Beutler wins by a sliver
BY DEENA WINTER / Lincoln Journal Star
For the third time in a row, Lincoln sent a Democrat to the mayor’s office, with former state Sen. Chris Beutler narrowly defeating City Councilman Ken Svoboda.
Only 845 votes separated the two Tuesday.
“How do you spell ‘Whew’?” Beutler said Tuesday night.
“I’m just extremely gratified that the people have given me this opportunity and boy I plan to make the most of it. I plan to work very hard for the people. I plan to get up in the morning and begin immediately addressing things.”
But the Democrat will have to work with a City Council that’s now dominated by Republicans, thanks to an upset by newcomer John Spatz, who unseated Annette McRoy.
Beutler said that wouldn’t be a problem; he was in the minority during his 24 years in the Legislature.
“It’ll be just fine,” he said.
Svoboda was disappointed to lose by such a small margin after a “very long, difficult race.”
“I feel like I’ve disappointed and let down my supporters and all those that worked so hard for me,” he said.
The close margin “makes you wonder what else we could have done or should have done.”
The Republican count on the council is now four; there are three Democrats.
Svoboda returns to his seat on the council for two more years.
“I think that’s going to be very good for us right now,” Svoboda said of the Republican majority. “I would anticipate us holding the mayor’s feet to the fire.”
He had hoped the prominence of his council seat would help propel him into the mayor’s office. And before the campaign began in earnest, Beutler and Svoboda agreed Svoboda had better name recognition.
But Beutler — who will be sworn in May 14 — launched an aggressive campaign in which he immediately distanced himself from his Democratic colleague Mayor Coleen Seng, who chose not to seek re-election after one four-year term.
He criticized the way City Hall was being run — which political analysts say was necessary because polls showed people were unhappy with the status quo but unsure who to blame.
Beutler announced his candidacy first and got his campaign running more quickly than Svoboda.
In his announcement speech, he laid claim to one of Svoboda’s platform planks: making the city more business-friendly. He sounded like a Republican as he hammered that message throughout the campaign.
Svoboda accused Beutler of reinventing himself for his mayoral run, citing the failing grades business groups gave Beutler during his two dozen years in the Legislature.
But Beutler’s message was louder: He was on TV early and often —vowing to fix City Hall with his trademark promise “the buck stops here” — spending more than twice as much on TV advertising as Svoboda.
He started running TV ads within days of the primary election and spent a whopping $240,000 on TV ads. Svoboda didn’t begin running TV ads until April 17 and spent about $115,000.
The Svoboda campaign hit radio hard for two weeks; Beutler didn’t do any radio advertising. Svoboda bought billboards, newspaper ads and commercial signs, while Beutler poured his money into TV ads.
Beutler’s campaign was directed by veteran political campaign manager Rick Hoppe, who helped get the last two mayors elected — Don Wesely and Seng — and has managed many local and state campaigns.
Svoboda hired his “good, loyal friend” Darlene Starman, who hadn’t previously run any campaigns, although she has worked on other campaigns.
Beutler’s campaign staff was also bigger: Svoboda had two full-time and three part-time staffers, but Beutler had three full-time employees and eight to 10 part-timers.
Beutler’s staff included seasoned campaign workers such as Patrick Adams, a 34-year-old Lincoln native who has worked on campaigns nationwide, from Pennsylvania to Rhode Island to New Jersey.
The Beutler campaign worked hard to lock up votes through early voting. And they had a strong get-out-the-vote operation, with 20 to 25 people making calls, urging voters to support Beutler the last half-dozen nights.
“We had people dialing all the time,” Hoppe said.
Beutler also eclipsed Svoboda in the fundraising battle. Hoppe estimates Beutler raised $420,000, which he believes is a record for the Lincoln mayoral race. Svoboda said he raised more than $300,000.
Svoboda didn’t anticipate any problem working with his former foe, Beutler, as a councilman.
“You just deal with it,” he said. “You put all your differences aside.”