Underdog Fischer wins GOP nomination for Nebraska Senate race
Underdog Fischer wins GOP nomination for Nebraska Senate race
May 15, 2012/Associated Press
Republican nominee Deb Fischer says she is ready to take on former Democratic Sen. Bob Kerrey this fall in a closely watched Nebraska Senate race.
Reached at her celebration party in Lincoln, the tea party-backed lawmaker eschewed any suggestion that the win caught her by surprise. She says she knows how to work hard because she's a Nebraskan.
Fischer downplayed the role a late $200,000 advertising blitz from an outside super PAC might have had in her race against two better-financed GOP opponents.
She acknowledged that the general election race could get bloody. She calls the race the "focus of the entire nation" and thinks it will get "interesting."
The 53-year-old Fischer overcame low name familiarity and being outspent by two competitors to win the nomination in Tuesday's election.
She was backed by 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin and former presidential candidate Herman Cain.
The race has drawn national attention because a GOP win would push Republicans closer to a Senate majority.
Nebraska is a solidly Republican state, but Democrats think they have a shot of winning with Kerrey, a former senator, governor and presidential candidate. Kerrey easily won the Democratic nomination.
The general election winner will replace Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson, who isn't seeking a third term.
