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Bold Nebraska: Omaha and Surrounding Towns

Omaha and surrounding towns, NE

November 2, 2010

Naysayers expect you to stay home; prove them wrong...Vote Bold on Nov. 2nd!

OUR DISCLAIMER: The opinions in the Bold Voter Guides are just that --opinions. We looked at websites, candidate surveys that other progressive and moderate groups issued, newspaper articles, candidate websites and we attended forums. We then processed all that info into these statements about candidates. If you have any questions, please email info@boldnebraska.org.

House of Representatives (Congress)

Lee Terry (incumbant)

Endorsed Vote: No Endorsement

Terry entered Congress on a pledge to only serve three terms. He’s now running for his seventh term. Terry’s tenure has been marked by exorbitant spending (things like the Prescription Drug program which was a handout to big business), debt and deregulation of banks and oil companies. He voted for the Wall Street bailout (i.e. TARP) and against financial regulation. In 2008, Terry tried to trick voters saying “vote for Obama and me,” Terry then turned around and voted with his party over 95% of the time. His major legislative accomplishment is renaming a post office. He is a frequent speaker at Tea Party rallies.

Tom White

Endorsed Vote: No Endorsement

Entrepreneurs love White because he doubled the R&D tax credit. To fight the deficit, White has proposed freezing Congressional pay until Congress passes a balanced budget. He has also pledged to protect Social Security and Medicare from privatization, something Terry says is on the table. White has vision — he passed a state law to allow young people to stay on their parents’ insurance while they get on their own feet, a model for the now national law.

State Legislature: LD 2

Dave Pankonin (incumbent)

Endorsed Vote: No Endorsement

He is a moderate with a reputation for listening to both sides on issues. But, we don’t see much vision coming from Pankonin and hope that changes soon

Nate Louderback

Endorsed Vote: No Endorsement

Louderback has committed the cardinal sin of having a flash intro on his campaign website. He is a traditional conserva- tive that is vocally anti-government spending and anti-same sex marriage.

State Legislature: LD 4

Pete Pirsch (incumbent, unopposed)

Endorsed Vote: No Endorsement

Pete passed some needed sex offender laws. We want to see more about Pete, but his online presence is lacking.

State Legislature: LD 6

John Nelson (incumbent)

Endorsed Vote: No Endorsement

Nelson wants to lower property taxes and empower local school districts (he is opposed to uniform school testing). He supported bills that would bring more tourism and arts funding to our state. Nelson introduced a health reform bill that would allow older Nebraskans to stay in their homes.

Todd Frazier

Endorsed Vote: No Endorsement

Todd is a lawyer in Omaha. That is about all we know of him. He has no website and does not seem to be actively campaigning for a chance to represent LD 6.

State Legislature: LD 8 (no incumbant)

Burke Harr

Endorsed Vote: No Endorsement

Harr is an Omaha native and former prosecutor. He supports implementation of health care reform and restoring prenatal care to all low income women. He supports increasing health care access for kids, promoting workforce education and expanding “green collar” jobs for Nebraskans.

John Comstock

Endorsed Vote: No Endorsement

Comstock is a small business owner who manages residential units. Comstock opposes restoring prenatal care to low income women and tax incentives that would spark job growth. He’s one of the most extreme conservative candidates we’ve seen.

State Legislature: LD 10

Bob Krist (incumbent)

Endorsed Vote: No Endorsement

Krist is a retired Air Force officer who was raised in Omaha. He believes in local control of education systems and opposes any reduction in Medicaid. After walking his daughter-in-law through the process to become a legal citizen, Krist supports common sense immigration reform.

Tim Lonergran

Endorsed Vote: No Endorsement

Lonergran is a small business owner who currently sits on the board of Metro Community College. He opposes health care reform and the Nebraska DREAM Act. Lonergran does not think we need to reduce carbon emissions.

State Legislature: LD 12

Steve Lathrop (incumbent, unopposed)

Endorsed Vote: No Endorsement

Lathrop’s like the humanitarian George Clooney of the state legislature. When the state faced a budget crisis in 2009 because of falling revenues and mismanaged funds by Heineman, it was Lathrop who crafted legislation that saved $337 million over the next two years without raising taxes. Lathrop also championed legislation that lowered Medicaid prescription drug costs in Nebraska. He is a leader with a heart and vision.

State Legislature: LD 14 (no incumbant)

Theresa Whitehead

Endorsed Vote: No Endorsement

Whitehead is a retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel who served in Bosnia. She will honor our vets by getting rid of a tax on their retirement income. The privatization of the child welfare system in Nebraska concerns her, and she will work to fix it. She is a fighter and a rockstar.

Jim Smith

Endorsed Vote: No Endorsement

Smith is a local business owner and previously worked with OPPD. He would support an Arizona-style immigration law in Nebraska. Smith also opposes health care reform and supports any measures to repeal it, no matter the cost to the state.

State Legislature: LD 16

You're Congressional District is CD 1, so you can vote for Harper of Fortenberry. Please refer to our guide for CD 1 for more info.
http://theballot.org/2010/votebold_cd1

Kent Rogert (incumbent)

Endorsed Vote: No Endorsement

He has a reputation for introducing some... interesting bills. One of our favorites that passed updated state law regard- ing the disposal of dead livestock (finally state law lines up with federal regs). Rogert is not afraid to introduce innovative legislation, even if it doesn’t pass. Yes, he paid his boat taxes. Our only major complaint is that he’s a Nickelback fan.

Lydia Brasch

Endorsed Vote: No Endorsement

Brasch has been endorsed by Governor Heineman, Senator Johanns and Nebraska Right to Life. According to her website, she’s anti- government spending and pro-life. According to us, she’s an entrenched conservative, and we think our state leg has plenty of those already.

State Legislature: LD 18

Scott Lautenbaugh (incumbent)

Endorsed Vote: No Endorsement

Lautenbaugh was first appointed to his seat by Gov. Heineman. Lautenbaugh was caught red-handed with some “re-districting” he attempted to do in Omaha. We think he is a fun guy, but question who he is taking direction from on his “ideas.” Lautenbaugh wants to repeal the Campaign Finance Limitation Act, a law that keeps spending reasonable in state legislative races. His priority bill last session was to exempt cigar bars from the smoking ban.

Carl Lorenzen

Endorsed Vote: No Endorsement

Lorenzen’s a Nebraska Air National Guard Brigadier general. Lorenzen is pushing for property tax relief and more job creation. He also supports campaign finance reform.

State Legislature: LD 20

Brad Ashford (incumbent, unopposed)

Endorsed Vote: No Endorsement

Ashford has the interesting task of representing a diverse swatch of Omaha that covers Regency, Westside and good chunk of Midtown. He has approached the challenge with enthusiasm and vision. Ashford’s also spearheading a thoughtful, proactive debate on immigration issues in Nebraska.

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