On July 9th delegates from across the state gathered in Kearney, Nebraska for a convention of the State Republican Party. While I did not attend this year’s convention, I was not saddened by the results. Conservative delegates from Lancaster County implemented a well-designed coup to oust party chairman, Dan Welch, and install their own county party leader, Eric Underwood, as the new chairman.

While Welch accepted his removal with poise and dignity, the hostile take-over was a long time coming. Delegates from Nebraska’s third congressional district, which comprises most of rural Nebraska, have long been treated like second class citizens in the State Republican Party. So, when the opportunity arose for them to join forces with a new conservative grassroots movement arising out of Lancaster County, most of the delegates from Nebraska’s third congressional district did not have to think twice about joining forces with them to oust the party leadership.

So, what brought on this coup? Despite what you may have heard, it was not brought on by disgruntled Trump supporters, Herbster supporters, or Lindstrom supporters; instead, it was brought on by party officials who refused to abide by the thing…you know…the thing…the State Party Constitution.

While I cannot speak for all of the Republican delegates across the state, the overwhelming feeling of delegates from Congressional District 3 is one of neglect. Whenever folks from rural Nebraska would try to speak with party officials, the conversation would seem to fall on deaf ears and go nowhere fast. The concerns of Congressional District 3 were never given priority status by state party leaders, and there is no better way to disenfranchise people in politics than to blow them off and show them that you really don’t care about what matters to them, and that is exactly what party officials had done to the people living in rural Nebraska for years.

The party leadership’s lack of concern for the priorities of conservatives in rural Nebraska as well as in Lancaster County could be clearly seen by what transpired after the removal of Welch as the party chairman. A string of resignations immediately followed until all but two individuals were gone. So much for party unity! Then, someone ransacked the state party headquarters in Lincoln, taking a computer, phones, and security cameras, but leaving no evidence of a break-in. While some of the equipment has since been returned, Lincoln police continue to investigate the theft which totaled one thousand dollars.

It is very important to play by the rules. In the days leading up to the convention, Eric Underwood, the Lancaster County Republican Party Chair, indicated that he had studied Roberts Rules of Order very carefully in order to design his take-over of the State Republican Party. In the end his strategy worked. But simply playing by rules doesn’t always earn respect. So, in his acceptance speech, Underwood indicated that he would have to earn the respect of the delegates. Underwood will earn the respect of the delegates in Congressional District 3 by listening to them and including them in party decisions.

Prior to the ousting of Welch, state party leaders had engaged in several tactics which only caused delegates at the convention to further question the integrity of their party leaders. For example, in the weeks prior to the convention, the Resolutions Committee had only sent out the resolutions by email to a fraction of the delegates, and the Credentialling Committee had mailed out six denial letters to unseat six candidates at the convention. Then, they contracted with the Kearney Police Department to keep these undesirables out of the Younes Conference Center. So, when Matt Innis tried to enter the building to watch the convention from the visitor’s section, he was promptly taken down and arrested in the parking lot. Delegates on the convention floor voted to overrule the Credentialling Committee, Innis posted bail, and then he was seated on the convention floor despite the Credentialing Committee’s desire to keep him out. In the end, all six undesirables were voted back in and were seated at the convention.

I share these things with you today in order to show you how democracy works to promote healthy representation in a republican form of government. When Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, he penned these words about the need of the people to overthrow despots, “…it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide for new Guards for their future security.” This is what the delegates of the State Republican Party did in Kearney, Nebraska one week ago, and it will happen again whenever party officials forget about the people they are supposed to serve.