One more word, from the GOP executive director

Jordan McGrain, executive eirector of the Nebraska Republican Party, sent me a letter expanding upon Mark Fahleson’s answers to my questions in the previous post. Here it is:

On GOP contributions to Buffington: The NEGOP does not contribute directly to candidates and I don’t believe the state Democrats do either. So direct monetary campaign contributions are an irrelevant measure of support and not indicative of NEGOP participation in any given race.

It was clear after the Primary that the Buffington, Nelson, and Hilty campaigns were not in a position to compete. We did spend money in support of Chad Wright for the only open council seat and came up just short in a tough district where we were outspent 2-1.

On Democrats spending more money: Obviously the NDP campaign was not the result of a strategic decision to spend Party resources in city races – it is very clear that their efforts were funded almost exclusively by the Beutler Committee and the Lincoln Firefighters. Without that support, I doubt the NDP would have been much of a factor. That’s an important part of that discussion.

I see also that Bobbi Kosmicki made a $1500 contribution to the NDP that turned into a $1500 expenditure on her behalf, perhaps an attack on Jon Camp that she didn’t want her name attached to. So, in some cases, NDP participation was the direct result of a monetary contribution from the candidate

And finally to your last question, I wanted to point out that Lee Terry was President of the Omaha City Council when elected to Congress, and Adrian Smith had also served on city council prior to his election to the Legislature and Congress. I believe that validates both your question and Chairman Fahleson’s response.

However, I am curious as to Jim Suttle’s inclusion on your list with Fortenberry and Johanns since there is NO chance Suttle ascends to anything resembling a statewide or federal office!