Published Thursday May 8, 2008
Five candidates seek to fill north-central Nebraska seat
BY LESLIE REED
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
http://omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2835&u_sid=10329243

LINCOLN — A high-tech businessman backed by Gov. Dave Heineman and a banker endorsed by incumbent State Sen. Vickie McDonald are among the five candidates for a legislative seat in north-central Nebraska.

Businessman Paul Eurek of Loup City and banker Kate Sullivan of Cedar Rapids are the only candidates in the District 41 race who had spent enough money to file campaign disclosure reports.

Sullivan reported raising $18,842 as of April 28. Eurek reported taking in more than $33,000 in an April 8 report, including an $11,150 personal loan.

The other candidates are Gerald A. Rasmussen of Elba, a farmer and cattle feeder who serves on the Howard County Board; Jerry Peterson of Neligh, a retired state worker; and Jerome Warner of Greeley, a retired laborer who said he put his name on the ballot to campaign against illegal immigration.

Warner is not related to the late State Sen. Jerome Warner of Waverly, who served in the Legislature from 1963 until his death in 1997.

District 41 spans eight counties and part of a ninth, including Neligh and Antelope County on the northeast, Burwell and Garfield County on the northwest, and a portion of Hall County on the south.

It's a rural district, with the largest towns being Ord and St. Paul, each with about 2,200 residents.

Both Eurek, 48, and Sullivan, 58, returned to their small-town Nebraska roots to start businesses.

After starting their married life in Lincoln, Sullivan, 58, and her husband, Mike, decided they wanted to buy a rural community bank. For the past 25 years, they have owned and operated Cedar Rapids State Bank.

Kate Sullivan was reared on a farm between Ord and Ericson.

"Mike and I made a conscious choice to move to rural Nebraska," Sullivan said. "We've been in rural community banking since the 1970s. I care about rural Nebraska and want to do something for it."

After 20 years in Atlanta, Eurek and his wife, Deb, moved back to Loup City and opened a Kearney office for Xpanxion, an international computer software business of which he is a co-founder.

The company, which develops software for large multinational corporations, has several hundred employees in Atlanta and India, and about 20 in Nebraska.

Eurek, who has founded three technology companies and worked for a fourth, said he came back to Nebraska for the quality of life and the people.

"My hope was to bring some of what I learned in my other companies and see if I couldn't leverage some of my experiences to help keep our small rural towns alive and well," he said.

Heineman said he is backing Eurek as "a business leader who has created jobs." The governor said he was not necessarily concerned that some of the jobs are based in India.

"Paul Eurek has shown you can compete in a global marketplace sitting right here in Loup City and Kearney, Nebraska," Heineman said.

Eurek, who is refurbishing Loup City's Carnegie Library into a community technology center and office for his company, said outsourcing is not a dirty word in the technology industry.

"For our solution to work, we need a combination of skill sets and different kinds of people," he said. "We wouldn't be able to do it without resources in Atlanta and Nebraska, and we couldn't do it without some engineers in India."

In an endorsement letter, McDonald said she supports Sullivan with "great confidence" as a lifelong Nebraskan who has provided both financial services and jobs in central Nebraska.

"Kate Sullivan understands the 41st Legislative District, the issues and the people," wrote McDonald, who cannot seek re-election because of term limits.

Sullivan said she understands agriculture from "both sides of the fence"— as a lender who works with farmers and as a farm owner.

Although he does not have big endorsements, Rasmussen believes he will survive Tuesday's primary because of his ties across District 41 and because he is the only candidate who earns his living in agriculture.

Rasmussen was a teacher until he followed his heart to join his father's farming operation in 1974. The family farm now includes 2,400 acres, mostly in corn, and a commercial feedlot with a capacity for 3,500 head of cattle.

"I know the (ag) business, I know the (other) businesses out here and I know a lot of people," he said.

Peterson said he started campaigning last June and hopes his early start will give him the edge on Tuesday. He ran for the Legislature in 1984 and 1988 while living in Norfolk, losing both times.

Peterson said he has gained a reputation as a community problem solver through his volunteer work by, for example, raising money for the Northeast Nebraska Zoo and by pushing for a storm shelter for the Neligh schools.

He likes to go to court to monitor courtroom activities and he's been known to contact writers of letters to the editor to help them with their problems, he said.

Warner, who testified to the Legislature recently in support of restrictions on illegal immigrants, said he's been disappointed in the public's "tepid" response to the issues he raises.

He said he doesn't expect to survive the primary.

Paul Eurek

Age: 48

Party affiliation: Republican

Address: 34 Hilltop Road, Loup City

Occupation: board chairman, Xpanxion, LLC

Education: bachelor's degree, education, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Previous offices held, sought: none

Family: Wife Deb, one son

Web site: www.Eurek08.com


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Jerry Peterson

Age: 64

Party affiliation: Republican

Address: 1008 O St., Neligh

Occupation: retired from Nebraska Department of Roads

Education: Royal High School graduate; auto mechanics certificate, Southeast Community College

Military service: Army National Guard, three years

Previous offices held, sought: unsuccessful bids for Legislature in 1984, 1988

Family: Wife Karen, three daughters

Web site: none.


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Gary A. Rasmussen

Age: 65

Party affiliation: Democrat

Address: P.O. Box 6, Elba

Occupation: farmer, livestock feeder

Education: bachelor's degree, education, Kearney State College

Previous offices, held, sought: Howard County Board member since 2000; former school board member, Elba and Farwell schools

Family: Wife Charlotte, three daughters, two sons

Web site: none


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Kate Sullivan

Age: 58

Party affiliation: Democrat

Address: 816 W. Cedar, Cedar Rapids

Occupation: banker

Education: bachelor's and master's degrees, home economics, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Previous offices held, sought: Cedar Rapids school board, 1992-2004

Family: Husband Mike, two daughters

Web site: None


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Jerome Warner

Age: 70

Party affiliation: Republican

Address: Box 362, Greeley

Occupation: retired laborer

Education: Greeley High School graduate; attended Grand Island Business School

Military service: Air Force, 1956-68; Nebraska National Guard, 1963-65

Previous offices held, sought: none

Family: Divorced

Web site: none