Voters’ Anger Over Shutdown Is Inspiring Democrats to Run
By MICHAEL WINES, NYT
OMAHA — Nebraska has not elected a Democrat to the House of Representatives since 1994, and until this month, prospects for changing that were dim at best. Of the state’s three House seats, a Democrat has a fighting chance only in the district encompassing Omaha and its suburbs. And the party’s sole hope there, Omaha’s popular City Council president, had declared that he was not going to run.
But suddenly, the Council president, Pete Festersen, has jumped into the 2014 race against an eight-term incumbent Republican. And a Lincoln lawyer, Dennis Crawford, declared his candidacy in a second Nebraska district where the Republican incumbent also had been unopposed. Both say their moves are fueled by popular anger over the 16-day Republican-led shutdown of the federal government.
“If I ever see Ted Cruz, all I’m going to say is ‘Thank you, thank you,’ ” Vince Powers, Nebraska’s Democratic Party chairman, said in an interview. “I would’ve been in witness protection, because I didn’t have anybody to run.”
Here and nationally, the Democratic Party is enjoying something of a boomlet in newly declared candidacies for the House. Since Oct. 1, five candidates have lined up to contest Republican-held seats, with at least four more in the wings, Democratic officials say. Almost all say they are driven to run — ostensibly, at least — by disgust over the shutdown, first espoused by Senator Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, and embraced by Tea Party Republicans in the House and, eventually, most others as well.
(More here.)
OMAHA — Nebraska has not elected a Democrat to the House of Representatives since 1994, and until this month, prospects for changing that were dim at best. Of the state’s three House seats, a Democrat has a fighting chance only in the district encompassing Omaha and its suburbs. And the party’s sole hope there, Omaha’s popular City Council president, had declared that he was not going to run.
But suddenly, the Council president, Pete Festersen, has jumped into the 2014 race against an eight-term incumbent Republican. And a Lincoln lawyer, Dennis Crawford, declared his candidacy in a second Nebraska district where the Republican incumbent also had been unopposed. Both say their moves are fueled by popular anger over the 16-day Republican-led shutdown of the federal government.
“If I ever see Ted Cruz, all I’m going to say is ‘Thank you, thank you,’ ” Vince Powers, Nebraska’s Democratic Party chairman, said in an interview. “I would’ve been in witness protection, because I didn’t have anybody to run.”
Here and nationally, the Democratic Party is enjoying something of a boomlet in newly declared candidacies for the House. Since Oct. 1, five candidates have lined up to contest Republican-held seats, with at least four more in the wings, Democratic officials say. Almost all say they are driven to run — ostensibly, at least — by disgust over the shutdown, first espoused by Senator Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, and embraced by Tea Party Republicans in the House and, eventually, most others as well.
(More here.)
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1 Comments:
While Pete Festersen may give Terry Lee a challenge, with over a half-million in campaign cash, Lee starts off with a big advantage ... plus he got press coverage for the Obamacare roll-out fiasco and Keystone which should offset his statement that he could not afford to not take his pay during the shutdown.
It's early, but I think Lee will win again.
But rather than look at Nebraska, what about Minnesota .... where a DCCC poll showed Paulsen being threatened by a "generic" Democrat ... but that poll was released weeks ago, and still no candidate. Paulsen meantime continues to rake in the cash ... with well over a million on hand.
John Kline has a primary challenger and three candidates competing for the DFL slot ... but with $1.3M on hand, he has roughly a $1.2M advantage over his best funded challenger.
Voters may be angry, but that does not mean that the House will change ... in fact, the anger is not just at Republicans but also at Democrats. In the throw-the-bums-out mood, Walz and Nolan could have problems.
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