By Heather Nasif
Shortly after 8 p.m. several men, including former Mayor Hal Daub, clustered around a small TV to watch the first wave of results come in. Cheers erupted as early reports had Rep. Lee Terry Jr., R-Neb., taking 52 percent of the vote.
The Firefighters Union Hall at 60th Street and Grover Street, site of Lee Terry’s election night party, is packed tight with volunteers, supporters and multi-colored balloons.
The party is the end to months of careful campaigning and focused strategy. The Terry campaign had an unprecedented mix of factors that significantly changed the face of the campaign, including younger voters turning out in record numbers and the worst economy in decades.
Terry, like many other republicans around the nation, also had to fight against the extremely low polling numbers of President Bush. Senior economic advisor Richard Carter said it has been an additional challenge this year, but they combated that by highlighting Terry’s accomplishments and keeping the campaign positive.
“Lee Terry is very anti-negative campaigning,” Carter said. “Lee just wanted to focus on the issues.”
Terry showed his commitment to positive campaigning when he went to the National Republican Congressional Committee to ask that they discontinue an ad featuring Jim Esch’s arrest for driving under the influence, according to a news release sent out by Dave Brown of the Terry campaign.
Carter said the Terry campaign wanted to focus on the differences between Terry and his opponent. Carter referenced the Republican congressman’s long history of experience in Washington, highlighting Terry’s commitment to energy initiatives. According to LeeTerry.com, Terry has co-sponsored seven pieces of legislation that increases funding and support for energy independence. Energy independence is a key piece of Terry’s platform.
Carter also noted that the economic situation in Omaha has been better than the rest of the country. According to an AP piece published today on Yahoo’s web site, six in 10 voters ranked the economy as their top concern. No other major issue including Iraq, terrorism or health care were ranked as most important by more than one in 10 voters.
Terry supporter Angie Deck, a 31-year-old teacher at Underwood Hills Focus School at 9030 Western Ave, voted for Terry because she said he is an education focused representative.
“I appreciate that Lee supports education and the betterment of education in our state and the country,” she said.
