Another new political party is collecting signatures to form in Nebraska, this one with a potential for conservative appeal.
On Wednesday, July 1, the Nebraska Secretary of State’s Office received an affidavit for the formation of the “America First Party,” a cornerstone phrase closely associated with President Donald Trump and a nationalist political bent.
The party stated its purpose is to provide voters with a political organization “committed to putting Americans and Nebraskans ahead of all others by cracking down on out-of-control government spending and wasteful foreign aid, getting tough on illegal immigrants, standing up against abortion, and rigidly defending the Second Amendment.”
Its self description echoes many planks of Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign and priorities of his second term in the White House.
In uncanny timing, a separate new political party filed last week to form named the “Nebraska Working People Party,” with several outstanding questions remaining on its origins and ties.
The application to form the America First Party lists its official sponsor as John D. Cartier.
Cartier may be a familiar name to Nebraska political observers. He is a Lincoln-based constitutional lawyer who received his Juris Doctor from the University of Nebraska College of Law. Last year, he ran as a Democrat to represent District 1 on the Lincoln Public Schools Board, losing in the May general election.
That same month, he began serving as the Attorney General for the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska, a federally recognized Native American nation with over 5,000 members. The Omaha Reservation stretches over 300 square miles, primarily in Thurston County, extending into Cuming and Burt counties, as well as Monona County, Iowa.
Cartier also has legal experience in litigation related to cannabis and hemp regulations. The tribe made headlines in July 2025 after unanimously passing regulations to establish the state’s first fully legal and regulated medical and adult-use cannabis system.
Since the historic move, Cartier has been locked in a legal dispute with the state’s Attorney General Mike Hilgers. Hilgers called the tribe last November saying “his main job is to stop the spread of cannabis in the state of Nebraska,” Cartier told MJBizDaily.
“People are angry and tired of the bullsh*t,” Cartier told Courier Nebraska when reached for comment on filing day. “The America First Party is here to give voters options.”
While adopting apparent right-wing branding, skeptics may reverse similar spoiler allegations levied towards the Nebraska Working Peoples Party, which has been accused by state Democrats and progressives for allegedly being backed by groups aligned with US Sen. Pete Ricketts in an apparent attempt to muddy the election-waters and redirect votes away from Dan Osborn.
According to Cartier’s bio on the Omaha Tribes website, he previously served as General Counsel for the For Our Future Action Fund, supporting “pro-labor candidates and progressive policy efforts” during key election cycles.
This wouldn’t be the first party with the name in American history. An isolationist, far-right party of the same name was established in 1943, running Gerald L. K. Smith in the 1944 U.S. presidential election. The party was dissolved and renamed the Christian Nationalist Party in 1947.
An “America First Party” qualified to operate in Florida in May 2025. Its registration has grown rapidly to nearly 8,000 registrants since.
Similar to the other new party working to form in Nebraska, questions around its ties and backing have arisen.
In a statement posted online, the Nebraska Republican Party distanced itself from this proposed America First Party, pointing the finger at Nebraska Democrats and their party chair Jane Kleeb, calling this party an attempt to “trick conservative voters.”
“Nebraskans see right through it,” wrote Mary Jane Truemper, NEGOP Chair.
Reached by Courier Nebraska on Wednesday, Kleeb said she “had no idea this party was being formed.”
“We are laser focused on the hundreds of Democrats running across the state up and down the ballot. No matter how many parties get formed with billionaire backers, we are organizing and mobilizing a coalition of voters to end the corrupt one-party Republican rule,” she said.
This new party petition, similar to the other, will have to blitz its signature gathering efforts to collect 6,728 signatures from registered in-state voters by July 15 in order to appoint candidates to run in US House and Senate races this November.
That number will need to represent 1% of the votes cast for Governor in the most recent election, in each of the state’s three Congressional Districts:
- Congressional District #1 – 2,262 signatures required
- Congressional District #2 – 2,200 signatures required
- Congressional District #3 – 2,266 signatures required
This year’s midterm election is set for November 3. Read the full filing affidavit and sample petition below.
