LINCOLN — Nebraska will likely have two new political parties as efforts by two groups met the petition signature threshold, the state Secretary of State’s Office announced Friday.
The office, in a press release, said Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen has sent letters to organizers of the America First Party and Nebraska Working People Party notifying them of next steps.
Both efforts needed to collect around 6,700 signatures to become an official party.
Now, each party has 20 days to submit a party constitution, bylaws and list of officers to the Secretary of State’s Office. The deadline for party organizers to submit those documents is Aug, 27, after which they can officially become state parties.
The person behind the Nebraska Working People Party effort is registered Democrat Robin Richards, according to paperwork submitted to the Secretary of State’s Office. The sponsor for the America First Party is Omaha Tribe Attorney General John Cartier, who is treasurer of the campaign for Legal Marijuana NOW Party’s U.S. Senate nominee Mike Marvin.
State Democratic Party Chair Jane Kleeb accused Nebraska U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts of being behind the effort to establish the Nebraska Working People Party, saying “there’s only one reason to launch a new party this late, divide the vote and create chaos. Voters see through spoiler games funded by special interests.”
The stated purpose of the Nebraska Working People Party is to provide Nebraska voters with a “political organization dedicated to advancing the interests of working families, middle-class Nebraskans, rural communities, small businesses, farmers, ranchers, and individuals seeking practical solutions to improve economic opportunity, strengthen communities, and promote responsive and accountable government.”
Republicans objected to efforts to establish the America First Party, pointing to Cartier’s connection to Marvin. Republicans have accused Marvin of helping registered nonpartisan U.S. Senate candidate Dan Osborn, thinking he was going to drop out of the race. Marvin is staying in the Senate race.
The America First Party’s stated purpose is to “provide voters with a political organization committed to putting Americans and Nebraskans ahead of all others by cracking down on out-of-control government spending and wasteful foreign aid, getting tough on illegal immigrants, standing up against abortion, and rigidly defending the Second Amendment.”
It’s unclear which races will get candidates from these two new parties. If the parties meet the deadline to submit organization documents, they must name candidates for the Nov. 3 general election by Sept. 1.
Originally published on nebraskaexaminer.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.
Please disable your ad blocker, whitelist our site, or purchase a subscription
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.