A jury found Nebraska's Republican Party defamed one of its own candidates in 2020

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. 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.