Thread by @asanderford

Lot of people in line this morning for the @NEGOP state convention today.

The registration line @NEGOP. Part expecting more than 600 delegates, alternates and family.

A lot of people in line were talking about this potential fight for the future of the party.

From the @NE_Examiner:

nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/07/07/six…

But people are also interested in hearing the first major out-of-state speech by @GovernorVA Glen Youngkin, who speaks this morning at the convention in Kearney. He’s starting to get a little buzz in presidential political circles.

richmond.com/news/state-and…

The state party convention’s resolutions package is mostly standard fare for the post-Trump admin GOP. Resolutions about election integrity mixed in with standbys about pushing #Nebraska for a two-house Legislature with partisan leadership instead of the traditional nonp unicam.

Crowd at the party breakfast. We will try to live tweet as much as possible today, but I’ll be pulling some double duty, watching Youngkin and the convention drama, if it comes.

Here is the language of a proposed resolution on gun control legislation.

And the language of the proposed resolution on election integrity.

Here’s the proposed resolution on moving Nebraska from a nonpartisan unicameral Legislature to a bicameral partisan one.

Speakers today include State Board of Ed member @KirkPenner, #NE03’s @RepAdrianSmith, @SenatorFischer, #NE01’s @Flood4Nebraska, #NEgov nominee @jim_pillen, @GovRicketts and @GovernorVA Glenn Youngkin.

Also, the Virginia gov’s name is Glenn, not Glen. Fumble fingers with that first tweet about him. (Tweet problems.)

Here is today's @FoxNews story on speculation about @GovernorVA Glenn Youngkin's visit.

foxnews.com/politics/virgi…

Clearly expecting a crowd as folks start to trickle in from breakfast.

There’s an argument at the door about whether some of the folks who aren’t allowed in have to share a copy of a proposed resolution that some of the banned folks want to discuss on the floor. They did.

Party executive director Taylor Gage briefly engaged the crowd and the people who were allowed to go in were allowed in after they handed over a box of copies of this proposed resolution.

Getting started with pledge and national anthem. Full house. @boyscouts doing the color guard.

Kirk Penner of the State Board of Ed kicks off by saying, “If you need to know my pronouns, the door is right there.” Says the GOP will win four seats on board and they’ll win another after that. Penner: We are gonna get education back to education and not indoctrination.

Penner: There's not been a better time in history for conservative values to take back over this country.

(Anything not quoted is paraphrased.)

Introduced a video.

Showing a video lumping in State Sens. Patty Pansing Brooks, Tony Vargas and Megan Hunt together with President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Now @NEGOP Chairman Dan Welch is speaking now about the divide between conservatives and liberals.

Welch: We assemble today to fight against liberals and for our values. They want to take away our oil, our land and even our cows. (This refers to studies on greenhouse gases.)

(Democrats in Nebraska have argued it is Republicans who have been taking private land from owners, using eminent domain for pipelines.)

Welch: We are here together because we have seen again what liberal leadership looks like. In only a year and a half, the country is a mess. Inflation and crime are high, and world order has been lost.

Welch: The woke liberals call people like us unenlightened and even evil. We are neither. We believe in the sanctity of all human life (applause).

“We are the party of common sense conservative government, and we come together today to protect those principles.”

Welch: We are fortunate in Nebraska. We control all five members of Congress, all top statewide offices.

Welch: There are divisions in our party. (Crowd members say "Yes.") In every state, after a tough primary, there is always division. Some of this convention is coming together and clearing the air. "It's necessary and it's healthy in our healing process."

Welch: That's all secondary to the real reason we are here today, to kick off efforts to elect Republican candidates and once again defeat liberalism in Nebraska.

Next up is @RepAdrianSmith.

Smith: Pelosi likes to talk about acceptance and tolerance but they are intolerant of us. I believe that the American people see things so differently than Democrats in Washington. "The Democrats are out of touch." At the end of 2020, the GDP was back to about even.

Smith: He thought the stimulus under Obama wasn't enough so he wanted to do more. His COVID recovery effort started a lot of this inflation. (Smith is blaming Biden for contributing to the workforce shortage.)

Smith: This is not an issue of just the last couple of years. It's a much broader issue. When it was President Obama and Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, they extended unemployment and we are still paying for that and paying dearly.

Smith: It's not really all about taxpayer dollars. It's about individuals and getting back to the dignity of being in the workforce. We want to work together on opportunities, not outcomes.

Smith: President Reagan talked with optimism about the future. Right now that's not coming from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. It's really about incompetence at the White House. The Afghanistan pullout. The way he did it. The spending that has already triggered inflation.

Smith: Energy policy. Folks we have great sources of domestic energy. With fracking. Why would we turn our backs on that. Why would we use our reserves before we turn to more domestic sources of energy.

(Smith, for folks who don't know, is in line with seniority to potentially lead the House Ways and Means Committee if the GOP takes the House. That's a key tax-writing committee in Congress.)

Smith: We have the agenda of socialism from Schumer and Pelosi. People came to this country to get away from socialism, not to recreate it. (Schumer and Pelosi have not proposed socialism, per the definition.)

Smith: Glad to welcome Mike Flood to the House. First special election since 1951. We have a great opportunity with Team Nebraska in Washington. We've got support here at home. I want to thank volunteers.

Smith just said he's proud to support Republican candidates, including @jim_pillen for governor.

@jim_pillen Smith: Dems are not letting up on 30x30 land grab. That the government feels the need to control so much is a mistake.

Smith: I think the president is getting lots of advice to write off all the student loan debt in the country. I think people advising the president should have to disclose the debt that they have.

Smith: I don't know the president's intentions. But I do know that many times gov't has intended to do something that may have had good intentions but the results were opposite of helping. As painful as inflation is, it is a lesson to all of us about this.

Next is @SenatorFischer.

Fischer: We are here at a tough time for our country. It seems like everything is falling apart. There are feelings of frustration and anger, and it’s no wonder why we are feeling that way. It hasn’t taken President Biden long to undo some of the good work under President Trump.

Fischer: We see a persistent push to weaken our Second Amendment. We see that in their focus on defunding police. (Democrats are split on this issue.) Democrats tell us to follow the science, except the science when we look at our unborn children.

Fischer: Their doctrine that's out there on climate change has made us vulnerable. We are begging Venezuela and Saudi Arabia while selling our reserves to China. Dems want to replace beef with Impossible Meat. (Some Climate focused folks have taken shots at the beef industry.)

Fischer: There's pain at the pump. There's pain at the grocery store, with all these prices. All food prices are expected to rise. That's less money for parents to take care of their families. Our immigration system is broken and Joe Biden is not securing our border.

Fischer: The border is a security threat and a public health threat with fentanyl and more. Joe Biden, he does nothing, which is totally on brand for him. The only reason things aren't worse is because Dems are dysfunctional and we have a president who is incapable of leading.

Fischer: Biden is also a disaster in foreign policy. I think our whole world would be safer if Joe Biden stops talking. We see it with Russia's invasion of Ukraine and with China's growing aggression in the South China Sea.

Fischer: There was no honor or planning in what he did in departing Afghanistan. A decade of blood and treasure was lost in a blink. We fight for the unborn, and what a fight we've had. It's worth taking a moment so we can express gratitude ... that Roe v. Wade was overturned.

Fischer: Since 1973 we have peacefully marched with warm hearts in cold January weather in Lincoln, Nebraska. Together we prayed to end abortion. Together, we offered women in crisis help and comfort.

Fischer: Together, we fought to impose limits on abortion and presidents to appoint justices who would understand there was never a constitutional right to an abortion. And thanks to President Trump we are celebrating that win.

Fischer: We are a party that believes all of God's children deserve a fighting chance. We believe you know best how to spend the money that you earn. We stand squarely against letting government step in front of parental rights in how to raise our children. Believe in 2nd Amend.

Fischer: We back the blue and we want that wall built. We know that peace through strength works. We treat our veterans as the best among us because they are.

Fischer: We have a governor's race to win. And Go Jim Pillen. Need to make sure Carol Blood is not in that governor's mansion. (applause)

Fischer: Let's send Adrian Smith, Don Bacon and that new guy, my friend Mike Flood, to Washington, to make sure Nebraska values are heard in Washington, D.C.

Next up is @Flood4Nebraska.

Flood: Nebraska is a profoundly red state because we don't take anything for granted. I'm excited to get to work. Nancy Pelosi is swearing me in Tuesday night. I can only imagine what she'll think when she goes to my website and the first thing it says is "Fire Nancy Pelosi."

Flood: The cost of July 4 celebrations were up. America is suffering from a bad case of Jimmy Carter deja vu.

Flood: "Far too many Americans are in doubt of that fundamental premise of our nation that our children's lives will be better than our own, and I hear that when I drive around the district." Gov't spending is out of control. Retirements are shrinking.

Flood: But remember, for every Jimmy Carter, there's a Ronald Reagan just around the corner.

Flood: Are you better off today than you were four years ago? We know what the answer is today. But we have to go out and we have to get people to vote. "I about had a heart attack when I saw the early returns from Lancaster County. They are motivated. The far left is motivated."

Flood: They're running on fear mongering after the Dobbs decision. They will say awful things about us. They will say awful things about you. When people are struggling, they want to raise taxes. I've talked to retailers in Madison Co. and I think we're in for some troubling days

Flood: End the magic money machine in Washington. Lower taxes so people can keep more of what they earn. American energy independence. We will protect the unborn.

Flood: We have prayed to an end to abortion. We need to lead the way. We need to secure the southern border. Need to support law enforcement.

Flood: Also need to respect people's personal freedoms. I'll just tell you this. The left isn't going to give in, because they're motivated. "Do not take Nov. 8 for granted, because they're out knocking doors. They're out working."

Flood: Help me in Lincoln, because we're gonna flip that town from blue to read. (applause)

Flood: I am so proud of our next governor, Jim Pillen. Exciting to have a candidate from Columbus, Neb. We need more conservatives in the Nebraska Legislature. I left a country club and I came back to a knife fight.

Flood: They are filibustering everything. I have never sat through so many filibuster. In one year, I had more filibusters than I did in eight years, back with Sen. Fischer. They are obstructionists. We are lucky that we got the tax cuts done. Suddenly they were for it.

Flood: One of the measures I take of a candidate is how do people think of you in your hometown. He has the respect of Platte County. Introducing @jim_pillen.

Pillen: We are working very hard to build a coalition. I know it’s important to come together.

Pillen: Joe Kelly (longtime prosecutor) and I are going to run Nebraska like business partners. Building a great team and being partners. He knows how to help law enforcement put bad people away.

Pillen: We have four children, from 18 to 41. Seven grandchildren. Just spent the past two days at the Platte County Fair. Pig guy was dragging goats around the Platte County fair. I'm a farmer. Veterinary medicine. Livestock production. Started pig business with my dad.

Pillen: We've also worked with other producers to buy the old Hormel plant in Fremont. "I simply love Nebraska and the people of Nebraska." Where we live and who we are is incredible. When I ask Nebraskans who've moved here, people say "it's the people." That's the future.

Pillen: We have to protect & defend our kids. Have to keep the nonsense out of our schools. Every school board member has to stand up and say no. Focus on reading, writing and arithmetic. Wouldn't that be novel? We can start having a conversation about putting God back in school.

Pillen: We have to protect our kids and train our kids. Have to get them into trade school. Business will lead the way. The key to growing our state is stopping the out-migration. (Much of this speech echoes our sit-down interview with Pillen. We also spoke with Sen. Carol Blood)

Here's the Pillen interview:

nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/07/05/int…

Here's the Blood interview:

nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/07/05/int…

Pillen: I will work tirelessly to protect, defend and grow agriculture. We've fought PETA for ever, the Humane Society of the United States, they've duped us.

Pillen: 99 percent of budget goes to putting livestock producers out of business. Had four Humane Society people applying to work at our farms. Think they were trying to help? (He's making fun of Bill Gates talking about Petri dish meat.)

Pillen: It's important that we defend and use that Ogallala aquifer the right way. We have done a good job and will continue to do so.

Pillen: We have to come together. "The State of Nebraska has to be focused on stopping babies growing in mothers' wombs being murdered. It has to stop, and together, we can accomplish that."

Pillen: We have been duped as Christian conservatives. We should be getting in the game of politics. If us Christian conservatives would've gotten out of our comfort zones, no way Lyndon Johnson would've cut people's souls out by giving them money for not working, for welfare.

Pillen: There's no way God would've been taken out of our public schools. And lastly Roe v. Wade. It's not just stopping abortion. We have to scale clinics that are for love and life to help mothers not live with a burden of abortion. We have to help young mothers and babies.

Pillen is talking about Coach Tom Osborne heading back to Washington and representing the 3rd CD that voted against his run for governor. Pillen: Team over self. We don't like to be told what to do. We like to get government out of the way. I'll work my tail off to do that.

Pillen got a standing ovation from about two-thirds of the crowd at a quick glance.

Next up is @GovRicketts.

Ricketts: Bad policy has victims. We can see the problems pouring out of Washington. The @NEStatePatrol pulled 2.5 times as much fentanyl off our roads. Gas prices are about double. Impacts every Nebraskan. Hurting families.

Ricketts: Families are curtailing vacations, cutting the number of trips to town. Moms can't find baby formula. It's absolutely crazy. Have an admin that wants to push its woke agenda.

Ricketts: It's an admin more concerned about letting biological boys play girls sports and threatening schools' lunch money if they don't do it.

Ricketts: Saw it during the riots when the mayor of Lincoln wouldn't let the police do their job and the mayor of Omaha allowed the police to do their jobs. There was 10 times the amount of damage in Lincoln as Omaha. (Haven't seen or heard these numbers. Would need to verify.)

Ricketts: They were going to teach things in the new sex ed standards that were not appropriate for the age. Thank God for Kirk Penner. And we're going to send Kirk some help in the fall.

Ricketts: Democrats kept our schools closed and shut our country down. Red states have twice as many days with kids in classrooms than blue states. Top 10 lowest unemployment states, 8 out of 10 are GOP. Highest unemployment, 9 out of 10 are Dem.

Ricketts: "Conservative leadership matters." Because we took a more balanced approach, we have done well. We have kept kids in classrooms. We have kept people healthy. We have kept our businesses open. We have the lowest unemployment in the history of the U.S.

Ricketts: Our revenues are running at a record pace. (Some of that is federal stimulus spending.) We were able to pass in the last legislative session the biggest tax relief package in the history of the state. 12 times bigger than any passed by any previous admin.

Ricketts: It will mean Nebraskans will get $12.6bn in tax relief, $10bn of that in property tax relief. Tax relief for veterans. Tax relief for seniors. We are running our state that allows us to make big investments in things that matter to our state, like law enforcement.

Ricketts: Passed the largest law enforcement and public safety bills for the people who keep us safe. (I think some of that used federal funds as well.)

Ricketts: We need to push back on this crazy radical agenda. Need to make sure we are electing Republicans. Need to take back the House and Senate and fire Nancy Pelosi. (applause)

Ricketts: The other side, look who they put up, people like Michaela Cavanaugh and Megan Hunt. Saying some Dem candidates support dismemberment abortion. (Dems, including Blood, have argued that's not true, arguing they opposed a bill because of its language.)

Next up is @GovernorVA Glenn Youngkin. Ricketts is saying Youngkin talked about the things people care about education, empowering parents, following common-sense policies, addressing taxes. Ricketts: Since he's been elected governor he's delivering results. Signed tax cuts.

@GovernorVA Ricketts: Glenn has this idea that schools should be teaching reading, math, not this whole woke lens that some people want in America.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin is up next.

Youngkin: Pillen will be a great governor, but he has big boots to fill. He's done an extraordinary job for you. He asked last year what he could do for me. He did it. That's what we do as Republicans. "And that's what we're going to do in November, help one another win."

Youngkin: Leading. That's what we're elected to do. Lower taxes. Back the blue. Find new markets. Republican governors have been doing it. And voters know it. Voters recognize there are good policies and there are bad policies. (All paraphrased unless quoted.)

Youngkin: A year ago all the D.C. pundits said Virginia was beyond reach, that Virginia was blue, that the liberal machine had been successful in cornering the market. Those pundits forgot to do one thing, talk to the voters. The voters of Virginia did something different.

Youngkin: Go on a walk with me. Virginia was dark blue. And life in Virginia had gotten pretty bleak. Virginia was shut during the pandemic. Businesses in Bristol, Va., were closed when right across in Bristol, Tenn., businesses were open and thriving. Workers were sent home.

Youngkin: We watched our schools shut and tell people they couldn't come. Schools told parents they had no say. Parents all of a sudden had a lens into their children's education that they hadn't before. Some were teaching politics. Taught through a lens of race. Parents said no.

Youngkin: Our law enforcement heroes were demeaned and demoralized. Our prosecutors backed by George Soros said they would not prosecute crimes and crime went up. Democrats, independents and Republicans stood up.

Youngkin: It was mothers, women, law enforcement, farmers. We won from people who'd never voted Republican in their lives. The spirit of Virginia ... was alive and well. I was hired by 8.6 million Virginians.

Youngkin: You're incredibly fortunate in Nebraska, because you have great Republican elected public servants. At the school boards, which is the most important job in the nation right now, governor, people you send to Congress. It can all change like that. It did in Virginia.

Youngkin: "You have got to protect Nebraska." Elect Republicans. Second you've got to go to work to help us deliver the nation. We have got to send Republicans to office all over the country, state legislatures, governor's offices, lieutenant Govs, congress. It's our moment.

Youngkin: It's our moment because we've seen what Joe Biden has done to the country. We see it in energy policy. We're begging Saudi Ar. to pump more oil as opposed to approving the keystone XL pipeline. Pumping more oil. We watched the Biden admin try to snuff out domestic oil

Youngkin: We've got to get U.S. manufacturing back to the U.S. And please know, it's coming to Virginia, because we're going to work every day to get it there. We've got to stop conceding and start competing. The Biden economy is "a house built on sand."

Youngkin: "That model failed. We have to go to work to stop it." What's happening at the border is unconscionable. It's all been created by Joe Biden. (Border crossings were similar in the early 2000s under a GOP president as well. They were lower under Trump. Covid was part.)

Youngkin: The Bill of Rights is meant to protect us from government overreach. Thank the Lord for our Supreme Court. Rightfully returned the responsibility to make decisions on behalf of those who elected us, a responsibility to protect the unborn. What a moment.

Youngkin: "From what I see here today, that spirit of our nation is alive and well in Nebraska." Work ahead of us.

Youngkin: We need you to volunteer. We do it together. Get 10 friends to show up and vote. What’s happening is this red wave that found its headwaters in Virginia. It’s headed across America and it’s going to come crashing down on Nancy Pelosi’s California.

Youngkin is giving the wrap up on what the party stands for. Youngkin: The Republican Party stands for parents because parents matter. We stand for safe communities. We stand for an economy that is rested on fundamentals that is rested on having American-made products.

Youngkin: “We in fact are the land of opportunity. We just have to go build it.”

Youngkin: The constitution is to be defended, not assaulted. (Had to step out for a minute. Some drama outside.)

Walked out to see Republican Matt Innis in custody of Kearney Police. Officer said for trespassing and private security told officer Innis assaulted him when told he could not enter. Innis said he had received a text that told him he could go in. He had been banned.

Trying to get more info.

OK. Fanchon Blythe, who also was outside, was asked to leave the premises or risk being ticketed for trespassing. She left. Right now, in the meeting, they're discussing whether to let her in, to restore her credentials. They were also going to discuss Innis' credentials.

Here is a video recorded by people who were trying to work with Innis to get him in during a credentialing vote.

facebook.com/1348300149/vid…

Convention is taking a brief break.

Innis told me before he was driven away by Kearney PD that he and others had responded to a mass text telling them to come to the convention center, that their credentials were being discussed.

Welch is addressing the convention. (Someone yelled it was Taylor Gage, the party's executive director.) Welch: It wasn't Taylor Gage sending those text messages. They're moving to lunch to get some time to sort out credentialing. Then they'll do district caucuses.

Welch: Then presentations and voting on resolutions and rules. The party delegates disagreed about whether to go to lunch. It was split so evenly they're going to have to count.

154-139 to not go to lunch. They're waiting a bit. Welch is saying it'll take 20 minutes to get the credentials. Telling people they should probably go eat. Many in the crowd grumbled.

Alternate delegates were sat without being properly credentialed. That's being fixed.

Credentialing Committee report: Changing a couple delegates around based on conversations with county chairs. We were six delegates short, Otoe, Lancaster and Custer County were short. This is about replacing the six people who got letters from the party.

Lancaster County Republican Fanchon Blythe just got let in. Floor vote overruling credentialing committee's decision.

A GOP delegate spoke up to say Matt Innis didn't know the person who grabbed him was security in plainclothes.

Another delegate said culling people's social media posts is what happened on the other side of the Berlin Wall.

"It really pisses me off."

Blythe just walked in to cheers.

Christina (sp?) Campbell (sp?) of Lancaster County says both sides have been acting badly. She wants Innis reinstated.

Many of the people who are delegates are first-time delegates, based on a hand raising.

Group voting on whether to seat Matt Innis. Overwhelmingly seated. Now arguing a proposal to add Faith White as a delegate. She was one of the six who got letters. No discussion. Motion to vote. All yes, no opposed.

Motion now to seat Robert Borer, who is running a write-in campaign against Jim Pillen. They voted to seat him, too. Now discussing Amy Tharp, Custer County GOP chair. She was one of six.

Some delegates are arguing for free speech, online and with others, including support for candidates who aren't Republican.

Now voting on re-seating Amy Tharp, Custer County GOP chair, overwhelming for. She is seated.

80 of 93 counties, the Nebraska 3rd District, needs to elect its members on the State Central Committee today and they're worried about the meeting running out before they can meet and select them.

They're now arguing to amend the order of business to go to lunch and do caucuses so the 3rd CD can elect members of the State Central Committee. They're trying to get rid of workshops to get business done.

They just canceled the workshops planned in the afternoon. They're going for a 30-minute lunch and then come back for district caucuses. Then back to votes on resolutions and reports.

They agreed to go to lunch for 30 minutes. Yay. Time to write.

They are back from lunch and now caucusing so the 3rd Congressional District folks can elect their members of the State Central Committee. After that, when they get to reports and resolutions, the base of GOP activists could vote to change the direction of the party.

Matt Innis is out and at the GOP meeting. He has said he didn't know who grabbed him and that the security person/officer who touched him was in plain clothes.

Re: Innis. Others who saw what happened said he wheeled around to face who touched him and was tackled. Heard police officer being told Innis lunged at the security person. Did not witness what happened between them myself. Went out after things were over.

Right now the party is discussing a new floor amendment. Trying to get my hands on it.

They're discussing putting this new amendment next in the schedule. It's likely the one organizers of an effort to pull the party away from its current leadership have been working on.

This is an amendment aiming to give the people at state convention and the State Central Committee the ability to fire any state GOP officer or chairman/woman with a simple majority at state convention and a supermajority of those present at an SCC meeting.

In layman's term, if this passes, there will likely be a motion right after to fire or replace parts of the party leadership of the @NEGOP. And it appears the people who want change have the votes.

Here's a copy of the resolution. Sorry for the bad quality. Couldn't get closer.

It passed. Now there's a motion and a second to adjourn. Nays have it.

Welch: It appears that there is a group of people who want to overthrow the party and take my job. "Let's get this over with."

A delegate from Douglas County told the group to go start their own party.

Fanchon Blythe made the motion to stay later than 3:45p. Sounds like GOP will stay until they're finished. Could be a longer day.

Folks just proposed a motion for the removal of Welch as chairman of the @NEGOP. Fanchon Blythe offered the second.

Pam Dingman, vice chair (who chaired the credentialing committee that told the six they couldn't come), forced to step forward and take the mic for Welch.

One person defended Welch and progress made in the Legislature by Republicans since 2010. Said they're close to a 33rd vote.

One delegate, Lancaster County Chair Eric Underwood, says God put him in position to harness this energy and harness these people. You'll still work to elect Republicans. My goal out of this is to elect Republicans. (Democrats have made major gains in Lancaster Co.)

Underwood is rumored to be the person who will replace Welch once/if Welch is removed.

Underwood: "I'm ready to lead that."

One delegate says he's disappointed by the lack of debate. Said changing the constitution in such a major fashion is not just for today, but for the future. Delegate: That removes stability.

Carol Friesen?sp? Lincoln County: I don't know how many people here have needed to work with our Lincoln office. As someone who's worked to get inactive counties going, the leadership of this party has failed dismally in trying to get people in the 3rd District involved.

Folks are asking for a quick, simple summary of what's happening today: It appears the activist base of the @NEGOP is taking over the state party from the Ricketts establishment.

James Wright, a former Lee Terry staffer who endured the Ron Paul folks taking over the Douglas County GOP, is arguing that Welch has done a lot to pull the party together.

Another delegate is saying this is why our framers created a republic and not a democracy. To avoid mob rule.

Wright called what's happening today a "coup de tat."

One delegate said she might be friends with Dan Welch, that they might get along. But local parties that needed help didn't get it from the state GOP. She said today's meeting was crazy and that happened under his watch.

One of the delegates, Samuel, who was kept from bringing resolutions into the meeting, said this major change is the resolution that wasn't allowed in.

Nancy McCabe, delegate in Douglas, defended Welch and said he's a strong fundraiser. He's raised money to spend on candidates. How many Republicans have won in Lancaster County under Eric's watch?

Welch: In my last minutes as the chair, I get it. There are a number of people who have come together in a democratic way and determined that there needs to be leadership. "Many of you feel that you've been wronged. This was a well-planned, well-orchestrated effort."

Welch: The party itself, the NEGOP, is an extremely strong entity. In the seven years I've been there, we hold almost every major office in the entire state. We hit all 93 counties and worked so very hard to get us where we're at.

Welch: I know people are upset with staff, but can you imagine the job staff has to do to take care of the party in this day and age. The NEGOP was very neutral. Much of this emanates, I believe, comes from the belief that we weren't. (Crowd groans.)

Welch: People who know us like us. So many people who know us like us. Wonder where you're getting your information. "The people you're describing, that's not us."

Welch: My goose is cooked here. I know that. But if you knew me, you'd decide differently. It's been my pleasure to lead this party. Thank you very much.

Also, heard from some folks who disagree that the people taking over the party are its activist base. Want to be clear, many of these folks are a new group of people motivated into state Republican Party politics. These are not the core of who had led the party.

Folks are voting by paper ballot right now on whether to remove Welch, but he just left the building. Welch told the @NE_Examiner and @OWHnews that the party will survive this challenge but that it may take some time. He blamed the tension on a difficult gov primary.

Welch said people believed the NEGOP took sides in the primary. (He didn't name the candidate, but many supporters of Herbster believed the party establishment, like Ricketts, backed Pillen. People who backed Lindstrom also feared the party wasn't fair.)

I'll update you as soon as the vote tallies are read.

There's some delay in getting the vote count.

The word around the hall is they're counting in another room with people on both sides of the debate watching.

They're returning with results. Could be close. Thing to remember here is that people who wanted to send the party a message might not all blame Welch.

Some blame others, including Ricketts.

Pam Dingman: Vote to remove Dan Welch, 204-124. Welch is removed.

They are now opening nominations for new chair. The state GOP chairs of the 1st and 2nd Districts just resigned. Lancaster County GOP chair Eric Underwood is nominated. KFAB talk radio host Ian Swanson nominated Ron Schmidt?sp?.

3rd CD state GOP rep Ron Schmidt. Fanchon Blythe: I'm amazed the NEGOP nominated Schmidt. You didn't want to help him before.

Delegate from Lancaster talking about Eric Underwood: I was a candidate. I did not win. Lost by 700 votes to a union member who had help. He put so much effort into it. We had 600 delegates signed up for our convention. 400 showed up. He will fight.

Delegate: None of us wanted to do this, least of all Eric.

Another delegate: Eric Underwood has an ability to bring people together and have a focused, attainable goal.

(Critics of Underwood say he has a bad record of getting people elected. Others defend him and say he's been in office less than a year.)

Lot of people defending the Lancaster County GOP for its energy and enthusiasm. Delegate: We have Republicans in all these races and we are going to win. Just because you have 30 years or experience, doesn't mean a damn thing.

Robert Borer, former NE Secretary of State candidate: An election that is not verifiable is not an election. Eric is my candidate. (He also talked without sharing evidence of why he believes so about election problems he sees in urban counties.)

Schmidt is speaking now: I respect Eric but not this process. There was a process in place that was a better process to get this done. I don't want to burn the house down. We have a great group, and we can work very well together. You've heard me that we need to organize the 3rd.

Schmidt: We need to work together. We need to do this in a positive way, not a negative way. We can do this in a better way. I would like to be a part of that better way.

Hearing about a massive wave of resignations from leadership posts in the party. What I understand right now is that 1st District Chair John Orr and 2nd District Chair Nancy McCabe have resigned. So have Assistant state party chair Darlene Starman ...

Other resignations already include Party Secretary Paul Burger and Party Treasurer Rod Krogh. The party people here now are voting between Underwood and Schmidt for the new chair of the party. They may have to start from scratch.

Another party leadership resignation: Former State Sen. John Kuehn resigned as assistant chairman.

Hearing now that a couple of members of the State Central Committee of the state GOP have resigned.

Trenton Snow, another assistant chairman, has resigned. (Sorry had to put it in the thread.)

National committeewoman Lydia Brasch just resigned from her post with the state GOP as well.

Lancaster County GOP Chairman Eric Underwood has been elected chair of the @NEGOP 195-113-4. Schmidt got 113. Welch got 4. Another two people voted for neither.

Underwood: There's a lot of division. I will work with people on what they want. Looking forward to transforming this party and being part of something that is historic.

Underwood: I'm asking you to give me the opportunity to earn your trust as people and conservative Republicans in our ethics and integrity to come together and show what we really are made of.

Underwood: "We need to get Republicans elected. We need to get conservative Republicans elected that believe in our values." We will use that platform to define what we are as Republicans.

Underwood: When you speak to the values of a conservative Republican and the values of the people of Nebraska, that is a way to resonate with them. That is a way to move this party forward. In Lancaster County, we have been making great strides.

Underwood: Let's bring alliances together. Let's do that as conservative Republicans. I honestly believe that every single name that's on those posters over there, that in some way we can find a way to connect with them on our values as well.

Underwood: I'm calling you to look at those posters and say those are our representatives. Even the division we've seen the past year and before that, that we come together. Want to make Pillen, Bacon and Flood. Also looking at local elections and school boards.

Underwood: Jim Pillen is our governor-elect, and we are going to do what we can to elect him governor.

Underwood: We can only do it together. I will spend the next five or six months working on this. I will sit down and I will earn your trust to lead this party so we can have the biggest red wave that Nebraska has ever seen.

Have now confirmed that @NEGOP Executive Director @gagetaylor has resigned.

Underwood would like to have the resolutions and constitutional amendments come forward.

They now passing a group of NEGOP constitutional amendments, except 11. They're going to talk about that one, about how to pick who gets to be a delegate at convention after county party conventions. Some don't want the state party apparatus to pick.

And the @negop will be looking for a new lawyer. Dave Lopez has resigned.

All the NEGOP constitutional amendments were passed as delegates were presented them. Now moving onto resolutions.

They're going to pull and discuss the suggested change to a bicameral legislature.

They're talking amendments to the resolutions. They're discussing changes to require hand-counting of ballots, which could sharply delay results.

Delegates are saying they want results by 11p night of the election and hand-counting. (I don't know physically how that is possible without hiring a ton of staff.)

One delegate from Sarpy County said going back to hand counting would be ridiculous and take much longer than 11p.

Amendment: It will say the @negop supports the use of hand-counting ballots to be accurate and fair in the counting of ballots.

Now they're talking about making sure the hand counting is done under continual video surveillance. The number of friendly amendments are tough to keep up with.

They're talking about trying to fix or kill a mental health services resolution. Some folks want to have the party say juveniles and adults need more help and need more insurance coverage for treatment.

I'm taking a little break to write.

Coming back to say they are split on postponing the bicameral resolution indefinitely.

Looks like the postponement might have the votes.

They punted on the unicameral one. And on some others. They're done.

@threadreaderapp Please unroll