Underdogs reassert themselves in Nebraska Senate GOP primary

The underdog Republican candidates in the primary for retiring Sen. Ben Nelson's (D-Neb.) seat reasserted themselves Monday, with Nebraska state Treasurer Don Stenberg (R) unveiling a key endorsement and state Sen. Deb Fischer (R) releasing a new ad and an internal poll.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a rising conservative leader and son of Texas Rep. Ron Paul (R), backed Stenberg, joining other fiscal conservatives such as Sens. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) who had already backed Stenberg.

“Many candidates say the right things when they are campaigning for office, yet very few actually mean it. Don is different," said Paul. "If you elect Don Stenberg your next Senator, I am confident he will join me and the true conservatives in the Senate to stop wasteful spending in Washington by supporting a strong balanced budget amendment to the Constitution."

Meanwhile, Fischer released an internal campaign poll showing her down 4 points on state Attorney General Jon Bruning (R) — within the margin of error.

Bruning took 30 percent to Fischer's 26 percent in the poll by Republican firm The Singularis Group. Stenberg, who has come in second place in most polls of the race, came in third in Fischer's poll with 18 percent.

The poll of 400 likely GOP voters was conducted May 6 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

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But another poll released Monday — this one by We Ask America — suggested that while Bruning still has a lead of more than 20 points over both of his opponents, Fischer has now eclipsed Stenberg for second place.

Lincoln, NE – Today, the Deb Fischer for U.S. Senate campaign released poll results that show Deb Fischer in a statistical dead heat with Jon Bruning in the Nebraska Republican Primary.

Deb Fischer’s campaign for U.S. Senate commissioned The Singularis Group, a full-service political consulting firm based in Kansas City, to take a live survey on Sunday, May 6th of 400 likely Republican Primary voters in Nebraska’s U.S. Senate race. The confidence interval for the survey is 95% and the margin of error is +/– 4.9%.

The results are listed below:

Candidate Percentage

Jon Bruning 29.8%

Deb Fischer 25.6%

Don Stenberg 18.0%

Pat Flynn 1.3%

Spencer Zimmerman 1.1%

Sharyn Elander 0.0%

Undecided 24.2%

Deb needs an endorsement from the “mama grizzly”!

Seven Reasons To Vote For Deb Fischer (US Senate, Nebraska)

http://www.debfischer2012.com/

1. Deb Fischer is a wife, mother, rancher, small business owner and citizen legislator—not a lawyer or career politician. She has extensive business and legislative experience, and hasn’t spent her whole life running for office.

2. Deb Fischer is within the margin of error and is quickly closing the gap against the frontrunner. New polling data from this week shows her main opponent Jon Bruning at 29%, Fischer at 26% and Stenberg a distant third at 18%. Her grassroots campaign can and will reach victory on May 15th!

3. Deb Fischer has a proven conservative record. Some politicians talk the talk, but Deb Fischer walks the walk. Deb Fischer helped pass Nebraska largest tax cut and has fought to reduce wasteful spending in the Nebraska legislature. She has a 100% pro-life voting record and is endorsed by Nebraska Right to Life. She fought for the 2nd Amendment and has received an A+ rating from the NRA. Click here to read the facts about her record of fighting for our conservative values.

4. Deb Fischer is the only candidate from rural Nebraska. Born and raise in Lincoln, Deb Fischer lives in Cherry County and owns a family ranching business with her husband Bruce and their three grown sons. We haven’t had a U.S. Senator from rural Nebraska since Carl Curtis in the 1970’s. Click here to read her record on agriculture.

5. Deb Fischer is the candidate in the race who can beat Bob Kerrey. Deb Fischer’s proven conservative voting record will be a stark contrast with the liberal policy positions of Bob Kerrey. Also, voters are fed up with career politicians from both parties and Republicans need a business-minded fresh face to take on Bob Kerrey in the fall. Deb Fischer combines that real world experience with a fresh face.

6. Deb Fischer has run a campaign focused on the issues, not on negative attacks. Voters want to vote FOR a candidate, not AGAINST a candidate. Deb Fischer is a candidate you can vote FOR. Click here to watch her latest TV ad.

7. Deb Fischer is the policy-minded candidate with substance. She has developed several detailed policy plans throughout her campaign. She has plans to create jobs, reform Washington, reduce energy costs, stop illegal immigration and reduce the size and scope of the federal government.

8. While her opponents are focused on out of state money and endorsements, Deb Fischer is running a Nebraska-based campaign. She has raised over 92% of her campaign funds from Nebraska and has received the endorsements of former Governor Kay Orr and former Congressman John Y. McCollister.

9. Deb Fischer is the only candidate running a truly grassroots campaign! She has volunteers and county chairs across all 93 counties. Many of her supporters are people who are not normally involved in politics. Her campaign has been executing an extensive voter contact program since January, going door-to-door and completing over 35,000 phone calls.

For anyone who actually believes that the “results” of this poll (which the Fischer campaign bought and paid for) are valid, I have a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn.

My fear is that, once again, multiple conservative candidates will be dividing the conservative vote with the result that the least reliable “conservative” (Bruning) in the race will win the primary.

I’m not from Nebraska, but I stand with Jim DeMint & Mike Lee in supporting Don Stenberg—a true & reliable conservative we can rely upon. Of course, my campaign donations to Stenberg have to be relatively modest. But I am doing my small part to support Tea Party candidates for Senate.

I am from Nebraska and Stenberg has been there done that multiple times. His only job this campaign has been a constant tit-for-tat war with Bruning in a never ending series of pissing contests. Nothing positive comes out of Bruning or Stenberg, just the same old attack ads.

Fischer has been silently and dilegently working with her state organizers (all counties). Two weeks ago, the gap was 9 points and political commentators from the state have been noticing a tightening from the race. Bruning’s and Stenberg numbers have been down. After six months of Stenberg/Bruning bashing, voters are giving Fischer a new look.

I’ve been canvassing for the past few weeks and have been to a lot of local conservative/tea party groups. Bruning, the more they know of him, is lowering in support. Stenberg is just stuck with a certain amount of support (even before Fischer got active in the race) and won’t budge.

There has been only one person who has a state wide level of organization who has stayed classy throughout the race and that’s Fischer.

Lastly, it’s the voter’s right to decide not fears of “deluding the conservative vote”.

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