John Ewing Becomes Mayor Of Omaha!

My pastor told me one day I would be mayor of Omaha.

After running the city of Omaha for 12 years, the Republican incumbent mayor was defeated in a blanket primary against a Democratic county treasurer.

Jean Stothert was mayor of the city of Omaha since 2013. 

Stothert is a Republican. 

Her opponent John Ewing, Jr. the Douglas County treasurer is a Democrat.

He defeated her in a test of how President Donald J. Trump's policies are impacting smaller races. The race is historical.

Ewing will be the first African American mayor of the city. A city of 493,000 residents. It is the largest city in Nebraska. It has a metro area that covers Council Bluffs, Freemont, Waterloo and Glenwood, Iowa.

Carter Lake, an Iowa enclave sits directly in the city of Omaha.

Interstate 80 and Interstate 480 go through Omaha. Interstate 29 travels through Council Bluff, Interstate 680 and Interstate 880 (formerly the continuation of Interstate 680) serve as bypasses through Omaha. They renumbered the section after travelers continued getting confused about the highway aligned with Interstate 29. The Missouri River floods rapidly on Interstate 29 and the Iowa Department of Transportation wanted to avoid having people consider Interstate 680 as an alternative.

Omaha is vibrant city and hometown of retiring Oracle CEO Warren Buffett.

Nebraska is broken into five electoral votes. While Trump managed to carry four of the five electoral votes, former vice president Kamala Harris carried one. 

The state has split electoral votes. It has three congressional districts and two senators. The controversial Nebraska U.S. lawmakers are Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), Rep. Mike Flood (R-NE), Rep. Adrian Smith (R-NE), Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE) and Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE).

Bacon who represents metro Omaha is a proud Zionist and online troll. He is considered a vulnerable Republican in both primary and general. 

 Jean Stothert goes down.

Will voters finally reject the status quo?

Voters in Omaha were making history Tuesday by either reelecting the city’s first female mayor to a rare fourth term or electing the community’s first Black mayor.

The race between Mayor Jean Stothert and challenger John Ewing primarily revolved around local issues like street repairs and garbage service, but in the final stretch the campaign touched on more national, hot-button issues such as President Donald Trump’s administration and transgender rights.

Stothert was trailing by nearly 5,000 votes in early returns Tuesday night. At her election night event, Stothert said she called Ewing and conceded in the race, KETV reported.

“I called John Ewing and I congratulated him,” Stothert said. “John Ewing is inheriting tonight a great city, and we leave a strong foundation for the city that we love. We are grateful and we are hopeful.”

The winner will lead Nebraska’s largest city, which makes up nearly a quarter of the state’s population.

In campaigning for a fourth term, Stothert has portrayed Omaha as a city on a hot streak with a revitalized riverfront, plans moving ahead on a streetcar line and progress repairing city streets.

“I have plans and can talk about them, and they are working,” Stothert told the Omaha World-Herald.

The incumbent mayor Jean Stothert was trying to distance herself from Trump.

If reelected, she would have the longest tenure as mayor in more than a century.

Ewing, the county treasurer, said the mayor hasn’t focused enough attention on core issues like filling potholes, hiring more police officers and building more affordable housing.

“People just feel like she’s had her time, and it’s time for somebody new,” Ewing said.

Although the mayor’s office is nonpartisan, the candidates have made it clear to voters that Stothert is a Republican and Ewing is a Democrat. Omaha is among the few spots in conservative Nebraska where Democrats have a reasonable chance of winning elected offices.

Despite a focus on bread-and-butter issues like city services, the candidates have issued more partisan messages as the election neared.

A Stothert TV ad says, “Ewing stands with radicals who want to allow boys in girls’ sports.”

Ewing responded that he hasn’t dealt with such transgender issues as treasurer and told KETV he wouldn’t respond to hypothetical questions.

Ewing has aired ads that connect Stothert to the Trump administration, showing the mayor on a split screen with Trump and saying “Let’s say no to the chaos and elect a mayor who will actually get things done.”