Mayoral Race Down to Two

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let the big game begin. The match for Omaha's next mayor,
the incumbent Republican Jean Stothard against the longtime county treasurer
Democrat John Ewing. They emerged from a pack of five
contenders to face off. To many, half of this match
was a surprise. The odds on favorite to at least
make the playoffs was Mike McDonald, the retired fire union

(00:23):
boss state senator. He finished a distant third. What happened?
He was a man without a city. His flip from
dogmatic Democrat to foe Republican alienated his South Omaha base.
He left them, and Republicans got mad when he balked
at the winner take all electoral College vote, and they
were always skeptical about his conversion. So out goes McDonald.

(00:45):
Incomes Ewing, the likable, steady, former cop and ordained minister
who has earned over seven hundred thousand American votes in
his four elections as Douglas County Treasurer. He ran for
Congress against Lee ten in twenty twelve. Remember actually one
more votes in Douglas County that year. Terry made up

(01:06):
for it by winning Sarpie County and taken the election
by less than two percentage points. It was the last
election Terry would win. We are used to seeing Ewing
on the ballot, and familiarity is political gold. The geography
favors him. Yes, this is a purple community, but more
and more of Omaha's corps is manned by Democrats and

(01:29):
left a leaning independence. A lot of Republicans live in
Sids or Sarpie County, ineligible to vote people like John Ewing.
The check we have to write when licensing a car
or covering property tax, notwithstanding, is about the extent of
our irritation with the county Treasurer's office. They rarely lose

(01:50):
anybody's money. Nobody has embezzled anything, So trying to paint
Ewing is bad at his job may not stick. So
should geene Stouth just concede the election today and save
us all a lot of trouble. Let's hold off on
that call just yet. He has vulnerabilities as treasurer. Ewing
stepped in it a couple of times. Three years ago,

(02:12):
several local school districts sued him and his office, claiming
that they were underpaid for utility fees by eleven million dollars,
while other districts were overpaid. Ewing admitted he didn't understand
the payout formulas for utility funds. Not good. It reminds

(02:32):
us that he has virtually no business experience. He's never
worked in the private sector. Yes, he manages the Treasurer's office,
but it is so restricted by statute. The treasure has
very little policy or executive slack. He subscribes to the
liberal orthodoxy. He was a Kamala Harris Tim Walls delegate

(02:53):
at the Democrat National Convention this summer. He preaches public safety,
but will that be about punishing criminals or creating diversion programs?
And if he is elected, he'll have a Democrat majority
on the city Council. Imagine the fallout from that. But
what about the metrics of this election, Rosie. Won't all

(03:13):
of the non stothared voters flock to him? Maybe maybe not?
Just who did vote for McDonald and Jasmine Harris In
the case of McDonald, MAGA Republicans, blue collar workers South
Omaha union families, but not many, and their loyalty to
McDonald will not extend to a liberal Democrat. Harris's small

(03:35):
circle was likely hard left activists whose vote was in
protest of the Republican Stothard and her tough on crime policies.
How many of them will simply stay home rather than
vote for an ex policeman. The Stothard campaign does have chores.
They need to carpet bomb west Omaha and kidnap voters

(03:56):
haul them to the polls. Twenty five percent voter turnout
is deplorable and thanks largely to Republicans staying home. There
was little competition among the three west Omaha City Council seats,
which also depressed turnout. If no more than twenty five
percent show up in the general, this could be a
long night for everybody. If you didn't vote, are you

(04:18):
good with one fourth of the eligible voters deciding for you?