“I may have to find 50 friends, but I’m OK with that,” Ashford said. “I’m OK with finding 50 friends because the solutions to this country’s problems are nonpartisan.”

Pressed by reporters on whether that mindset is naive, Ashford insisted that he’ll be able to get results where others have failed.

He’s certainly setting his sights high.

Asked to name any GOP lawmaker he can work with on Capitol Hill, Ashford went straight to the top and said he would seek a meeting with House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.

As Terry spoke at his campaign headquarters, his wife, Robyn, and father Lee Terry Sr. stood nearby.

He did not take questions from reporters and made it clear he had no interest in picking over the results.

“The one question that you’re probably asking is ‘Geez, why did this campaign lose?’ and after deep, intensive analysis we’ve come to this conclusion: Brad Ashford got more votes than I did,” Terry said, giving a flash of his trademark sense of humor.

Instead, Terry’s mind traveled back to a happier election night back in 1998, when Omaha-area voters first sent the fresh-faced young city councilman off to Washington.