Heath Mello finished within three percentage points of Jean Stothert, the Omaha Mayor incumbent, during the Primary Elections on Tuesday, April 4. It is expected that more people will almost certainly vote in the general election, May 9, particularly because Mello came within striking distance of Stothert.
Douglas County Election Commissioner Brian Kruse predicted 23 percent voter turnout, about 65,000 votes, but only about 20 percent of voters turned out this time.
Each candidate promised to mount an aggressive effort to turn out the voters who didn’t show up for the primary and to court those who voted for three other candidates.
Predictably, Stothert won the western, more Republican, portion of the city, where turnout was higher, and Mello took the eastern four council districts.
City Council District 4, which encompasses South Omaha, emerged as the tightest fight in the race. Mello, who represented South Omaha in the Legislature, won the district by fewer than 200 votes, or 3 percentage points.
Stothert, Republican in an officially nonpartisan race, was first elected to the Mayor’s Office in 2013 after serving on the City Council. Mello, Democrat from South Omaha, served eight years in the Legislature before he was term-limited last year.

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