Move over 2014, 2016 Omaha House race is off and running
Joe Jordan | Nebraska Watchdog
Never mind that the 2014 Omaha House race isn’t officially over—it’s this year’s version of the hanging chad— the 2016 fight has already begun.
Tea partyer Chip Maxwell, who flirted with a 3rd party run earlier this year, announcing early Wednesday (today) that “I am running.”
Yard sign from Chip Maxwell’s short lived 2014 campaign for Congress
According to Maxwell, “The effort to reclaim the seat for the conservative majority in our district begins now.”
All this while GOP Congressman Lee Terry continues to trail Democrat Brad Ashford by 4,100 votes. Terry is refusing to concede until another 15,000 absentee ballots are counted, which might not happen before Friday.
Maxwell says from where he sits it appears Terry has lost.
“I was worried that this would happen. It’s one of the reasons I was going to petition into the race and provide a candidate that the conservative majority in our district – conservative Democrats and Independents as well as Republicans and Libertarians – could get excited about. It was never about hostility toward Lee. It was about losing more ground to the left.”—Chip Maxwell
Last summer Maxwell insisted he had enough signatures to get his name on the ballot but decided at the last minute not to run.
Chip Maxwell on the 2014 campaign trail
At that time Maxwell said he would vote for Terry but not endorse him.
Maxwell’s lukewarm pat on the back was just one more indication that Terry would have trouble securing his Republican base going into Election Day.
Tuesday’s returns—with Terry getting far fewer votes in Douglas County that fellow Republican Ben Sasse—make it clear that Terry was unable to bring many Republicans home.
As for 2016 Maxwell knows beating Ashford won’t be easy.”
“I’ve never agreed with Republicans who have whispered over the years that it would be good for a Democrat to knock off Lee Terry and open things up for other Republicans,” says Maxwell.
“This energizes the local Democratic Party, and the national party will double down to hold the seat in 2016.”
Updated Wednesday 2:30 a.m.
Contact Joe Jordan at joe@nebraskawatchdog.org.
Joe can be heard on Omaha’s KFAB radio every Monday morning at 7:40, KLIN in Lincoln every Tuesday morning at 7:35 and KHAS-AM in Hastings every Wednesday at 7:30 a.m. and 12:45 p.m.
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