Combs will withdraw bid for re-election

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BY NANCY HICKS / Lincoln Journal Star

State Sen. Jeanne Combs announced Tuesday that she will be leaving office in December and will not seek re-election in November.

Combs of Milligan said she has taken a new job and the time demands will not allow her to be a state senator.

“I will be managing a much larger area and the responsibility won’t permit me to be off for the (Legislative) session,” she said.

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Combs

Combs

Combs said she could not be more specific about the new job, and her employer would be releasing information in the future.

Combs said this was a career opportunity she could not pass up.

“When you are a woman at 51 years and get a chance to be even more creative and do more earth shaking stuff, you don’t pass it up,” she said.

The new job will be in the same field, she said.  Combs, a registered nurse, has worked as an occupational health nurse for Farmland in Crete during her four years as a senator.

Combs, who successfully shepherded the bill through the Legislature this year allowing Nebraskans to carry concealed weapons, was running for a second four-year term.

Combs said she plans to continue as a senator for District 32 through December, assisting constituents and working on issues “that are near and dear to my heart.”

Combs of Milligan received the most votes in a three-person race in the May primary and would automatically be on the November ballot. The top two vote-getters in legislative races move on to the general election.

Russ Karpisek of Wilber, who ran second in the primary, said he was surprised by the announcement.  He is the mayor of Wilber and a business owner. The third candidate in the district was George Shada Jr. of Fairbury.

Combs had campaigned vigorously in the primary, spending at least $23,000, according to campaign reports.

Combs was vice chairwoman of the Business and Labor Committee and a member of the Urban Affairs Committee last year.

Combs’ homestead exemption proposal was part of the tax reduction package passed by the Legislature this year. The measure reduces property taxes for homes owned by low-income seniors and Nebraskans with specific handicaps.

Karpisek said he is excited by the news that Combs’ name will not be on the fall ballot. “I think we had a good strong showing in the primaries.” He said he is hopeful he can prove to those who supported Combs that he would do a good job.

In order to get her name off the fall ballot, Combs will have to withdraw from the race after June 5, when the state canvassing board officially certifies the primary results, said Neal Erickson, deputy secretary of state for elections.

But Karpisek will not necessarily be the only name on the November ballot for the District 32 legislative race.

Other people can get their names on the ballot through a petition process that includes getting signatures from registered voters representing 10 percent of the number of people in the district who voted for president in the last election, Erickson said.

Reach Nancy Hicks at 473-7250 or nhicks@journalstar.com.