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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 9, 1994)
Bereuter beats Combs, will serve ninth term By Tim P—fon _. Senior Editor U.S. Rep. l>oug Bereuter said he hadn't had this much competition since he first cam paigned for office 16 years ago. This year, Bereuter had to fight off the aggressive campaigning of Democratic chal lenger Patrick Combs to win his ninth term in office on Tuesday. Bereuter captured 62 per cent of the vote with 77 percent of the district’s precincts tallied. Combs won 38 percent of the vote with partial returns in. Bereuter praised Combs’ work during the 1st District congressional race. “That’s the most effective competition I’ve seen since my first campaign,” Bereuter said at his election party at the Ramada Inn in down town Lincoln. “He campaigned hard.” Bereuter said the country was turning to the Republicans, as shown by the party’s newly won control of the Senate and House of Repre sentatives. “It’s a little anti-Clinton, go Republican pride,” he said. Combs conceded defeat in a phone call to Bereuter a little after 9 p.m. Tuesday. Even though Combs put up some competi tion, Bereuter did nothing unusual to win his ninth term, his campaign manager, David Shively, said. “We’ve kind of done the same thing we’ve always done this year,” Shively said. Damon Lee/DN Doug Boroutor, Incumbent lot Congressional District representative, speaks to suppniters at the Lincoln Itamada Inn shortly after receiving a concessionary call from Democratic chaHar^sr Patrick Ceaibo Tuesday night. By Julia Sobczyk Staff Reporter “ " Patrick Combs lost the race for the 1st Congressional District, but he said his cam paign was a personal victory. “I’m proud of our campaign and the people who ran it because of how we ran it,” Comte, the Democratic candidate, said. “It was a clean’ positive race.” Combs said he called the winner, incum bent Doug Bereuter, to congratulate him. Although Combs was defeated, he still la beled the campaign a success. “I came in second, and I’m proud,” Combs said in his concession speech. “I gave voters a choice, and I entered the race to provide voters with that. Voter turnout proves that I have succeeded.” The campaign also gave Combs political experience, ne said. Comte said he was proud of the way his family, friends and supporters came together for the campaign. They started from scratch, he said. When the race started a year ago, Combs said he knew he would be up against heavy competition from Bereuter. “A year ago, people said we didn’t have a chance,” he said. “Success is ours because we had a clear vision of the future.” Many who worked on Combs’ campaign were friends or family members. Comte’ fa ther, Woody , said he gave a lot of time to his son’s campaign. “I put out brochures, signs and used word of mouth,” he said. “We had a motor home he used for about 40 parades.” The elder Combs said that although he was inted with his son’s defeat, he still was “I think he did a great job his first time out,” he said. “He’s a young fellow, and he’s got some great ideas. I’m sure he’ll be out there again.” Christensen picks up win in close race OMAHA (AP) — In the tight est race of the state, Republican Jon Christensen defeated Demo cratic incumbent Peter Hoagland by a few hundred votes. With 99 percent of the vote counted, Christensen led Hoagland by 1,443 votes in the 2nd Congres sional District, which includes the Omaha area. Christensen won 89,970 of the votes over Hoagland’s 88,533. “We re excited to be the people’s representative,” Christensen said. “Hard work, right timing, anti-incumbency and (President) Bill Clinton” led to the win, Christensen said. With the re-election of Repub licans Bill Barrett and Doug Bereuter, Tuesday marked the first time Nebraska has had an all-Re publican House delegation since 1988, when Rep. Hal Daub, R Neb., resigned from his 2nd Dis trict seat to run for the U S. Senate. Daub lost in the primary of that race. Christensen’s win also was part of a national Republican surge that saw the OOP claim control of the Senate and win more House seats than in any year since 1956. Hoagland, running for a fourth term, thanked his supporters and called Christensen to congratulate him. ‘Tonight is a night of pride for our democratic system,” Hoagland said. Trevis Keying/DN Wh—i Itop. P^tf HMtfiwI Anally ftwtd th> wwd at ttw Pincwt party In Owih^Wi noswlttictullugf JwiChHetiwnw— Inidudiick. Butth* Md+faim+dudHoagland ImIMmmL Secretary of State Allen Beermann said that with absentee ballots still out in some counties, it was too soon to know if the margin would narrow enough to require a recount. One person in the Hoagland crowd cried for a recount. “I’m not sure what the statutory requirements are for a recount, but let's not worry about that right now,” Hoagland said. The close race was marked na tionwide as an example of the nega tive campaigning this political sea son. At one point, both candidates took lie-detector tests to try to counter charges levied by the other. During the campaign, Hoagland, 52, accused Christensen of negative campaigning and of being “a member of the radical righr whose views were too ex treme for the district. Christensen, 31, has called Hoagland a “manipulative liar.*' He portrayed the Democratic in cumbent as an entrenched liberal who was willing to increase taxes and encumber businesses with regulations and red tape. But the candidates’ strikingly opposite views offered voters a clear choice. Christensen opposed controls on gun ownership; Hoagland fa vored controls. Christensen oj> posed the 1994 crime bill; Hoagland voted for it. Hoagland opposes cutting the capital gain* tax; Christensen wants the tax eliminated. Christensen opposed abortion except to save the life of the mother, Hoagland said opposing abortion even in cases or rape and incest was too extreme. Barrett trounces Chapin OMAHA (AP)—Voters sent Rep. Bill Barrett back to Congress on Tues day for a third term. Barrett garnered 79 percent of the vote in Nebraska’s 3rd Congressional District, which covers the western two-thirds of Nebraska. Democratic challenger Gil Chapin had 21 percent of the vote, according to returns from 65 percent of the precincts. But even as Nebraskans returned Barrett for another term to Congress, they voted for term limits. Barrett said citizens were upset with the sys tem but wanted to retain incumbents they believed were doing good work. Barrett said he won the race be cause of his hard work as a congress man. “I think my voting record is con sistent with what people out here want,” he said. Chapin crossed thinly populated distances in his battle against the well-known incumbent. About 525,520 people live in the 62,663 square-mile district. The GOP has held the House seat for 34 years. Republicans outnumber Democrats 56 percent to 35 percent among registered voters in die dis trict.