Former US Democrat Brad Ashford, who served one term in the Omaha region of Nebraska, has died
From the Associated Press
April 19, 2022, 10:27 p.m.
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OMAHA, Nebraska – Former United States MP Brad Ashford, a Democrat who served one term representing the Omaha-based area of Nebraska, died Tuesday morning. He was 72 years old.
Ashford’s family announced his death in a Facebook post, saying “his death was peaceful, albeit premature.” Just two months earlier, Ashford had revealed that he was being treated for brain cancer.
Ashford was a U.S. senator from Omaha when he ousted longtime Republican Lee Terry to represent Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District. Ashford lost the seat two years later to current Republican Don Bacon.
He again claimed the seat in 2018, but lost the Democratic primary to Kara Eastman. In 2020, his wife, Ann Furlick Ashford, announced her candidacy for the seat, but also lost the Eastman primary. Brad Ashford rocked the general election race by backing Bacon to Eastman.
A lawyer and a lifelong resident of Omaha, he began his political career in the 1980s as a Democrat, but changed parties several times over the years and presented himself as an independent moderate moderate.
Ashford received his bachelor’s degree from Colgate University in 1971 and his law degree from Creighton University in Omaha in 1974. He worked as a lawyer for the Federal Road Administration in 1974, before opening a private practice the following year. In the 1990s, he became a co-owner of the Nebraska Clothing Company.
He is survived by his wife, three children and a granddaughter.
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