Republican Rep. Lee Terry late Tuesday fought off a spirited Democratic challenge by Jim Esch to hold onto his 2nd District House seat.

A seesaw struggle in metropolitan Omaha finally turned Terry’s way when the five-term congressman gained an edge in Douglas County several hours into the vote count.

Esch, 32, depended heavily on Douglas County Democrats to overcome Terry’s built-in advantage in dependably Republican Sarpy County.

Democrats had hoped to construct their first House victory in Nebraska in 16 years in Omaha and the contest quickly turned into Nebraska’s premier 2008 race.         

It was a rematch of a 2006 duel, but this time Esch came into the battle with adequate funding, national party resources and a rich Democratic environment.

Barack Obama’s presidential campaign targeted the district with an extensive field operation that registered new Democrats and rallied thousands of early voters.

When Tuesday’s balloting began, the Obama campaign already had banked 10,000 more Democrats than Republicans in the form of early voting in Douglas and Sarpy Counties.

But it wasn’t enough to overcome an Election Day flood of Republican votes for Terry.

In the end, Obama’s lead over Republican nominee John McCain in Douglas County did not transfer to Esch.

Terry, 46, who was elected to the House in 1998 after serving on the Omaha City Council, has staked out energy as his chief legislative issue in the House.

His vote in support of the second version of the recent $800 billion financial stabilization package had been challenged by Esch during the campaign.

In Nebraska’s other two House races, Republican Reps. Jeff Fortenberry and Adrian Smith coasted to re-election.

Fortenberry, 47, won his third term in eastern Nebraska’s 1st District, composed of all or parts of 24 counties and including Lincoln.

Smith, 37, won a second term in western and central Nebraska’s vast 68-county 3rd District, which sprawls across nearly 65,000 square miles from just southwest of Lincoln to the Colorado and Wyoming borders.

Fortenberry, a former Lincoln city councilman, dispatched Max Yashirin of Lincoln, a 26-year-old political newcomer who served in Iraq as a Marine sergeant in 2004-2005.

Smith, a former two-term state senator from Gering, KO’d Jay Stoddard, 78, of Grand Island, a former candidate for secretary of state and the University of Nebraska Board of Regents.

Fortenberry, a member of the House Agriculture Committee, has stressed development of renewable energy, targeted tax relief and small business entrepreneurship.

In his second term, the Republican congressman demonstrated a streak of independence, voting to override President Bush’s veto of a major appropriations bill and supporting a Democratic mortgage reform plan.

Both Fortenberry and Smith voted against the Bush administration’s $700 billion financial stabilization bill.

Victories by Fortenberry and Smith continued long Republican winning steaks in Nebraska.

Democrats have not won the 1st District seat in 44 years.

The last Democratic congressional victory in western Nebraska occurred 50 years ago.

Reach Don Walton at 473-7248 or at dwalton@journalstar.com.