In politics, as in life itself, you win some and you lose some.

Congratulations to the Douglas County Republican Party. They were able to do something the Douglas County Democratic Party wished they could have done, but it wouldn’t have happened in their wildest dreams.

They gave Mark Martinez, the Democratic candidate for Douglas County Sheriff, a gazillion dollars’ worth of free publicity by trying to get him off the ballot.

You may recall that the Douglas County Election Commissioner Danielle Jenson ruled that former Omaha police deputy chief and Federal Marshal Mark Martinez couldn’t run for sheriff since he didn’t have an active law enforcement certification. Ms. Jensen is a Republican and said that she consulted with the Douglas County Attorney and the Secretary of State before making her decision. The County Attorney and the Secretary of State are both Republicans.

Ms. Jensen acted at the request of the Douglas County Republican Party.

The Nebraska Supreme Court ruled differently and put Martinez back on the ballot. The court pointed out the obvious that the law never states that the law enforcement certificate needs to be active. They just had to have one, and Mark Martinez has one.

The ruling gave Martinez another day of free publicity on the TV news, the World Herald, the Nebraska Examiner, and numerous websites.

If the Republican Party hadn’t raised such a stink, the county voters might never have known about Martinez’s years as a dedicated police officer. They would have been unaware that the reason he didn’t have an active law enforcement certificate was that the President had appointed him a United States federal marshal. And you can’t be a federal marshal and an active local police officer at the same time.

Without the Republican Party trying to suppress the choices for sheriff, Martinez’s attorney wouldn’t have been able to get before the news cameras and praise all the work he’s done on civic boards and community agencies.

Yes, the Democratic Party could never have gotten all that free publicity for their candidate, but the Republicans sure got it for him.

It reminded me of the time a Michigan housewife got the Parents Television Council to wage a war with Married with Children.

Married with Children was a failing TV show on the fledgling FOX network. When they made such a stink about the show’s sexual innuendos and racy outfits, it created such a buzz that it got people interested, and the show went on for a long run that still lives on in syndication.

Yes, sometimes it’s best not to give your opponent too much ammunition.

Now, this doesn’t mean that Mark Martinez will beat incumbent Douglas County sheriff Aaron Hanson. Mr. Hanson has the power of incumbency, good name recognition, and has done a decent job as County Sheriff.

It remains to be seen if this short-term win for Martinez can propel him to a bigger win in November.

The Republicans did win one by keeping Cindy Burbank off the Democratic Primary for the Senate ticket. Burbank was put on the ballot to counter William Forbes, who many say is loyal to Senator Ricketts. They claim that Forbes is only running to take away support from independent candidate Dan Osborn.

The Democrats put Burbank on the ticket to win the nomination and then drop out. By not having a Democrat on the ballot, it would give Osborn a better chance at defeating Ricketts.

And the plan might have worked if the Burbank camp had kept its mouth shut and run an actual campaign, and not announced they were going to drop out until after they got the nomination.

Secretary of State Bob Evnen ruled, and a Lancaster County judge agreed that Burbank was ineligible since the law states that a candidate has to act in good faith and that her admitting she wouldn’t run if she were nominated showed she was not acting in good faith.

That case is going to be appealed to the Nebraska Supreme Court. The same court that ruled in favor of Mark Martinez.

But the deadline to finalize the primary ballot was last Friday. As of this writing, Cindy Burbank is off the ticket, and my guess is it’s going to stay that way.

In politics as in life, there are winners and losers. I hope those who win in November turn into a win for the rest of us.

Tom Becka is a long time Nebraska broadcaster who for over 30 years has been covering Omaha and Midwest issues on both radio and TV. He has been a guest on numerous national cable and news shows, filled in for nationally syndicated talk radio programs and Talkers Magazine has recognized him as one of the Top 100 talk show hosts in the country 10 times. Never afraid to ruffle some feathers, his ‘Becka’s Beat’ commentaries can be found online on Youtube and other digital platforms.

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