Long-term election forecast for Nebraska Democrats: rarely blue skies

http://www.omaha.com/news/politics/long-term-election-forecast-for-nebraska-democrats-rarely-blue-skies/article_4665752b-b3ce-59ed-a5f2-90c774421ff7.html



KENT SIEVERS/THE WORLD-HERALD
State Sen. Steve Lathrop, left, congratulates Rep.-elect Brad Ashford during a post-election event at Ashford’s Omaha home on Wednesday.

POSTED: MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014 12:30 AM
By Joe Duggan / World-Herald Bureau

LINCOLN — Talk about the blues singing the blues.

Not only did all Democratic candidates for statewide office in Nebraska lose in last Tuesday’s election, they got trounced. The closest any of the six came to beating a Republican was 18 percentage points.

A couple of them ran as sacrificial lambs against Republican incumbents, but four of the races — the U.S. Senate, governor, attorney general and state auditor — were for open seats, and the Democrats fielded legitimate candidates in those contests.
They may have been qualified and credible, but in the end they weren’t competitive.

It has now been eight years since Democrat Ben Nelson won his second term in the U.S. Senate, which raises the question: When will a Democrat deliver a victory speech in a Nebraska-wide election again?

FULL story at link.