Nebraska Official Wins GOP Senate Primary

Nebraska Atty. Gen. Don Stenberg took the first step Tuesday toward reclaiming Sen. Bob Kerrey’s seat for the Republicans, easily defeating the secretary of state and two other candidates in the GOP primary.

With 38% of precincts reporting, Stenberg had 43,168 votes, or 50%, far more than Secretary of State Scott Moore’s 20,737 votes, or 24%.

Stenberg will take on popular former Gov. Ben Nelson, who left office in 1999 after two terms. Nelson easily beat a homeless man who was his only opponent in the Democratic primary.

Kerrey, the only Democrat in Nebraska’s congressional delegation, decided not to run for a third term and will instead become president of New School University in New York City.

In other elections, former University of Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne routed his two opponents in a GOP congressional primary. Osborne is adored in football-crazy Nebraska, though issues such as the struggling farm economy and bringing technology to rural areas dominated his campaign.

There were presidential primaries in Nebraska and West Virginia, but both were essentially meaningless since George W. Bush and Al Gore have sealed their parties’ nominations.

West Virginia Gov. Cecil Underwood, who was elected to his first term as governor in 1956 and to his second term in 1996, easily won the GOP nomination for a third term Tuesday. At 77, Underwood is the nation’s oldest governor. Nine-term U.S. Rep. Robert E. Wise Jr. won the Democratic primary to challenge Underwood.