Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Omaha Mayor primary race: Antigay rights GOP challenger Jean Stothert spanks progay Dem incumbent Jim Suttle

Also: how other Omaha pro/antigay candidates did. 



City Council member Jean Stothert led a field of GOP candidates to trounce incumbent Democratic Mayor Jim Suttle in an nonpartisan election primary with light (61,000) turnout. Omaha voter registration is almost equally divided between Democrats and Republicans and allowed Barack Obama to capture one of the state's electoral votes in 2008, though the feat was not repeated in 2012. (Nebraska and Maine can split their electoral votes.) Turnout yesterday was higher among Republicans.
     Stothert was one of three councilmembers who voted against Omaha's new gay antibias law, along with Franklin Thompson and Tom Mulligan, who lost his reelection bid by finishing third yesterday.
     Although Nabity and Welch supporters are expected to fall in line behind Stothert, supporters of the independent, conservative, Ashford, are more likely to be swayed by an endorsement by him, which may not necessarily be of Stothert.



For Mayor:
(Dave Nabity and Dan Welch are Republicans who engaged Strothert in a nasty back-and-forth involving a dark money organization from Colorado.)
Jean Stothert: 18,870 (32%)
Jim Suttle: 14,309 (24%)
Dave Nabity: 10,204 17%
Brad Ashford: 7,745 13%
Dan Welch: 7,083 12%

Already, a mysterious, born-yesterday group — Nebraska Leadership Forum — with all the fingerprints of a dark money 501(c)(3) nonprofit, has released an anti-Suttle ad, mimicking the mayor's anti-assault weapon ad. Note the fact that, while trashing Suttle, the ad stays within the guidelines of being "issue based" and does not technically advocate voting for or against Mayor Suttle. KMTV says that airtime for the ad was purchased by Marverick Media of Elkhorn, though our research indicates that Maverick Media appears to be a D.C. organization.

 

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