The Nebraska Examiner ran a story about a court case in which one faction of the state Republican Party financed a mailing against a candidate from another faction.
From the article:
“The jury awarded candidate Janet Palmtag of Nebraska City $500,000 in damages for the impact on her business and personal life from the mailers, which claimed she “broke the law” and “lost” her real estate license and was unfit to become a state senator.
“The claims were based on a 2017 case before the Iowa Real Estate Commission in which Palmtag, the owner of a real estate firm that operated in Nebraska, Missouri and Iowa, agreed to pay a $500 fine on behalf of her firm to resolve a mistake made by one of its agents.
“At the time, that agent was gravely ill and had failed to obtain all the signatures necessary to transfer an earnest deposit for the sale of a home in Iowa.
“During closing arguments, Palmtag’s attorney, Dave Domina of Omaha, said the Nebraska GOP had shown a ‘reckless disregard for the facts’ in its campaign fliers because Palmtag never “lost” her license. He said she had voluntarily chosen not to renew her Iowa license or her firm’s license there in 2019 due to a lack of business in the Hawkeye State…
“After the verdict, [winner’s attorney Dave] Domina — one of the state’s most prominent attorneys and a former Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate — said he hoped the decision would serve as a warning to political consultants, political professionals and candidates about the claims they make in campaigns.
“’We cannot have “our facts.’” Facts are facts — not yours or mine,’ he said. ‘It is long past time for our discourse to return to this essential home base.’”
