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REPUBLICANS
ECHO
SIMILAR THEMES
© 1997 Joe
Murray |
Wauneta - An
enthusiastic crowd battled the cold wind and rain
to fill the Wauneta American Legion Hall Sunday
afternoon for the Republican Party picnic. The
afternoon began with an hour of informal
conversation with a good number of the Republican
candidates for Governor, Lt. Governor, State
Treasurer, and the 44th district seat
(currently held by Owen Elmer, who is retiring).
After an hour, the formal festivities began.
Each candidate present or a supporter gave a
three-minute speech. The speeches offered little
in distinctions on the issues, as the candidates
echoed many of the same themes. These themes were
that government is too big and taxes are too
high, especially property taxes. They stressed
that, as much as possible, government should be
controlled at the local community level. These
common Republican themes were well received by
the mostly Republican crowd. After the speeches
were over, there was a formal question-and-answer
period followed by a five dollar per plate dinner
and more informal talk of politics.
CANDIDATES FOR GOVERNOR
Lavern Bartels - Bartels is a native of
Johnson County and grew up on a family farm.
After two years on active duty in the Army, he
started a carpentry business that he has run for
thirty-five years. In addition, he owns a farm
and a hedge post business. His wife, Eloise, is
the owner of a variety and clothing store. They
have five married children and thirteen
grandchildren. He is an experienced politician,
having served for twelve years as mayor of his
hometown of Tecumseh. As governor, he pledged to
reduce the size of government, lower taxes, and
says he is "100% pro-life."
John Breslow - Breslow was unable to
attend the picnic, but was represented by his
wife, Sonia. They have three daughters. Mrs.
Breslow drew laughter from the crowd when she
said, "John jokes that living with four
women has given him the valuable skills that will
be helpful for him, if he becomes governor."
Breslow is a graduate of the University of
Nebraska. He is owner and chairman of the board
of Linweld, which is a Lincoln-based
company that sells welding products and
manufactures industrial and medical gases. Linweld
employs over 300 people.
Breslow was elected State Auditor in 1990 as a
Democrat with 65% of the vote. Later, he switched
to the Republican party and ran unopposed for
re-election in 1994. He formally launches his
campaign this week with a statewide tour. In
terms of money and statewide recognition, he is
the early front-runner for the nomination as he
has already raised more than a million dollars.
He favors lower taxes and spending. Breslow
pledges in his campaign literature to cut state
spending by 5 percent each year, but doesn’t
say what programs he will cut. He supports term
limits and is pro-life, including the promotion
of adoption and pregnancy centers.
 |
Jon Christensen - Christensen,
who resides in Omaha, is in his second
term in the United States Congress.
Because of his success in Washington, his
decision to run for governor came as a
surprise to many. Christensen responds
that "after three and a half years
in Washington, it is time to come
home." |
He grew up on a farm in St. Paul,
Nebraska. He attended Midland Lutheran
College, then law school at the
University of Texas. Before entering
politics, he worked in the insurance
industry. He pledges to lower taxes,
if elected governor. He says, "I
have the experience to cut taxes because
we went to Washington, said we’d cut
taxes, and we did." He further feels
that state government needs a structural
overhaul. In education, he opposes Goals
2000. He favors local control of
education. He has voted for and supports
IRA accounts for parents that can
withdraw funds for educational expenses
at the school of their choice, as well as
tax credits. Christensen is a strong
supporter of school choice and would seek
to implement it in Nebraska, if elected
governor. His major regret about entering
politics is that he hasn’t given
enough time to his personal life.
When asked how his experience in
Congress prepared him to be governor,
Christensen replied, "I have learned
to work with 435 strong egos in Congress;
so, I am prepared to work with forty-nine
strong egos in the legislature. If I can
work with Maxine Waters and Barney Frank,
I think I can work with Ernie
Chambers."
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Mike Johanns -
Johanns is a native of Osage, Iowa and
grew up on a dairy farm. He credits his
father with teaching him the value of
working hard and the importance of
family. He attended St. Mary’s
College in Minnesota and the Creighton
law school. He practiced law in
O’Neill for a couple of years before
joining a law firm in Lincoln.
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| He entered politics in
1982 when he was elected as a Lancaster
County commissioner. In 1989, he was
elected to the Lincoln City Council. Two
years later, he was elected mayor of
Lincoln and ran unopposed for re-election
in 1995. Johanns' wife, Stephanie, is a
former Lancaster County commissioner and
State Senator. She is currently the
director of communications for Aliant
Communications. He has two children from
a former marriage. His son, Justin, is
nineteen. His daughter, Michaela, is
fifteen.
If elected governor, Johanns promises
to work hard to reduce the size of state
government and lower taxes. He feels
government should be streamlined so that
there is sufficient funding for programs
that the citizens want. He cites his
record as an executive in the state's
largest city as the reason he is the
best-suited candidate to be governor. He
claims to have lowered Lincoln's property
taxes for four years in a row and turned
a deficit into a twenty million dollar
surplus.
Also, he hired fifty-two police
officers while cutting jobs in other
areas of city government in order to pay
for it. Like John Breslow, he is a former
Democrat. He says he favors local control
of government; but, as president of the
League of Nebraska Municipalities,
Johanns has supported consolidation of
local government. Under his direction, he
has sought to assert more and more
control over rural Lancaster County.
Also, he upset some Lincoln citizens by
pushing through a large expansion of the
County/City Building.
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LT. GOVERNOR
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Matt Butler - was
unable to attend the picnic because his
wife, Shawn, was expecting a baby at any
minute. They know it will be a boy that
they will name "Ben." Butler
also has a stepson named T.J. Butler was
represented by his campaign manager, Doug
Patton, who is the former director of the
Nebraska Coalition. |
Also present to support Butler was Jimmy
Wilson, who is a retired police officer.
Wilson’s son, a third generation
Omaha police officer, was murdered in the
line of duty. Wilson has started a
foundation to support law enforcement.
Butler has shared both his time and money
in helping Wilson’s cause. Wilson
says, "Butler is a businessman that
truly cares about his community. He just
doesn’t mouth the words. He does
something about it. Warren Buffet
wouldn’t help, but Matt did."
Butler has contributed $40,000 of his own
money to the cause. Butler went with
Wilson to Lincoln and Washington to speak
with the legislature and President
Clinton. Butler is an Omaha native. He
has a degree in journalism from the
University of Kansas and is a graduate of
the Harvard Business School. He spent two
years as a Navy officer in the early
80's. After getting out of the Navy in
1983, he became a partner in a computer
franchise in Chicago. From 1985-1988, he
was an actor. Then, in 1988, he returned
to Omaha to join the family businesses,
which are Hunt Transportation and Happy
Cab Company. Hunt Transportation
operates 300 over-the-road trucks,
specializing in agricultural and
construction machinery. Happy Cab,
based in Omaha, is the largest cab
company in the state.
Butler sums up his reason for running
with this statement: "Basically,
I’m an angry business man who
finally said, 'enough,' to excessive
regulation taxation and the general
failure to deal with crime and the break
down of our values. I’m pro-life,
pro-family and pro-business. Nebraskans
deserve better than what we’ve been
getting out of the state government, and
I'm ready to put my experience to work
for all of us."
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Kevin Fry - Fry is the only
candidate so far, from either party running for
state office, that resides in the 3rd
congressional district. Fry lives in Ewing, which
is 20 miles east of O’Neill. He was
accompanied by his young school-age son, Bo. Fry
said, "You can recognize Bo because he is
the one missing a tooth."
Fry grew up on a dairy farm and attended the
University of Nebraska Agricultural College. He
operates a fertilizer business that he started in
1982. Fry says, "It wasn’t the best
time to start an agriculture related business,
with the high interest rates, but we struggled
through." He has been active in politics,
having served as the 3rd district
Republican Party Chairman. In his speech, Fry
promised to "uphold Republican values of
faith, family and freedom."
Also, he stressed that the State needs to get
a grip on the rapid growth of government
spending. He said that, since 1975, government
spending has increased at an average rate of 9%
per year from 331 million to almost 2 billion
dollars.
Elliott Rustad, MD - Rustad is a
Lincoln dermatologist who has lived in Nebraska
for twenty-five years. He decided to live in
Nebraska after attending a Husker Football game.
He says, "I loved the Husker spirit and the
conservative people of Nebraska."
He is concerned about issues such as
education, violence, and abortion. He wants to
run for office because he decided, "if
somebody is going to do something, why not
me?" He is familiar with the entire state
because he travels throughout the state to places
like North Platte and assists at medical clinics
and in health education. His wife is active in
the Christian Coalition. She also works as a
child advocate to stop violence against children.
Rustad sees the role of Lt. Governor as a bridge
between the legislature and a Republican
Governor.
STATE TREASURER
Dave Heineman - Heineman is the incumbent
State Treasurer and is seeking re-election. He is
unopposed in the Republican primary. Heineman
stressed his achievements while in office. He has
reformed the way the government handles the money
it receives. When they receive a check drawn on
one of the four largest banks in the state, it is
taken directly to the bank to be deposited.
Heineman claims this has caused eighty million
dollars to be immediately invested. He also
talked about improving the way unclaimed property
is claimed.
Heineman is a native Nebraskan who has lived
in both McCook and Benkelman. His home is
Fremont. He is married to a school principal and
has a 12-year-old son. He got his start in
politics while working for Congressmen Bereuter
and Daub. He is a graduate of West Point and
served 5 years in the Army.
STATE AUDITOR
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Kate
Witek - Witek was
scheduled to attend the picnic, but her
flight was canceled due to the poor
weather. She is a State Senator and ran
for Lt. Governor in 1994. She is from
Omaha and has a conservative record on
both economic and social issues. |
44th
DISTRICT LEGISLATIVE CANDIDATES
Tom Baker - Baker is a 5th
generation Nebraskan from Trenton. He is a farmer
and businessman. He feels that we can cut some
programs that are unnecessary while maintaining
essential programs that are needed. He says,
"We, the people working together, can
control spending."
In addition, he thinks a key issue facing the
district is water rights. He wants to keep local
control over the water and protect Nebraskans
against the lawsuit brought by Kansas.
He drew smiles when he ended his speech by
saying that his wife was waving at him to tell
him his three minutes were up. Baker has not
formally announced that he is running, but plans
to make it official later this fall.
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Steve Smith - Smith
is an Imperial businessman making his
second run for the legislature. In his
speech, he spoke of the bright
possibilities the future has for America
and Nebraska. "Technology will
greatly effect the future of our area.
These changes will be as significant as
the invention of the alphabet." |
Also, he was concerned that 85% of high
school graduates leave the state. He
believes that the kids would stay home
"if technological advances and
businesses were brought into rural
areas." In response to a question
about what he thought should be done with
the budget surplus of the state, Smith
replied, "I would give it back to
the people." For further information
about Smith, read the related
story in Sodbuster about his
announcement to run. |
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Breslow's campaign page:
http://www.breslow.com/
Christensen's congressional page
http://www.house.gov/christensen/
Johann's campaign page
http://www.johanns98.com/
Butler's campaign page
http://www.mattbutler.com/
Heineman's State Treasurer site
http://www.nebraska.treasurer.org/
Smith's campaign page
http://www.chase3000.com/steve/register.htm
Other good links can be found at the Sludge
section.
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