Gov. Pete Ricketts said Monday he will support newly elected Republican State Chairman Eric Underwood of Lincoln and will help "make sure that the incoming team has access to all the things he needs to do the job."
Underwood was elected as the party's new chairman at a rebellious state convention in Kearney on Saturday after a conservative element of the party ousted Dan Welch of Omaha, the governor's longtime choice as chairman, from the position.
Answering a number of questions posed to him during his monthly statewide call-in radio show broadcast on KFOR-AM, Ricketts said he "will look forward to see what he (Underwood) does."
Ricketts said "everybody followed the rules" in deciding to elect new leadership and he believes the change was "done appropriately."
The sudden change in leadership as Ricketts completes his eighth and final year in office dramatically altered the party leadership that the governor largely shaped and led as governor.
The change appeared to have been engineered largely by activist supporters of former President Donald Trump and resulted in the swift resignation of a wide swath of party leaders with the exception of National Committeeman J.L. Spray of Lincoln.
Underwood will complete the remainder of Welch's term, which expires at the end of the year.ÌýÌý