1. John Bradley Ashford was an American politician who served in the Nebraska Legislature and the United States House of Representatives from Nebraska's 2nd congressional district.
43 Facts About Brad Ashford
1. 2.
Brad Ashford returned to the state legislature in 2007 and served until 2015 when he successfully ran for the House of Representatives against incumbent representative Lee Terry.
3.
Brad Ashford is the most recent Democrat to represent Nebraska in Congress.
4.
John Bradley Ashford was born in Omaha, Nebraska, on November 10,1949, to Don Ashford and Ellen Swanson.
5.
Don Brad Ashford had served as a bomber during World War II and received a Distinguished Flying Cross.
6.
Brad Ashford attended Westside High School in Omaha and graduated in 1967.
7.
Brad Ashford later criticized Forrest Gump for its depiction of Abbie Hoffman, but stated that he still enjoyed the movie as "it was a travelogue of my early life".
8.
Brad Ashford married Ann Ferlic, with whom he had three children.
9.
In 1986, Brad Ashford considered running for the Democratic nomination in Nebraska's 2nd congressional district against incumbent Republican Hal Daub.
10.
On July 31,1987, Douglas County Commissioner Steve McCollister said that he and Brad Ashford discussed Brad Ashford switching to the Republican Party and running to succeed Hal Daub as the representative from Nebraska's 2nd congressional district.
11.
On January 28,1988, Ashford announced that he had changed his party affiliation to Republican with Governor Kay A Orr at his side.
12.
Brad Ashford stated that he would support the Republican nominee in the Senate election, but the next day he was appointed onto the finance committee of Bob Kerrey's Democratic senatorial campaign.
13.
Brad Ashford later announced that he would run in the 20th state district.
14.
Brad Ashford was appointed to serve on the Education committee and as chairman of the Judicial committee during the 100th legislative session from 2007 to 2009.
15.
Brad Ashford was reappointed to serve on the Education committee and as chairman of the Judiciary committee during the 101st legislative session from 2009 to 2011.
16.
On February 12,2014, Brad Ashford announced that he would run for the Democratic nomination in Nebraska's 2nd congressional district.
17.
On December 16,2015, Brad Ashford endorsed former secretary of state Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination.
18.
In 2018, Brad Ashford accused Russian agents of hacking his emails during the 2016 election, after twelve indictments were announced by Robert Mueller.
19.
Brad Ashford stated that all of his email correspondence with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee was obtained by Russian hackers, but he did not believe that any information was given to Bacon or his campaign.
20.
Brad Ashford considered running against Bacon again after he voted for the American Health Care Act of 2017 which would have partially repealed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
21.
In June 2017, Brad Ashford announced that he would seek the Democratic nomination to run against Bacon for another term.
22.
On September 20, Brad Ashford formally announced his campaign at the Old Mattress Factory in Omaha, Nebraska, and filed to run in the election on January 30,2018.
23.
Brad Ashford was endorsed by Giffords, a gun control advocacy organization that was founded by former representative Gabby Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly.
24.
In February 2017, Brad Ashford was selected to serve as the head of Midtown 2050, an Omaha development group, but resigned in April as he felt that he wasn't fit for the position.
25.
In May 2019, Brad Ashford was hospitalized after a fluid backup happened in his lungs due to blood clots.
26.
In February 2022, Brad Ashford announced he had been diagnosed with brain cancer.
27.
Brad Ashford was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Omaha.
28.
In 1990, Brad Ashford introduced an amendment that would allow the state legislature to confirm members of the appellate court, but it failed with twenty-one to eight voting against it.
29.
Brad Ashford cited reports showing the illegal immigrants were getting abortions as they lacked Medicaid coverage.
30.
On September 18,2014, Brad Ashford debated incumbent representative Lee Terry and during the debate he stated that he would have voted against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as it lacked bipartisan support.
31.
Brad Ashford later criticized Don Bacon after he voted for a partial repeal of the Affordable Care Act.
32.
Brad Ashford voted in favor of advancing the legislation, but stated that he would not support it when it went to the floor vote.
33.
Brad Ashford praised the Supreme Court of the United States for its ruling in Obergefell v Hodges that same-sex couples had the right to marry.
34.
On March 20,1989, Brad Ashford proposed an amendment to a drug penalty bill that would ban semi-automatic weapons, but Speaker Bill Barrett ruled that his proposed amendment was not germane.
35.
Brad Ashford proposed another amendment that would ban the sale and manufacture of semi-automatic weapons a Class II felony with a punishment of one to fifty years in prison.
36.
Brad Ashford introduced legislation that would make it a misdemeanor offense to store a gun within the reach of a child under the age of sixteen.
37.
On February 22,2018, Brad Ashford stated that he would vote in favor of a federal ban on assault weapons.
38.
In 1989, Brad Ashford introduced a bill that would require people attempting to purchase handguns to fill out forms asking for their criminal record and mental health problems and institute a seven-day waiting period.
39.
In January 1990, Brad Ashford campaigned in Wisconsin against a right to bear arms amendment and criticized Nebraska's 1989 ballot initiative at a Madison, Wisconsin news conference.
40.
In 1991, Brad Ashford reintroduced legislation that would impose a two-day waiting period for handgun purchases.
41.
Brad Ashford considered proposing an amendment to his bill to limit its effects to only Douglas, Lancaster, and Sarpy counties.
42.
The Judiciary committee voted five to one in favor of killing the bill and Brad Ashford later referred to the legislation as "partisan communications".
43.
Brad Ashford later criticized Republicans for spreading pamphlets and robocalls that attacked Steve Lathrop for abstaining from the Judiciary committee vote.