Exclusive: Congressman Terry Won’t Debate “Tea Partier”
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Omaha area Congressman Lee Terry (NE-R) is telling one of his fellow conservative Republicans thanks but no thanks.
Nebraska Watchdog has learned that Terry has refused to debate Matt Sakalosky, a Tea Party type, who is mounting an uphill challenge to Terry for the GOP nomination in the May 11th primary.
Terry’s campaign manager David Boomer tells Nebraska Watchdog that a one on one exchange between Terry and Sakalosky “is just not going to happen.” According to Boomer, Terry “is running his own campaign” and a debate in the primary just doesn’t make any sense.
Sakalosky recently sent his supporters an e-mail urging them to contact KFAB radio in Omaha, “And tell them you would really like to see the two candidates debate.”
Sakalosky tells Nebraska Watchdog, which offered to host a Terry-Sakalosky debate, that the Nebraska Republican Party is behind Terry and doesn’t want Sakalosky to win. According to Sakalosky the “people should decide (who gets the nomination) not the party.”
Earlier this year Sakalosky told Nebraska Watchdog he was running a grass roots campaign targeting key primary voters. Sakalosky said he’d visited 5000-6000 homes, a claim many Terry supporters find impossible to believe.
But just this week Sakalosky insisted that he’s not only been to all those homes, he’s also been getting a very warm response.
Sakalosky, who says he is a traditional Republican, tells Nebraska Watchdog that he’s been embraced by the Tea Partiers and understands their disillusionment with the federal government. Sakalosky insists that after 12 years in office Terry is part of the problem. On his Website, Sakalosky writes, ”Lee’s candidacy is mired in special interest and lobbyist money that we expect from entrenched Washington politicians.”
Nebraska Watchdog examined Terry’s campaign Website and found no mention of Sakalosky, whose run for Congress has been no match for Terry financially.
According to federal election reports as of December 31st, 2009 Terry had $543,186 in his campaign bank account while Sakalosky had $97.
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Editor’s note: to see previous stories on this subject click here.
Reported by Joe Jordan, joe@nebraskawatchdog.org
Posted under Blog, State Politics.
Tags: Joe Jordan, KFAB, Lee Terry, Matt Sakalosky, Nebraska, Tea Party, Watchdog
9:42 am on April 1st, 2010
Of course the NEGop doesn’t want him to win. Early in Mr. Sakolosky’s campaign he established his commitment to the GOP by stating that he most aligned himself with the republican party, but didn’t really consider himself part of the republican party. There’s a fine statement for someone wanting to be friends. “I don’t really like you, but let me stand here next to you so people will think I’m with you.”
As far as the visiting “5000 to 6000 households”? If you’ve only visited that number by going door-to-door, I bet you can round it a little closer than to the thousands. This is an unbelievable statement, mostly because he can’t be bothered to show up to any of the open Republican Party events. he keeps sending “staff”, which is probably why his only paid staff person quit several months ago. She probably found it difficult to sell someone that couldn’t be bothered to stay in the state of Nebraska long enough to show up to a potential job interview.
BTW, someone should ask Dawn exactly what the people that left her group told her when they decided to leave.
11:28 am on April 1st, 2010
Big mistake by Mr. Terry. He needs to understand he isn’t ‘owed’ the position he must earn it. He has been a major disappointment.
11:23 pm on April 1st, 2010
Over 29 years in the military, I worked frequently in my duties with presidents, vice presidents, cabinet members, members of Congress and their staffs. I have come to know some of the finest public servants in our country. And I have endured some of the least deserving, least competent and least sincere members of our government structure. Lee Terry is one of the very good ones. His character, values, work ethic, sense of service, personal humility and deep caring for representing people are among the most exemplary I’ve been privileged to witness. John Carter of Texas is another one of the truly great gifts we have as members of Congress. Disagree with Lee, but don’t dis him. I would take a bullet for him as my representative any day and one of my proudest privileges has been to vote for him twice. Now that I am retired from the military, I can also contribute to his campaign and volunteer. It was a singular pleasure to know him in my official capacity. Nebraska is lucky. And I’m one proud Nebraskan.
5:09 pm on April 2nd, 2010
Dear GOP Gal,
I respectfully disagree with your assessment from beginning to end. If you knew anything about Matt, you would realize he is not dissing the party, he is calling the party into account for it’s failure to stand up on principle, just like Reagan did. It’s like one of your children that have gone awry…they are still your family but sometimes corrections in behavior is necessary. Look at the complete party failures over the last ten years and inability to behave on principle when we had a repulican president and congress. That’s part of the reason we have Obama today. And read Tom Osborne’s book, he specifically spoke against these career politicians and felt like we needed much more business experience in D.C.-are you going to say he’s wrong too?
But do you think a poltician would ever say they are part of the problem…no, they are too busy trying to spin and hold on to their jobs. You want to treat Matt like part of the party treated Palin, you just don’t like outsiders. You will blindly support someone who has failed to even live up to their own promises such as term limits, something that was within their control.
And as far as not coming to the party meetings, try scheduling something with him. The party decision early on was to exclude Matt…and he has been more than respectful and has never lashed out. He cannot make all the meetings and it’s appropriate that he send someone in his place because he’s busy creating jobs and paying taxes while our government is busy taking and spending. Matt is the hardest worker I know and you seem to hold the fact against him that he has been very successful in his business, give me a break. He is a working guy doing what a lot of people didn’t have the courage to do. You are used to traditional big money campaigns with career politicians campaigning while being paid by our tax dollars. Matt’s makes his own way.
And I knew Matt’s campaign manager from earlier in the campaign, you are anonymously spewing incorrect facts. She was at his signing event recently, she was there with him at the Tea Party Express last night, I hear they still talk quite a bit and remain close.
One more thing, the people that left Dawn’s group had also donated thousands of dollars to the Lee Terry campaign, they were attempting to hijack a true grass roots movement and they didn’t like the fact they were called out and exposed. Just like Lee Terry stated, ‘the republican party is the tea party movement in Nebraska’, plainly not true and this has angered quite a few of the organic tea partiers, quite different from the astroturf establishment party tea partiers.
Did you know that someone with a position within the party recently quit the party and went to work for Matt? The bloom is off the rose…even if Matt loses, there will be plenty of people ready to step in and continue to challenge.
12:59 pm on April 3rd, 2010
LOL. You are so defensive. Matt needs to learn better time management if he doesn’t have time to attend events he is scheduled to be at. As far as creating jobs-is he enjoying the benefits of the financial support the government is giving all those hospitals out in California that he is contracted to? Does he know what entitlement program is buttering his bread? Last I checked, he has only created a job for himself and maybe his partner right here in Nebraska. How many jobs has he created in California? Wait, he hasn’t created any, the hospitals that he works for created them AND THEY ARE USING TAXPAYER DOLLARS TO DO SO!!!
Now, carry on with your view that your elected officials nationwide that fought day and night to stop this healthcare debacle are the very folks that you now criticize. And while your at it, tell Matt to quit taking taxpayer dollars from all those hospitals in California.
Happy Easter Bunny!
10:05 am on April 6th, 2010
I love how you say “if” Terry wins the primary… it’s “when” he wins the primary, and that will be on May 11. Sak has been a joke. He’s done nothing to gain media attention. He has not raised any money, and has $97 in his bank account. And it’s not like he’s a Ricketts who can poor his own dough into the campaign. His company made less than $100K last year. He has no staff. He can’t even update his Facebook/Twitter/Blog.
And Lois Akers quit his campaign, huh? For shame. I wonder why.
7:04 pm on February 4th, 2011
Can we please move on from this and get Obama out of office? I would like a CHANGE!
10:48 pm on February 4th, 2011
This country is awesome but our leadership is holding us in the past. Is there a way we can move forward before the 2012 elections?