Rep. Lee Terry dismisses tight race

Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) isn’t fazed by his slim win margin in Tuesday night’s primary.

{mosads}”We won; that’s the major issue,” he told The Associated Press.

Terry faced the toughest primary challenge of his career, drawing 53 percent of the vote to businessman Dan Frei’s 47 percent support.

That’s despite the fact he heavily outspent Frei, spending about $900,000 to Frei’s $40,000.

While Terry’s drawn primary challengers every cycle since 2006, this was the first time his win margin was not in double-digits. And last cycle, when he took 59 percent support in the primary, he went on to win in the general by just over 1 percentage point.

Terry’s slim margin in 2012 initially made him a Democratic target this cycle. But the party’s recruit for the race, Omaha city councilman Pete Festersen, dropped out late last year, leaving Democrats with party-switching state Sen. Brad Ashford.