their agencies’ physical footprint and “consolidate teams and services.”
All state entities are required to submit their plans for reducing spending by the end of the month.
The memo also said agencies should “prepare for downward adjustments to appropriations” not only in the current fiscal year but also in the 2028 and 2029 fiscal years.
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear Nebraska’s lawsuit against Colorado over a proposed canal that would take water out of the South Platte River in Colorado and send it to a reservoir in Nebraska.
Nebraska claims Colorado is deliberately obstructing efforts to build the ditch, known as the Perkins Canal, even though everyone agrees Nebraska has the right to do so. The canal is necessary, Nebraska says, because Colorado isn’t sending enough water into Nebraska.
The Perkins Canal would divert water from the South Platte River near Ovid to a storage site somewhere in Nebraska. The South Platte River Compact, ratified by both states and Congress in 1923, requires Colorado to guarantee a flow in the river of 120 cubic feet per second at a water gauge near the state line during the irrigation season. The compact also authorizes Nebraska to build the canal and grants the right to use the power of eminent domain to acquire land on which to build it. Initial work was done on the canal more than a century ago, but the project was abandoned as unfeasible.
Nebraska resurrected the idea in late 2021, citing fears that urban development along Colorado’s Interstate 25 corridor and plans to expand water storage were causing Colorado to violate the terms of the 1923 compact.
The idea that Nebraska might actually build the canal has water users in the lower reaches of the river worried that doing so would disrupt the water augmentation process that underpins much of the crop irrigation along the South Platte, especially between Fort Morgan and the Colorado-Nebraska state line. It is designed to help Colorado meet the terms of the 1923 compact.
Colorado land owners have resisted Nebraska’s efforts to buy land in the Julesburg area so the canal can be built. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and Gov. Jared Polis, while recognizing Nebraska’s right to build the canal, have nevertheless sworn to do all they can to protect Coloradans’ property and water rights. Seeing such rhetoric as subverting Nebraska’s right to build, Nebraska sued Colorado in the Supreme Court in July 2025, alleging that Colorado is obstructing Nebraska’s efforts to go ahead with the Perkins project. Nebraska also attacked Colorado’s water augmentation system, saying it doesn’t work.
To understand augmentation, it’s important to know that Colorado operates on the prior appropriation doctrine, meaning the oldest (senior) water right holders get their water first. During dry periods, senior users may place a “call” on a stream, forcing junior users to stop taking water to ensure the senior rights are fulfilled. When someone pumps water out of a river basin, it eventually pulls water out of nearby streams and rivers, which can illegally shortchange senior surface-right holders. In that case, the junior wells would have to be shut down until senior rights were satisfied
To avoid such shutdowns, called “curtailment,” Colorado devised a system called augmentation in which the water that is pumped during the irrigation season must be replaced during the winter months so it flows back through the aquifer into the river in the following irrigation season. Some augmentation is done simply by buying water rights from upstream users, increasing the amount of water in the river. The system is highly complex and requires detailed accounting of river flows.
In a prepared statement issued last week, after the high court agreed to hear the case, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said Colorado is in compliance with the compact.
The court’s decision, he wrote, “merely opens the door for Nebraska to bring its claims against Colorado. Nebraska’s burden to prove those claims is incredibly high and we will vigorously defend Colorado’s full entitlements under the compact.”
Perkins Canal needed because Colorado is harming Nebraska
But Nebraska officials insist water augmentation isn’t doing what it was supposed to do. In its 55-page complaint to the U.S. Supreme Court, Nebraska calls the augmentation system illegal and a violation of the river compact.
“Colorado’s water administration system, including its augmentation plans, have harmed and will continue to harm Nebraska,” the lawsuit reads. “For example, many augmentation projects … allow junior well owners to pump water out of priority during the irrigation season, provided they pump or divert additional water during the non-irrigation season and apply it to recharge ponds. This method assumes that water will percolate back into the water table and make its way to the South Platte River in time to make whole downstream senior users.”
Kent Miller is general manager of the Twin Platte Natural Resources District, which includes most of the South Platte River in Nebraska. He’s said he’s watched the river since 1972 and is skeptical that augmentation even works.
“Those plans have not been working, and I base that on the fact that the Western Irrigation District rarely receives what it’s supposed to receive,” Miller said.
In May, U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer filed an amicus brief with the high court recommending that the court allow the suit to go ahead, but with conditions.
In its lawsuit, Nebraska addresses augmentation because of its complexity and insists that any mechanism Colorado uses to comply with the compact should be simple. In his amicus brief, Sauer recommended tossing the argument.
“Nebraska reads Article VIII (of the compact) as mandating that compliance mechanisms be ‘simple,’ and it alleges that Colorado has violated that requirement,” Sauer wrote. “But Article VIII imposes no such requirement; it merely authorizes Colorado officials to enforce the Compact without action by the Colorado legislature. Because Nebraska’s Article VIII claim is facially meritless, it should not be permitted to proceed further.”
Sauer further recommended disallowing arguments that Colorado is obstructing Nebraska’s efforts to build the canal, saying Nebraska offers no evidence of such obstruction.
In signaling its acceptance of the lawsuit on Monday, the Supreme Court said it wants to hear all of Nebraska’s complaints and let the justices judge for themselves whether parts of it lack merit. Colorado originally had 30 days to respond to the court’s action but, on July 2, requested a 60-day extension.
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