Nebraska Republican Party
Nebraska Republican Party | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chairman | Eric Underwood |
| Governor | Jim Pillen |
| Lt. Governor | Joe Kelly |
| Senate leader (Lt. Governor) | Joe Kelly |
| House leader | John Arch |
| Headquarters | 1610 N Street Lincoln, NE 68508 |
| Membership (2024) |  623,229[1] |
| Ideology |
|
| Political position | Center-right[2] to right-wing[3] |
| National affiliation | Republican Party |
| Colors | Ruby Red |
| Seats in the U.S. Senate | 2 / 2 |
| Seats in the U.S. House | 3 / 3 |
| Statewide Executive Offices | 6 / 6 |
| Nebraska Supreme Court seats | 5 / 6 |
| Seats in the Nebraska Legislature (officially nonpartisan) | 33 / 49 |
| Election symbol | |
 | |
| Website | |
| www.ne.gop | |
The Nebraska Republican Party (NEGOP) is the affiliate of the Republican Party in Nebraska. The party is led by chair Eric Underwood. Its headquarters is located in Lincoln. It is currently the dominant party in the state, controlling all of Nebraska's three U.S. House seats, both U.S. Senate seats, the state legislature, and the governorship.
Party history
After 1860, Republicans dominated state elections in Nebraska for 30 years. The state has been strongly Republican during presidential elections.[4]
As a result of a referendum in 1934, Nebraska has the United States' only unicameral legislature, known as the Nebraska Unicameral.[5] All representatives are officially nonpartisan.[6][4] Despite this, Republicans have held a majority in the state legislature for several decades.
Political campaigns
In December 2009, the party organized a nationwide effort to unseat Democratic Senator Ben Nelson in 2012 under the theme "Give Ben The Boot".[7]
For the 2024 United States elections, the state party made the unorthodox decision to support none of Nebraska's five incumbents throughout the primary season. The party endorsed opponents to Don Bacon, Adrian Smith and Pete Ricketts and did not endorse Deb Fischer nor Mike Flood in their races.[8] All incumbents prevailed by large margins in their primary races; the closest was Bacon with a 24-point difference.
Current elected officials
The Nebraska Republican Party currently controls all six statewide offices, both of the state's U.S. Senate seats, and all of the state's U.S. House seats.
Members of Congress
U.S. Senate
Senior U.S. Senator Deb Fischer
Junior U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts
U.S. House of Representatives
Statewide offices
- Governor: Jim Pillen
- Lieutenant Governor: Joe Kelly
- Secretary of State: Bob Evnen
- Attorney General: Mike Hilgers
- Treasurer: John Murante
- Auditor: Mike Foley
Statewide Supreme Court Justices
- Michael Heavican, Chief Justice
- Stephanie F. Stacy, District 1
- William B. Cassel, District 3
- Jonathan Papik, District 4
- Jeffrey J. Funke, District 5
- John Freudenberg, District 6
Party officers
Leadership:[9]
- Eric Underwood, Chairman
- Mary Jane Truemper, Vice Chairman
- Todd Watson, Assistant Chairman
- Jon Tucker, Assistant Chairman
- Cammie Methany, Assistant Chairman
- Kirk Penner, Assistant Chairman
- Rick Benson, Secretary
- Dave Plond, Treasurer
- William Feely, National Committeeman
- Fanchon Blythe, National Committeewoman
- Blane Brummond, Legal Counsel
Electoral history
Gubernatorial
| Election | Gubernatorial candidate | Votes | Vote % | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Gene Spence | 148,230 | 25.6% | Lost 
|
| 1998 | Mike Johanns | 293,910 | 53.90% | Won 
|
| 2002 | Mike Johanns | 330,349 | 68.68% | Won
|
| 2006 | Dave Heineman | 434,802 | 73.4% | Won
|
| 2010 | Dave Heineman | 360,645 | 73.90% | Won
|
| 2014 | Pete Ricketts | 308,751 | 57.15% | Won
|
| 2018 | Pete Ricketts | 411,812 | 59.00% | Won
|
| 2022 | Jim Pillen | 398,334 | 59.74% | Won
|
References
- ^ "2024 Eligible Voter Statistics". sos.nebraska.gov.
- ^ Sources for center-right:
- Gidron, Norm; Zilbatt, Daniel (2019). "Center-Right Political Parties in Advanced Democracies" (PDF). Annual Review of Political Science. 22: 18–19, 27–28. doi:10.1146/annurev-polisci-090717-092750. ISSN 1094-2939. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 23, 2023. Retrieved June 17, 2024.
- Keckler, Charles; Rozell, Mark J. (April 3, 2015). "The Libertarian Right and the Religious Right". Perspectives on Political Science. 44 (2): 92–99. doi:10.1080/10457097.2015.1011476.
To better understand the structure of cooperation and competition between these groups, we construct an anatomy of the American center-right, which identifies them as incipient factions within the conservative movement and its political instrument, the Republican Party.
- Donovan, Todd (October 2, 2019). "Authoritarian attitudes and support for radical right populists". Journal of Elections, Public Opinion & Parties. 29 (4): 448–464. doi:10.1080/17457289.2019.1666270.
A strict two-party system, such as the United States, does not fit the tripolar logic. If authoritarian attitudes exist in an electorate that effectively has no potential for anything but a choice between one centre-left and one centre-right party, people with such attitudes may find a place in one of the two dominant parties.
- Carter, Neil; Keith, Daniel; Vasilopoulou, Sofia; Sindre, Gyda M. (March 8, 2023). The Routledge Handbook of Political Parties (PDF). p. 140. doi:10.4324/9780429263859. ISBN 978-0-429-26385-9.
By comparison, the U.S. Republican Party (Gould 2014) is something of an outlier. This is principally a product of the uniqueness of the U.S. party system. Indeed, major shifts in the party's ideological focus can only in part be explained by its longevity (founded in 1854). Unlike its Liberal/Conservative counterparts in the Anglosphere and Europe, the Republican party machine is considerably weaker than any of its counterparts and the frequency of elections has profoundly shaped the way political elites relate to their party and develop policy ideas. Historically, the electoral system has buttressed a true two-party system, which meant building broad coalitions. Today that instinct is countermanded by growing electoral boundary manipu- lation which sees the party aim to disenfranchise ideological opponents, while narrowcasting to its own ideological base. These features are either unique or extreme by comparison to other centre-right parties discussed here. Given this, it is not surprising that where comparisons between parties have occurred, they have focused on ideological dimensions, policy ideas and the exchange of campaign techniques (see Wineinger and Nugent 2020). A primary driver of comparisons between the USA and other Anglosphere centre-right parties appears to be cultural and language affinities, and if anything, this highlights the relative lack of comparison between centre-right parties in the Anglosphere (such as Australia, the UK, New Zealand, Canada and Ireland) which share greater institutional similarities.
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- ^ Sources for right-wing:
- McKay, David (2020), Crewe, Ivor; Sanders, David (eds.), "Facilitating Donald Trump: Populism, the Republican Party and Media Manipulation", Authoritarian Populism and Liberal Democracy, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 107–121, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-17997-7_7, ISBN 978-3-030-17997-7, retrieved 2024-06-13,
the Republicans changed from being a right of centre coalition of moderates and conservatives to an unambiguously right-wing party that was hostile not only to liberal views but also to any perspective that clashed with the core views of an ideologically cohesive conservative cadre of party faithfuls
- Greenberg, David (2021-01-27). "An Intellectual History of Trumpism". Politico Magazine. Archived from the original on April 11, 2024. Retrieved 2024-06-13.
The larger ideology that the president-elect represents is a post-Iraq War, post-crash, post-Barack Obama update of what used to be called paleoconservatism: On race and immigration, where the alt-right affinities are most pronounced, its populist ideas are carrying an already right-wing party even further right.
- Wineinger, Catherine; Nugent, Mary K. (2020-01-02). "Framing Identity Politics: Right-Wing Women as Strategic Party Actors in the UK and US". Journal of Women, Politics & Policy. 41 (1): 5. doi:10.1080/1554477X.2020.1698214. ISSN 1554-477X.
- Jessoula, Matteo; Natili, Marcello; Pavolini, Emmanuele (8 August 2022). "'Exclusionary welfarism': a new programmatic agenda for populist right-wing parties?". Contemporary Politics. 28 (4): 447–449. doi:10.1080/13569775.2021.2011644. ISSN 1356-9775.
- McKay, David (2020), Crewe, Ivor; Sanders, David (eds.), "Facilitating Donald Trump: Populism, the Republican Party and Media Manipulation", Authoritarian Populism and Liberal Democracy, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 107–121, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-17997-7_7, ISBN 978-3-030-17997-7, retrieved 2024-06-13,
- ^ a b "Nebraska Results". New York Times. 9 August 2017. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
- ^ Williams, Beth (Oct 2013). Exploring Initiative and Referendum Law. Google Books: Routledge. p. 207. ISBN 9781317965268. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
- ^ Nebraska, History.com, http://www.history.com/topics/nebraska/page3, retrieved 14 December 2011
- ^ Jordon, Steve (21 July 2017). "Ex-Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson, whose Obamacare vote caused controversy, says odds are against GOP on health care". Live Well Nebraska. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
- ^ Beck, Margery (May 14, 2024). "The Nebraska GOP is rejecting all Republican congressional incumbents in Tuesday's primary election". AP News.
- ^ Leadership, Nebraska Republican Party. Retrieved 3 March, 2016