Meister makes gov. bid official

LINCOLN — Minutes after officially filing Thursday as the Democratic Party candidate for governor, Scottsbluff attorney Mike Meister came out swinging, accusing Gov. Dave Heineman of failing to lead and being “short on ideas.”

Nebraska Democrats drafted Meister last weekend to replace Omaha investment banker Mark Lakers, who won the party’s governor nomination in the May primary.

Lakers bowed out amid questions about the accuracy of his campaign finance filings.

Meister faulted Heineman for letting the state amass a $751 million budget gap; for not fighting harder to save Blair’s Dana College from closing; and for not stepping in to halt an expensive state aid fight among community colleges.

He accused Heineman of having it both ways on the federal stimulus program — saying he would have voted against it had he been in Congress but signing onto a National Governors Association letter asking for more stimulus funds.

Meister questioned Heineman’s leadership on the budget, saying he uses “fuzzy math” in stating he’s tough on spending, even though general fund spending has increased about 25 percent during his six years in office.

“You have to pay attention to what he’s doing with his right hand and not what he’s doing with the left,” Meister said.

Jen Rae Hein, a spokeswoman for Heineman, said the governor was unavailable to comment.
Mark Fahleson, chairman of the Nebraska Republican Party, said Meister is not a “serious candidate” and is “doing the bidding” of U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson by attacking Heineman, who has been urged to challenge Nelson in 2012.

“Ben Nelson, I think, is concerned. He understands how popular’’ Heineman is, Fahleson said. “Connect the dots.”

In the past, Heineman has said Nebraska took the stimulus funds so they wouldn’t be distributed to other states and that he signed onto the NGA letter to show solidarity with his fellow governors.
While state budget figures do indicate a 25 percent spending rise over the past six years, Heineman has said the growth rate slowed from about 7 percent annually over the past two decades to 4.6 percent under his administration.

Meister, 49, lost bids for attorney general in 2002 and Scotts Bluff County Attorney in 2006, but he said he believes he can win the governor’s race.

He spoke at the State Capitol in front of a statue of Abraham Lincoln, whom he said lost eight political campaigns before being elected president.

When asked for specifics of his budget-cutting plan, Meister said he is still researching ideas but is interested in exploring a four-day work week for state workers, as done in Utah.

He said he’s still exploring ending state aid to schools while making the state financially responsible for maintaining all public school buildings.

“We’re fleshing that stuff out,” Meister said.

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