'Not a good look': Nebraska GOP refuses to support incumbents in primary elections

14 May 2024

In Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District, Rep. Don Bacon is seeking a fifth two-year term. But he is doing it without any help from the Nebraska Republican Party, which, according to Associated Press (AP) reporter Margery A. Beck, isn't supporting any GOP incumbents in the state this year — only primary challengers in certain races.

"The state party has endorsed primary challengers to U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts and Rep. Adrian Smith, who represents the state's vast rural 3rd Congressional District," Beck reports. "And it has declined to issue endorsements in the primary races of U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer and Rep. Mike Flood, who represents the 1st Congressional District that includes the state capital of Lincoln."

Beck adds, "Both Fischer and Flood face primary challengers who entered those races after the Nebraska GOP announced its endorsement decision in January."

Nebraska's Republican primary elections are scheduled for this Tuesday, May 14.

The Nebraska GOP, Beck stresses, has been taken over by Donald Trump loyalists — and these primaries, according to University of Nebraska, Lincoln political science professor John Hibbing, underscore the tensions between those ultra-MAGA loyalists and more traditional conservatives.

Hibbing told AP, "It's not a good look. You'd like the faces of your party, who would be your elected representatives, and the state party leaders to be on the same page."

The primary challengers in these races are attacking the incumbents for not being MAGA enough.

But Hibbing points out, "I think they're probably wondering: 'What else can we do?' These are solidly conservative individuals."

Read the Associated Press' full report at this link.

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