Here’s some good news from Nebraska: there are now more registered Democrats than Republicans in Douglas County (Omaha) for the first time since 1994. Incidentally, 1994 was the last year that the Omaha-based 2nd District had a Democratic representative in the House.
The raw numbers: there are now 125,602 Democrats to 122,955 Republicans in Douglas County (the entirety of which is in the 2nd Congressional District, currently held by GOP Rep. Lee Terry). That’s a big change from the start of the year, when Republicans held a 122,140 to 110,016 advantage. And it seems like this new energy is translating into a sizable early voting edge for Dems in Douglas County — where almost 50% of the early votes have been from registered Democrats, while only 36% have been from registered Republicans.
Now, this advantage isn’t going to hold though until election day, and Douglas isn’t the only county in the 2nd Congressional District (although, with about 80% of its population, it is certainly the most important) — there’s also Sarpy, a more conservative-leaning county that gave Terry a 26-point edge in 2006. But these numbers are another good sign that Democrat Jim Esch has a fighting chance to take this seat.
gets Omaha media, including the area around Council Bluffs (the largest city in the district and Rob Hubler’s home town).
I hope the enthusiasm and growing momentum for Democrats in Omaha spills over into southwest Iowa. All those Obama ads in the Omaha market could help our down-ticket candidates.
it seems like McCain has stepped up his advertising here in the past few weeks. We were seeing a lot of the “Dangerous” ad or the similar Bill Ayers spot. Today I’ve seen the “I am Joe the Plumber” spot several times.
Jim Esch has upped his advertising as well, while the NRCC is now hitting him on his DUI. Two years ago, however, I’m pretty sure I saw all of one Esch ad the entire cycle.