A rapid response to emulate

Democrats won another election in a somewhat unlikely (or at least divided) place on Tuesday. A Democrat evicted a longtime sitting GOP mayor in Omaha on Tuesday.

John Ewing Jr. was elected Omaha’s first Black mayor on Tuesday, defeating the city’s three-term Republican mayor, Jean Stothert, in a race where Democrats sought to tie her to President Donald Trump’s unpopular agenda — another warning sign for Republicans in a critical battleground area.

Omaha and its suburbs have played a unique role in national politics, as the “blue dot” in a conservative state that wields an unusual amount of power in presidential contests. Though Democrats outnumber Republicans in the city limits of Omaha, Stothert kept her seat over three terms by building a broad-based coalition that included the city’s many independent voters. But Ewing’s campaign and Democrats sought to tie her to economic uncertainty and anger about Trump, whom she backed in 2024.

Ewing said Tuesday night that his victory belonged to “every resident of the city of Omaha” and that his campaign had demonstrated that when voters unite around shared values “we can achieve remarkable things.” Washington Post.

Congratulations to Mayor Ewing!

Delving a little further into the Omaha election, there seems to have been more going on here than bounce-back, anti-Trump energy among frequent Democratic voters. We saw that in 2017 and we're seeing it again this year. When DJT is not on the ballot, he's poison for Republican candidates.

Stothert was a seasoned mayor; she'd been through past campaigns and she and her people thought they could appeal to an issue that divides Democrats: 

 As she campaigned for a fourth term, Ms. Stothert, who is the first woman to lead Omaha, emphasized her record on development and public safety. But she also waded into cultural issues by trying to make bathroom use and sports participation by transgender people a campaign issue. New York Times.

Mr. Ewing didn't want to engage, but the Nebraska Democratic Party came in with a counter attack:

Not  bad -- reveal voters obsessed with trans folk in bathrooms as the slightly prurient scolds they are. Apparently citizens of Omaha didn't want to go there.

This might not work everywhere, but it is better than Democrats running and hiding at the first mention of their transgender constituents.