NEBRASKA
      Nov. 2, 2010 Governor                                      

Gov.
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 Sen.2
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+Dave Heineman/Rick Sheehy (R) i
 		360,645
 		73.90%
Mike Meister/Anne Boyle (D)
 		127,343
 		26.10%

487,988
Registered voters: 1,142,057.  Total votes cast: 497,248.
Plurality:  233,302 votes (47.80 percentage points).
 NE Secretary of State


Notes:  Gov. Dave Heineman (R) was easily re-elected, trouncing Mike Meister (D), a trial attorney from Scottsbluff who was the 2002 Democratic nominee for Attorney General. 

The May 11 primaries were not competitive.  Heineman won 89.9% of the vote against two opponents.  He had served as Treasurer and Lt. Governor before ascending to the Governor's office on Jan. 21, 2005 when Gov. Mike Johanns resigned to take the position of U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.  In 2006 he achieved an upset win over Tom Osborne in the primary and went on to win the general election by an almost 50-point margin.  There was considerable speculation that Heineman might run for U.S. Senate in 2012. 

Mark Lakers, an agribusiness investment executive from Omaha, was unopposed for the Democratic nomination.  However, Lakers came under investigation for including questionable pledges in his campaign finance reports and withdrew on July 2.  On July 24, the Nebraska Democratic Party Convention, meeting in Columbus, selected Meister to replace him.  Meister announced Nebraska Public Service Commissioner Anne Boyle as his running mate on Aug. 30.

The race was not competitive financially as Heineman had a more than 10 to 1 advantage over Meister.



Campaign Managers:
Dave Heineman:  ?
 
Mike Meister: Christa Yoakum
"a lifelong Nebraskan and remembers passing out candidate flyers when she was 13 years old."


 
See also:
Don Walton.  "A governor's race like no other."  Lincoln Journal Star, Oct, 25, 2010.

A.G. Sulzberger.  "Immigration Law Moves to Center Stage."  The New York Times, Oct. 2, 2010.



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