In 2014, he was elected to the Nebraska Legislature, representing a district in the southwestern part of the state, including the city of North Platte.
[3][1] Groene began working for Brothers Equipment Company, a dealer in new and used agricultural implements based in Friend, Nebraska.
[1] In North Platte, Groene co-founded the Western Nebraska Taxpayers Association, which he described as a nonpartisan group with no agenda apart from lowering taxes.
[12][13] In the course of the 2006 campaigns, Groene met Pete Ricketts, who was then making an unsuccessful attempt to win one of Nebraska's U.S. Senate seats from incumbent Ben Nelson.
Discussions between Groene and Ricketts led to the establishment of the Platte Institute for Economic Research, which described itself as "Nebraska's first Free Market think tank".
[14][15][16] In 2014, Groene announced that he would run for a seat in the Nebraska legislature, representing the 42nd District, which was coterminous with Lincoln County.
Under Nebraska's term-limits law, the incumbent, Tom Hansen, was ineligible to run for a third consecutive term.
His campaign website listed endorsements from nine members of the state legislature, including 42nd District incumbent Hansen.
[29] Groene described his victory as unexpected, and attributed it to extensive door-to-door campaigning, and to buying time every week on a local talk-radio show.
Supporters argued that the bill would spur development of Nebraska's wind-power resources, and would boost the economy of rural areas; Groene and other opponents contended that the unreliability of wind power would preclude using it to replace coal plants, and that the $75 million cost of the tax credits would ultimately be borne by ratepayers and taxpayers.
[42][43] In the bill's 29–15 passage, Groene voted against it, stating "Politicians are giving more and more authority to un-elected appointed commissions to avoid having to take a stand on issues.
The bill was withdrawn without an attempt to override the veto; the state auditor agreed to work with the governor on a new version for the next year's session.
Groene stated that his opposition arose from the belief that illegal immigrants "cheat the system and jump the line", and should not be rewarded for this misconduct.
[50][51] Groene resigned his office in February 2022 after being accused of taking sexually inappropriate photographs of a female legislative aide.
[52] Senator Groene is known for unguarded remarks toward constituents and his colleagues in the Legislature, including insults and vulgar hand gestures.
Because constituents were confused about where to complain about Groene's insults, the Lincoln Journal Star printed guidance on the topic.
[57] Atheists criticized Groene's statement, including blogger Hemant Mehta who called it a "startling admission" of the way conservative politicians use religion to manipulate people.
[2] Senator Megan Hunt requested an investigation into the possibility that the incident with the photos represents criminal wrongdoing.
"[60] As of March 2022, police are investigating Groene's state-issued computers based probable cause of official misconduct.