Omaha: antigay councilwoman Jean Stothert, who has vowed to repeal city's new gay antidiscrimination law, defeats staunch ally of gay Omahans, Mayor Jim Suttle

Pro-gay Omaha incumbent Jim Suttle concedes mayoral race to
Jean Stothert, an opponent of city's new gay antidiscrimination
ordinance, which she has promised to repeal. (WOWT)

Postmortem: Joe Jordan of tells KMTV how Stothert won. Also: homophobic NE AG fined $19,000 by FEC.

Stothert rode to victory on a wave of heavy turnout in Republican West Omaha, a sharp contrast to the stay-at-homes in more Democratic North and South Omaha.
     Two dark money groups, Omaha Tomorrow  and the Nebraska Leadership Forum, ran interference for Stothert with relentless attack ads against Mayor Suttle. Another had attacked Stothert herself in the primary for being insufficiently conservative.

Jean Stothert's parody twitter account is nasty enough to
have won a follow from GOP Darth Vader Karl Rove.

     A Democratic party worker of AKSARBENT's acquaintance said about 25% of Democrats he canvassed said they would vote for Stothert, who will be Omaha's first female mayor, if you don't count Anne Boyle.
     Gay-friendly incumbent mayor Suttle conceded the race shortly after 9 pm Tuesday night, at which point Stothert had 57% of the vote.
     Suttle, who pushed for an unpopular restaurant tax which kept the city's finances on an even keel following the financial meltdown of 2008, is credited by many for saving East Omaha from rampaging Missouri River flooding in 2011 by dint of his indefatigable determination in shoring up and monitoring levees 24/7 throughout a perilous summer.
     Stothert, accused of stalling a North Omaha jobs project to give a local businessman  more leverage in selling land to the city at an inflated price for said project (after accepting a $10,000 contribution from him), now also stands accused by Omaha's police union of violating the city's open meetings law during her recent council tenure.
     Councilman Ben Gray, architect of employment and public accommodation protection for gay Omahans, was retained, as were Peter Festersen, Chris Jerram and Gerry Gernandt, who dramatically switched his vote at the last minute, joining Gray's coalition to prevail in passing the gay-inclusive extension of the city's nondiscrimination ordinance. No Omaha council member who voted for gay rights lost his seat.
     Council President Tom Mulligan, who voted against the ordinance change, was defeated in the primary race;  Franklin Thompson, who also sided with Stothert against the LGBT community, was returned to office.

Awodele, right, in Stothert campaign ad

     Sothert's television campaign featured antigay activist Femi Awodele, a board member of the Nebraska Family Council, who argued before the City Council during an ordinance change hearing that gay people don't fit the legal definition of a minority — despite the fact that they have employment protection in about 170 US cities.
     Awodele also cited a study by the University of Nebraska Medical Center as evidence that gays have too much money to be considered a legitimate minority, which echoed remarks Jean Stothert made herself (see above video) before she voted against equal employment rights for gay Omahans in 2012.
     Apparently Sothert has promised the Omaha Liberty Project, in which Awodele is also a mover and shaker, and which is gathering signatures to repeal the nondiscrimination ordinance, that she will work to support its efforts to repeal recent LGBT employment and public accommodation rights extended in Omaha.

Click graphic to enlarge for readability.

(Suttle Campaign via Progressive Oasis)