OWH: White wants $1M for campaign

Robynn Tysver, Omaha World Herald
October 1, 2009

Democrat Tom White hopes to become Republican U.S. Rep. Lee Terry's first million-dollar challenger.

For his part, Terry hopes to duplicate his fundraising efforts of 2008, when he raised a personal record of $1.8 million to keep his seat.

Terry, White and Republican Matt Sakalosky are running in the 2nd Congressional District race, expected to be Nebraska's marquee race of 2010. That's followed by the state treasurer's race, which took on more significance last month when incumbent Treasurer Shane Osborn said he would not seek re-election.

Republican Gov. Dave Heineman is running for re-election, but, as of yet, no Democrat has expressed an interest in running. One of the Democrats' best hopes, State Sen. Steve Lathrop of Omaha, has said he plans to run for re-election to the Legislature.

Vic Covalt, chairman of the State Democratic Party, said the party plans to field a candidate by next year. “We're going to contest every election in Nebraska. That's our goal.”

As of right now, though, the 2nd District race in metropolitan Omaha is gaining lots of attention.

White held a fundraiser Wednesday night at Castle Barrett in Omaha.

About 200 people, including three of White's fellow state senators, crowded the hall to listen as White pledged to listen to the concerns of his constituents and seek bipartisan solutions.

He took a jab at Terry, saying the representative and other Washington politicians “spend too much time trying to score cheap shots for their party and not enough time working together to meet the challenges facing our country.”

“Caught up in political posturing, they've forgotten about the reason they were hired: to deliver for constituents,” he said.

Both Terry and White have been busy this summer and early fall, holding fundraisers and calling donors in anticipation of their first big financial reports.

The third quarter ended Wednesday, and Terry and White must unveil their war chests Oct. 15.

Sakalosky, who is challenging Terry for the GOP nomination, also has been raising money. But he has said he has no plans to match either Terry or White's fundraising and plans to focus his attention on building a grass-roots campaign.

None of Terry's opponents in his past six races hit the $1 million mark.

Democrat Nancy Thompson came the closest in 2004, when she raised $880,000. In 2008, Democrat Jim Esch raised $844,000 and came within 4 percentage points of unseating Terry.

White said his early fundraising efforts give him reason to believe he'll hit the $1 million mark, although he says he has no intention of matching Terry dollar for dollar.

“I do intend to raise in excess of $1 million,” said White. “(But) I don't have to match him. In this district, a million will get the message across.”

David Boomer, Terry's campaign manager, agreed with White that a candidate doesn't need multiple millions to reach voters in the Omaha area.

He said the Terry campaign hopes to raise as much as it did in 2008.

“We're looking at kind of what we've done before (in terms of fundraising),” said Boomer.

Both candidates also said more money could pour into the race if it captures the attention of the national parties.

Earlier this summer, Terry's name was added to a list of 25 Republican members of Congress believed to be vulnerable in 2010. The list was compiled by the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Terry's inclusion on the list gives him an opportunity to receive financial help from the national Republican Party, if he meets certain financial benchmarks. It also might give the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee extra incentive to compete in the district. Last year, the DCCC poured $746,000 into the district trying to unseat Terry. That prompted the National Republican Congressional Committee to spend $519,000 to help him.

“Money begets money,” said Boomer.