Politician John Ewing recently won the mayoral race in Omaha, making him the first Black mayor in the city’s history.
Announced yesterday, Republican incumbent Mayor Jean Stothert conceded the election to Ewing late Tuesday night as over 48,000 citizens put his name on the ballot. Ewing, who is a member of the Democratic Party, won the election by a landslide, getting more than 10,000 votes than Stothert.
Stothert reportedly called to congratulate Ewing as she conceded the race once he led by nearly 5,000 votes on early returns. If she had won, she would have entered her fourth term.
Although parties are not named on the ballots in Nebraska for the mayoral election and the role is considered to be nonpartisan, both parties took starkly different stances on issues such as repairs, the garbage system, President Donald and his administration, as well as transgender rights. Stothert previously made national headlines for her transphobic rhetoric during her campaign.
With Ewing’s latest win, Democrats are highlighting how he flipped the office from Republican to Democra,t which they say is indicative of their continued success this year.
“From coast to coast, from blue to purple to even red states, Democrats are overwhelmingly outperforming Republicans in nearly every election held this year — as voters condemn Republicans’ plot to attack Social Security and health care while hiking prices on working families every chance they get,” said the DNC Chair Ken Martin following the announcement of Ewing’s win. “They want true leaders who will govern on behalf of working families and not billionaire donors, which is why Democrats like John Ewing Jr. are winning elections up and down the ballot.”
The Democratic Party has marked various notable wins this year.
Just last month, although the race was nonpartisan, Democratic-backed Dane County Judge Susan Crawford won against Republican-backed Brad Schimel, earning a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Overall, even though views of the party are increasingly pessimistic per a new AP News poll, Democrats performed overwhelmingly well in 14 out of 16 special state legislative and congressional elections held throughout the first few months of the year.
Along with flipping deep-red state Senate districts, they also improved margins of defeat by 22 points in Florida’s 1st Congressional District and 16 points in the state’s 6th Congressional District.
Ewing’s latest win is continuing to instill confidence in the Democratic Party.
“Tonight’s victory comes on the heels of Nebraska Democrats sweeping local elections last week in Lincoln and proves what we already know: Voters are sick of Republicans’ one-party rule and endless attacks on working families,” said the ASDC President and Chair of the Nebraska Democtratic Party Jane Kleeb. “Nebraskans are demanding change. As a public servant for 43 years, Mayor-elect Ewing’s commitment to the people of the great state of Nebraska speaks for itself, and I have no doubt that Omaha’s future is bright under his leadership.”
