Governor claims victory

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By Staff and Wire Reports

Gov. Dave Heineman won the Republican gubernatorial nod Tuesday, turning back Rep. Tom Osborne in a Nebraska primary barn-burner.

At the end of the night, Heineman had garnered 49 percent of the vote compared to Osborne's 45. Heineman had gathered about 88,600 votes; Osborne had 81,600.

"I've been telling people all along -- especially today -- we were going to win because we had (an) energized volunteer base," Heineman told supporters at the Cornhusker Marriott in Lincoln. "I had two outstanding people running in this race and it made us better."

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In conceding defeat, Osborne admitted he was disappointed.

"This is a tough one to take. It's hard. It's hard to lose the last one," Osborne said to a gathering at the Embassy Suites in Lincoln. "But ... we have a lot of great memories. We're grateful for the lives we've been able to live, and Nebraskans have been a big part of it."

Omaha businessman Dave Nabity had 5 percent.

Osborne was initially considered a prohibitive favorite. But daily tracking polls by The MSR Group in Omaha had shown Osborne and Heineman virtually neck-and-neck and Nabity in single digits.

Adding drama to the race was the fact that thousands of Democrats changed their voter registration to Republican, most purportedly to vote for Osborne in the primary.

Heineman was lieutenant governor when the announcement came in January 2005 that Gov. Mike Johanns had been picked as U.S. agriculture secretary by President Bush.

Four months after taking over for Johanns, Heineman announced he would seek election to the job and was quickly endorsed by Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel.

Osborne jumped into the fray about a month later, and the race was on.

Last week, Osborne was endorsed by U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., which put more focus on an awkward, albeit quiet, rift within the Nebraska GOP over Osborne’s decision to challenge a sitting Republican governor.

Hagel’s endorsement was perceived by many as a sort of warning to Osborne, who jumped into the race about a month later.

Heineman is a self-described fiscal conservative who had worked as executive director of the Nebraska Republican Party and for former U.S. Reps. Hal Daub and Doug Bereuter before being elected state treasurer in 1994.

He was appointed lieutenant governor by Johanns in 2001 and became governor when Johanns left in January 2005 to become U.S. agriculture secretary.

Heineman had said before Johanns’ resignation that he was interested in running for governor.

Heineman has preached tax cuts, economic development and education.

Osborne has called for controlling state spending, reducing taxes and spending more money to combat meth and underage alcohol abuse.

Nabity has delivered a message of smaller government, lower taxes and a creative plan for economic development.

There are two Democratic candidates.

David Hahn, a Lincoln lawyer and Internet entrepreneur, has called for an examination of Nebraska’s property tax system, a review of tax incentives the state grants to businesses, battling rising health care costs and creating “broad-based economic growth.”

The other Democrat in the race, Glenn Boot Jr. of Ashland, could not take office if he won after it was recently revealed that he was convicted of a felony in 1980 for distributing Quaaludes, which are a prescription sedative.

Hahn had 92 percent of the vote. Boot had 8 percent.