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The Huskers prepare for
Saturday’s game against
Kansas State
In SportsWednesday/12
DVDs, PlayStation 2 are the
latest technological trend
In SportsMonday/16 1
Stenberg refuses to
concede Senate race
In News/3
Mart Wilson/Newsmakerc ' JoeRaedle/Newsmakers
Supporters of Vice President Al Gore wait to hear word on whether Gore will win the state of Florida early today in Nashville, Tenn. Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, attend a welcome-home rally Tuesday at the airport in
The presidential race is the dosest in recent memory and is too dose to call. Austin, Texas.
'There's never been a night like this one': Race still undecided
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Texas Gov. George W. Bush fought A1
Gore in an agonizingly dose presiden
tial dection Tuesday that came down to
one state and a few thousand votes.
Gore called Bush with congratulations,
then called back to say he wasn’t ready
to concede.
There was no argument from the
Bush campaign, just disbelief at the
turn of events. It all came down to
Florida.
“Unbelievable,” sighed Bush adviser
Karen Hughes. Bush aide Ari Fleischer
met the historic outcome with gallows
humor “Does President Clinton get to
stay?”
It was an incredible political specta
cle by any standard. "There’s never been
a night like this one," said Gore cam
paign chairman William Daley, after his
boss retired for the night - unsure
whether he had won or not
“Until the results in Florida become
official,” Daley told cheering support
ers, “our campaign continues.”
And it was so. After months of cam
paigning and $3 billion in political
spending, Election Day passed without
the country knowing who would be
president.
Not that it mattered in the Electoral
College, but with votes tallied from 96
percent of the precincts, Gore had
47,242,846 and Bush had 47,101,968
/otes. Green Party candidate Ralph
Nader was at 3 percent, and Pat
Buchanan barely registered.
Nader did well enough to potential
ly tip several states to Bush. “You can’t
spoil a system spoiled to the core,” he
said.
TV networks projected Bush the
winner, igniting GOP celebrations in
Austin. The Associated Press - partners
Please see PRESIDENT on 5
Electoral
Popular Vote College
Gore: 47,654,867 249
Bush: 47,410,836 246
Results as of 4 a.m., Wednesday
Source: CBS News
Guyla Mitts,
chairwoman of
the Defense of
Marriage-Yes
to 416 commit
tee, thanks
friends and sup
porters for their
hard work and
prayers Tuesday
night at the
Villager
Convention
Center at the
Best Western
Hotel, 52000St
Initiative 416
passed by an
overwhelming
margin.
Heather Glenboski/DN
Supporters: The Lord did it'
* BYJILLZEMAN_
Tuesday was a joyful night in
the Heritage Room of the Villager
Convention Center, 5200 O St.,
where proponents of Initiative
416 gathered to see their hard
work pay off.
And as the votes tallied more
and more in their direction, the
proponents rejoiced, prayed and
hugged one another.
Behind the backdrop of a
^ banner that read, “The salvation,
of the state is watchfulness in the
citizen,” Guyla Mills, the main
force behind the initiative,
thanked her supporters.
The initiative, which bans
same-sex marriages, domestic
partnerships and civil unions in
the state passed with an over
whelming majority.
As of midnight, with 42 per
cent of the precincts voting, 70
percent of voters were in favor of
tiie initiative.
And just as the crowd enthu
siastically supported the initia
tive, it also erupted into thunder
ous applause every time George
W. Bush picked up a state.
During an interview with
Mills after preliminary results
were announced, several people
came up to Mills, gave her a hug,
and said: “The Lord did it”
Please see 416 on 3
Ben Nelson tells
the crowd at11
p.m. he thinks
hehaswon.lt
would not be
until 2 a.m.
when he told
those still gath
ered at the
Holiday Inn ball
room in Omaha
that he was sure
of the victory.
uavrauasen/un
Nelson takes Senate contest
■ Republican candidate Don
Stenberg wouldn't concede
the race, waiting for today.
BY BRIAN CARLSON
OMAHA - Six hours after the
polls closed in Nebraska, and
after much anxiety, weeping
and gnashing of teeth,
Democrat Ben Nelson all but
claimed victory in the Senate
race early this morning.
At 2 a.m., Nelson entered the
ballroom at the Holiday Inn
Central at 3321 S. 7nd St. to
chants of “Ben, Ben, Ben,” from
several dozen supporters who
stayed into the wee hours of the
morning to hear their candidate
claim victory over Republican
attorney general Don Stenberg.
Stenberg chose not to con
cede the race Tuesday night,
saving his comments for a press
conference this morning.
“Even though I haven’t heard
from my opponent, I believe the
people of Nebraska have spo
ken, and I am pleased,” Nelson
said.
For several hours Tuesday
night, the Nelson-Stenberg race
matched the dramatic, seesaw
presidential race for suspense
Please see NELSON on 8
Former NU Coach Osborne wins House race easily
‘This victory shows
who was right on the
issues
Lt. Gov. Dave Maurstad
BY GEORGE GREEN
Tom Osborne, die Republican
congressman-elect in the 3rd
Congressional District, accepted
his seat Tuesday in the stoic fash
ion that has characterized his
campaign, not to mention his suc
cessful coaching career.
Osborne said he was relieved
to see the election totals in his col
umn, and was satisfied with the
contest
“It’s been a good race,” he said.
As of midnight, with 59 per
cent of the precincts reporting,
Osborne received 82 percent of
the votes, leaving Reynolds with
16 percent
Traveling across the district
several times during the past week
has been particularly tiresome,
Osborne said
But he said that it was nice to
travel without political action
committee money footing the bid
Osborne’s policy to reject PAC
money did not hinder his cam
paign, he said
In fact, Osborne saidhislackof
PAC money has left him feeling
“unencumbered” as he prepares
to enter Congress.
Even though he will move to
the nation’s capitol without politi
cal baggage, Osborne was not
overly confident about his ability,
to do a good job as a congressman.
He said that he will try to do his
best to live up to the expectations
Nebraskans have for him.
“I hope I can do it,” he said.
What Osborne said he could
promise was an organization of
positive people dedicated to mak
ing good decisions for
Nebraskans.
Osborne celebrated his victo
ry with his campaign personnel at
the Hastings City Auditorium.
In Lincoln, Lt. Gov. Dave
Maurstad was more enthusiastic
about Osborne’s win.
“This victory shows who was
right on the issues,” Maurstad
said.
Chuck Sigerson, chairman of
the Nebraska Republican Party,
echoed Maurstad’s excitement
Nebraska will send three good
Republicans to Congress this year,
Sigersonsaid.
Sigerson was referring to vic
tories for Republican incumbents,
Doug Bereuter in the 1st District
and Lee Terry in the 2nd District,
along with Osborne.
In all three races, the
Republican candidates won
handily.
Osborne in particular has
been a strong front-runner since jj
the campaign began.
Please see OSBORNE on 3