Brad Ashford

Brad Ashford
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Nebraska's 2nd district
Incumbent
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)
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.

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 to 1986.

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 served as the chairman of the Judiciary Committee and served on the Education Committee and the Committee on Committees.

He was on the following committees:

• Business and Labor, Member
• Judiciary, Chair
• Urban Affairs, Member

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

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

See also: United States House of Representatives elections, 1994 § Nebraska

In 1994, Ashford, then a state senator, ran in the Republican primary for Nebraska's 2nd congressional district seat. 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%). 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.

2014

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Nebraska, 2014 § District 2

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%.

2016

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Nebraska, 2016 § District 2

Ashford ran unopposed in the Democratic primary on May 10, 2016. He will face Republican Don Bacon in the general election.

Committee assignments

• Committee on Agriculture
  • Subcommittee on Nutrition
  • Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management
• Committee on Armed Services
  • Subcommittee on Strategic Forces
  • Subcommittee on Intelligence, Emerging Threats and Capabilities

Tenure

The Lugar Center, a nonprofit organization led by former U.S. senator Richard Lugar, and the McCourt School of Public Policy of Georgetown University, developed a "Bipartisan Index" that assigned scores to almost all members of Congress, using an algorithm based on their sponsorship of bills that drew co-sponsors from the other party, and on their co-sponsorship of bills introduced by members of the other party. In the 2015 session of Congress, scores for members of the House of Representatives ranged from a low of -2.07 to a high of 1.88. Ashford's rating was 0.78, the 34th-highest of the 438 House members who were rated.

Personal life

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

References

• "Nebraska Unicameral Legislature". Sen. Brad Ashford. Retrieved March 10, 2007.

External links

• Congressman Brad Ashford official U.S. House site
• Brad Ashford for Congress
• Brad Ashford at Curlie
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
• Profile at Vote Smart