A jury found Nebraska's Republican Party defamed one of its own candidates in 2020
Source: Associated Press
A jury found Nebraska’s Republican Party defamed one of its own candidates in 2020
By MARGERY A. BECK
Updated 5:56 PM EDT, April 21, 2025
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A jury has found that the Nebraska Republican Party defamed one of its own candidates during an ugly legislative race five years ago and ordered it to pay her $500,000.
The Lancaster County jury sided with Janet Palmtag on Friday in her defamation lawsuit against the party. Palmtag sued after the Nebraska GOP sent out campaign mailers in October 2020 falsely claiming she had been charged with mishandling business trust accounts and had lost her Iowa real estate license.
At the time, Palmtag had been a lifelong Republican who was challenging fellow Republican and then-state Sen. Julie Slama of Peru, who had been appointed by and was backed by former Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts.
-snip-
The party’s mailers, sent to about 3,200 households of registered voters, included statements that Palmtag “broke the law and lost her real estate license,” and that her license had been “revoked.” The mailers also described Palmtag as “too irresponsible to keep her license.”
-snip-
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/republican-candidate-lawsuit-award-nebraska-ad5615ecf1887b6faa339908333c1d31
= new reply since forum marked as read
