Dorchester Times: Primary Election Is Tuesday; Who Are You Voting For?

Friday, May 9, 2014

Primary Election Is Tuesday; Who Are You Voting For?

Nebraska's 2014 primary election is almost here. Who are you voting for?

The polls will be open this Tuesday, May 13, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., according to information from the Secretary of State's office. If you wish to vote in the primary election, where parties choose their nominees for state and county offices, you need to be registered already and have declared your party affiliation.

In the local races, Dorchester School Board members Matt Hansen, Carol Schnell and Steve Vyhnalek -- all incumbents -- have filed for re-election. There are no challengers. (See the full list of filers for all offices in Saline County here.)

No one has yet filed for Dorchester Village Board. The village board seats will be determined in the November election.

At the state level, six Republicans and one Democrat are running for governor. Our legislative district also features a showdown between two Crete residents, Laura Ebke and Phil Hardenburger. Both will go on to the November election to replace current state lawmaker Russ Karpisek of Wilber.

At the national level, there are five Republicans and two Democrats vying for Nebraska's U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring U.S. Sen. Mike Johanns.

Let us know who you're voting for, or whom you've already voted for (if you've participated in the early voting program). Our readers may find your reasons and insight very helpful as they make up their minds.

See you at the polls!

7 comments:

AnonymousMay 9, 2014 at 5:25 PM
I'm voting bruning for governor as the least of all evils. probably mcclay for senate. ebke for legislature.
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AnonymousMay 9, 2014 at 9:17 PM
I am sick of all these dirtbag politicians who excluded themselves from the do-not-call list. The dozens of phone calls I get daily are maddening! Makes me think that unregistering to vote would not be a bad idea. Put ads in the paper, put ads on TV, but leave the phone that I pay for alone! You have a better chance of ice skating in hell than getting me to vote for you with a phone call! Can't wait for Tuesday to be over, but then it will start all over again in the Fall. :-( I plan to vote for who calls me the LEAST!!
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Big EdMay 9, 2014 at 11:22 PM
I agree with the poster above.
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AnonymousMay 10, 2014 at 8:10 PM
I don't want another Obama supporter representing us in the legislature, I know that much. I'm told one of the people running is telling people he will expand welfare, put the state in debt to pay for road projects in Lincoln and Omaha, and will bail out school districts that are in debt (crete) with by using state dollars to refund local property taxes. That's a bunch of crap.

Another wealthy white old guy being liberal with state dollars. I'm voting for Laura Ebke.
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David the BohunkMay 11, 2014 at 1:21 PM
Always write in your own name and vote for yourself.
That way you know what you're getting.
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AnonymousMay 13, 2014 at 11:12 AM
I voted Sasse for senator because he will be the most conservative. I'm sick and tired of Obama's lies and stealing from those of us who work for a living.
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Dorchester: A Good Little Family Town

Dorchester, Nebraska (est. population 630) is located in northern Saline county. Close in proximity to Interstate 80, Dorchester is only 25 minutes from the state capital of Lincoln (est. population 250,000) and about 55 minutes from Omaha (metro population 725,000).

Dorchester's median resident age is 37 years. In 2005, Dorchester had a median family income of approximately $35,600. The median house value was about $63,000. About 95 percent of Dorchester residents commute to work via Interstate and highways.

The village has a quality public school, which received a $4.1 million expansion and modernization in 2008; it offers a small classrooms and individualized attention. Total enrollment of grades K-12 is around 230-250 students.

Ancestries of the Dorchester area are primarily German (42.4%), Czech (24.9%), Irish (12.5%), English (5.4%), and Dutch (4.9%).

Dorchester Historical Facts

* On July 4, 1871, the railroad reached Dorchester.
* Incorporated in 1881, Dorchester's population grew from 200 to 500 by 1882.
* In 1882, Dorchester had 90 buildings, 35 of which were businesses or public facilities. Brick buildings lined both sides of Washington Avenue for two blocks.
* Dorchester's longest-running newspaper was The Dorchester Star, which was published until the late 1940s.
* By 1889, Dorchester's population is said to have reached 800, while the town housed an opera house, a two-story brick schoolhouse with a bell tower, and four churches.
* By the 1910s, Dorchester had electricity, a water tower and a fire department.
* Dorchester's main arteries, Highways 6 and 33, were graveled in the 1940s.
* Dorchester's first irrigation well was drilled on Chris Weber's farm and rural electrification was finished following WWII.

A Village with History

Dorchester is one of the "alphabet towns" on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad line built west from Lincoln. The town site was selected for its pleasant location in the northern part of Saline County, about eight miles west of Crete. This situation is an attractive one, being on the level prairie land, midway between the West Blue River and Turkey Creek. The first named stream is three miles north, and the latter about the same distance south from the town. Dorchester was platted in 1870 and incorporated in 1881. The name "Dorchester" came from either for a suburb of Boston by that name or a town in England. No one is sure. Two of the very first settlers were James Seely and Edward McIntyre, who both made Dorchester their permanent home.

Dorchester: In The Beginning

Here is a look at Dorchester around 1890, less than a decade after its official incorporation, as documented by Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska:
* POPULATION: "About 300, and is made up of a substantial and progressive class of citizens, who are moral and industrious. ... The town grew but very little until the year 1879, for the reason that Pleasant Hill, on Turkey Creek, a short distance south, was the county seat and naturally drew a trade for quite a large scope of country."
* BUSINESS: "The business and professional interests of the town are represented by three general merchandise stores, two drug, one grocery, one furniture, two hardware, and two millinery stores, one bank, two restaurants, two hotels, three livery stables, a post office, one newspaper office, two elevators, two lumber yards, two coal yards, two blacksmith shops, two lawyers and four physicians."
* SCHOOL: "The schoolhouse is a good one. The schoolhouse was built in 1872, since which time the public schools have been continually kept up. The present schoolhouse is 24' x 40' in size, two stories high. The school is graded and consists of three departments. The house is found too small, and arrangements will soon be made to increase its size."
* CHURCHES: "There are three substantial churches."
* HOMES: "The residence portion of the village is made up of neat houses of different styles of architecture, but none of them very large."
* NEWSPAPER: "The Dorchester Star, which was established August 21, 1881, by H. C. Bittenbender, who edited it until January 19, 1882, when he sold it to Ryerson & Bullock, the present proprietors. The Star is a bright weekly paper, five-column quarto, in size, and is Republican in politics."