An explosive battle for control of Nebraska's Republican Party is under way with supporters of Ron Paul, libertarians and tea party conservatives attempting to wrest leadership of the party away from Gov. Dave Heineman.
Look for fireworks in Grand Island on July 14 when the GOP holds its state convention, elects party leadership and chooses delegates to the Republican national convention.
Already, there have been behind-the-scenes clashes with the governor at meetings that have not ended well, raising the possibility Heineman could choose to follow his own independent Republican course outside the state party apparatus if his leadership is rejected.
Heineman's endorsement of Omaha attorney Brian Buescher as state chairman is being challenged by John Orr of Blair, who said he could serve as "a bridge between older, established Republicans and the tea party, Ron Paul and liberty groups in the party."
People are also reading…
Orr is the son of former Gov. Kay Orr.
Heineman also has endorsed current GOP State Chairman Mark Fahleson of Lincoln for the post of national committeeman and Darlene Starman of Lincoln as national committeewoman.
In a telephone interview Saturday, the governor said his chief focus is to elect delegates to the national convention who are committed to vote for Mitt Romney for the presidential nomination.
A driving force in the battle over control of the party is the fact that Nebraska could be the last piece in the puzzle required to place Paul's name in nomination for president at the Republican national convention. That would give the Texas congressman the opportunity to showcase his libertarian message prior to the eventual nomination of Romney as the GOP standard-bearer.
"I welcome the tea party and Ron Paul supporters," Heineman said. "That's great for our party. But it's time to be good sports and get behind Governor Romney. I want us to have a state convention that helps get Deb Fischer elected to the Senate, helps Romney win the state and helps re-elect our three Republican congressmen.
"Intra-party squabbles detract from our mission," the governor said.
Although Fahleson would not comment on the behind-the-scenes Republican struggle underway here, he did say that "it is clear that Ron Paul nationally and locally has designated Nebraska to be ground zero."
Paul needs five states to be nominated; he now has four.
Laura Ebke of Crete, chairwoman of the Republican Liberty Caucus in Nebraska, said her fiscally conservative group helped recruit delegates to the state convention and "probably most of them prefer Ron Paul to Mitt Romney."
Heineman was the first governor to endorse Romney's candidacy for the Republican nomination.
Ebke said her organization has "a nice chunk" of the delegates to the convention in Grand Island and conceivably could help form a majority when combined with Republicans who identify themselves with the tea party and the Ron Paul presidential campaign.
"Our organization predates Ron Paul," she said. "We want to return to Goldwater-Reagan fiscal responsibility.
"We believe the state party needs to be changed," she said. "We're not real happy with the establishment."
Ebke confirmed that "the governor let us know he wasn't too happy" with the challenge to his leadership during a meeting in Omaha Tuesday night.
At a legislative fundraising event earlier that evening, Heineman was overheard exchanging sharp words with Republican heavyweight Hal Daub, whose role in the intra-party struggle is unclear. According to two people who were there, when Daub later attempted to put his arm around Heineman, the governor pushed him away.