Brad Ashford

Brad Ashford
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Nebraska's 2nd district
Assumed office
January 3, 2015
Preceded by Lee Terry
Member of the Nebraska Legislature
from the 20th district
In office
January 2007 – January 2015
Preceded by Jim Jensen
Succeeded by John McCollister
Member of the Nebraska Legislature
from the 6th district
In office
January 1987 – January 1995
Preceded by Peter Hoagland
Succeeded by Pam Brown
Personal details
Born (1949-11-10) November 10, 1949
Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.
Political party Democratic (1984–1988, 2013–present)[1]
Other political
affiliations		 Republican (1967–1983, 1989–2011)
Independent (2011–2013)
Alma mater Colgate University
Creighton University

John Bradley "Brad" Ashford (born November 10, 1949) is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party from the state of Nebraska, who is the U.S. Representative for Nebraska's 2nd congressional district. He was formerly a member of the Nebraska Legislature, representing the 6th district from 1987 to 1995 and the 20th district from 2007 to 2015.

He defeated Republican Congressman Lee Terry in the 2014 elections, one of only two Democrats to defeat incumbent House Republicans in that year's elections.

Early life, education and career

Born in Omaha, Nebraska, he attended Westside High School. He received his B.A. from Colgate University in 1971. He earned his J.D. from Creighton University School of Law in 1974.[2]

Political career

Ashford served as an attorney in the general counsel's office of the Federal Highway Administration from 1974-1975, and as a judge on the Nebraska Court of Industrial Relations from 1984-1986[2]

Nebraska legislature

He was first elected to the Legislature in 1986 serving Nebraska's 6th legislative district. He was reelected in 1990 and retired in 1994. He ran for legislature again in 2006, and was elected to serve Nebraska's 20th legislative district. He is chairman of the Judiciary Committee and serves on the Education Committee and the Committee on Committees.

He was on the following committees:

Omaha Mayoral election, 2013

Ashford ran for Mayor of Omaha in 2013 as an independent candidate. He was defeated in the primary.

Omaha mayoral primary results, April 2, 2013[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Jean Stothert 18,870 32.20
Nonpartisan Jim Suttle (incumbent) 14,309 24.41
Nonpartisan Dave Nabity 10,204 17.41
Nonpartisan Brad Ashford 7,745 13.21
Nonpartisan Dan Welch 7,083 12.08
Nonpartisan Maura DeLuca 195 0.33
Nonpartisan Mort Sullivan 153 0.26
Write-in 52 0.09
Total votes 58,611 100

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

1994

In 1994, Ashford, then a state senator, ran in the Republican primary for Nebraska's 2nd congressional district seat.[4] Jon Christensen won the 1994 primary with 26,494 votes, for 52.7% of the total. Ashford was second in the primary with 12,340 votes (24.5%), and Ron Staskiewicz finished third in the primary with 11,436 votes (22.7%).[5] In the general election, Christensen defeated incumbent Congressman Peter Hoagland of the Democratic Party by a margin of 92,516–90,750 (49.9%–49.0%), with 2,044 write-ins.[6]

2014

In 2014, Ashford was elected as Representative for the 2nd Congressional District, defeating 8-term Republican incumbent Lee Terry with 49.0% of the vote to Terry's 45.7%.[7]

2016

Scott Kleeb, who previously ran for Nebraska's 3rd congressional district election, 2006, has been mentioned as a possible challenger to Ashford in the 2016 Democratic primary, which will occur on Tuesday, May 10, 2016.[8] Former Republican State Senator and Tea Partier Chip Maxwell, who almost ran as an independent against Lee Terry in 2012, stated that he would challenge Ashford in 2016.[9]

Committee assignments

Personal life

Ashford is married to Ann Ferlic. The couple has three children.

References

  1. ↑ Ryan, Laura. "Brad Ashford's Kindness Campaign". NationalJournal.com. Retrieved 2015-04-07.
  2. 1 2 3 "Senator Brad Ashford's Biography". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
  3. ↑ "2013 Primary Election Unofficial Results". Douglas County Election Commission. April 2, 2013. Retrieved April 15, 2013.
  4. ↑ "Omaha Democrats have candidate for Congress: Ex-Republican Ashford « Watchdog.org". Watchdog.org. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Official Report of the Board of State Canvassers of the State of Nebraska: Primary Election Held May 10, 1994", p. 10. Downloadable with 1916–1998 canvass books from "Previous Elections", Nebraska Secretary of State. Retrieved 2015-01-20.
  6. ↑ "Official Report of the Board of State Canvassers of the State of Nebraska: General Election Held November 8, 1994", p. 4. Downloadable with 1916–1998 canvass books from "Previous Elections", Nebraska Secretary of State. Retrieved 2015-01-20.
  7. ↑ "Official Results: General Election—November 4, 2004". Nebraska Secretary of State. Retrieved 2015-01-05. Archived 2015-01-04 at Wayback Machine.
  8. ↑ Jordan, Joe (2015-01-15). "Brad Ashford to get challenge from fellow Democrat? It’s a ‘possibility’". Nebraska Watchdog. Retrieved 2015-01-18.
  9. ↑ "Move over 2014, 2016 Omaha House race is off and running". Nebraska Watchdog. November 19, 2014.

External links

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