On Tuesday night, candidates running for several offices participated in a discussion forum hosted by Culxr House with roughly 50 audience members in attendance. Three moderators asked a series of prewritten questions before asking questions submitted by the audience members.
nebraska Legislative district 11
“I have always been aware of what happens to black people and others who are unpopular,” former State Sen. Ernie Chambers, who is running again for his previous seat, said. “My constituency, I call the three L’s, ‘the least, the last and the lost.’”
Chambers highlighted his past legislative work, particularly his involvement when Hilton and Quest established new ventures in Omaha. He emphasized his collaboration with colleagues to secure benefits for North Omaha, ensuring a percentage of the arena and hotel’s earnings were reinvested in the community.
“I don’t have a magic bullet,” Chamber said regarding permanently fixing issues affecting economic disparities within North Omaha. “I was in the legislature 46 years. If there was such a thing, I would have found it.”
State Sen. Terrell McKinney, who is running for re-election, spoke on his collaboration with his colleagues on the Economic Recovery Act—legislation that brought over 400 million dollars to North and South Omaha to provide grants to public and private entities addressing economic disparities.
“For years, working in a community and just hearing the stories, you hear so much about the lack of opportunities or lack of resources in a community to help those businesses be sustainable,” McKinney said. “So, I made it my mission to do what I can in my role to bring dollars back to the community.”
In addition, McKinney highlighted his success in passing the Nebraska Innovation Hub Act and the Small Business Assistance Act. The bill created innovation hubs to serve as a supportive resource for businesses across Nebraska, where entrepreneurs can receive counseling and support to help their businesses thrive.
Healthcare disparities were another topic of discussion for the candidates.
McKinney spoke about how he was able to work on legislation during his first term to provide 20 million in funding to Charles Drew Health Center. He underscored his intent to continue visiting with healthcare workers and advocates and using their feedback to create legislation to help underserved communities in the best way possible.
“Individuals who live in District 11, North Omaha, have the lowest life expectancy in the state,” McKinney said. “We have to change that and one of the ways to change that is economics, but also improving healthcare access for the residents of the community.”
“There was no Charles Drew Health Center until I got into the program,” Chambers responded. He followed up with his efforts to put things in place during his time at the legislature to pave the way for those after him to continue building upon.
Nebraska Legislative districts 7 & 13
Ashlei Spivey, the founder and executive director of I Be Black Girl, a reproductive justice organization, is running for District 7. She spoke about her work as a lobbyist over the last eight years and underscored legislation she helped advocate for to expand postpartum coverage from 60 days to one year.
“In Douglas County, black infant mortality is at 12%,” Spivey said. “The highest it’s ever been and the highest in the country.”
Spivey elaborated that health equity is more than healthcare and mental health services; it also includes access to healthy living, such as clean water.
Dunixi Guereca, the executive director of Stand for Schools and a candidate for the District 13 seat, spoke on creating partnerships with businesses to create opportunities for high school students.
“If these kids graduate with a welding certificate with hands-on training, how to fix a car, basic CNA certificate that’s actually life-changing right off the bat,” Guereca said. “That has immediate impact in our community.”
Tim Prendrell, a former legislative aide also running for District 13, attended the forum and spoke on how poverty has impacted urban and rural Nebraskan communities. He also discussed giving small businesses opportunities to win government contracts and other opportunities to scale up their businesses.
“East Omaha has 16,000 lead service lines in this area. The state’s going to be getting about $200 million to replace those,” Prendrell said. “We should be training the people in East Omaha to replace those lead service lines and getting those jobs.”
United states House and senate
State Sen. Tony Vargas, who is running for Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District, highlighted his goals of protecting and expanding healthcare access. He also spoke about the need to fund Medicaid and protect Medicare—programs he says are currently being targeted and his opponent supports dismantling.
In addition, Vargas emphasized the importance of lowering prescription drug prices, reducing insurance premiums and addressing maternal and child health equity.
“I want to make healthcare more affordable,” Vargas said. “I want to make it easier for people to be able to access or remove the barriers as much as possible.”
Affordable housing was another topic Vargas touched on. He spoke about his affordable and workforce housing initiatives while in the legislature. Additionally, he talked about rising grocery costs and inflation, saying it has hindered a pathway to homeownership for many Nebraskans.
Despite advocating for a $15 minimum wage, Vargas believes it is still not livable, as prices are increasing across industries.
“We got to continue to create jobs that have higher wages, better protections for workers, make sure we have benefits that are actually meeting the demand,” Vargas said.
Preston Love Jr., who is running for the US Senate, highlighted that Republicans currently hold all of Nebraska’s federal and top state offices.
“Somebody needs to run and break the cycle of one-party rule in this state,” Love Jr. said.
Love Jr. shared that he has visited farmers and ranchers throughout the state, who have come to understand that addressing environmental issues such as climate change and how agriculture affects it does not dilute the opportunity for economic development.
He also expanded on the need for and lack of economic development, especially in North Omaha.
“I have lived long enough to watch 50 years of disinvestment in North Omaha,” Love Jr. said. “No economic development—none.”
Nebraska state board of education
When asked how they would ensure curriculum standards are rigorous, relevant, and inclusive of diverse perspectives while respecting local control and community input, all Board of Education candidates spoke about the need to strive for academic excellence in ways that meet the needs of the communities.
Stacy Matula, who is running for District 2, spoke about including tech trades within schools and bolstering core learning such as literacy and math.
“We do want to ensure excellence in education,” Matula said. It’s very important that our students, when they graduate, are functional, and they can get a job.”
Liz Renner, a candidate for District 4, said it is important to not center only one perspective, especially in history and language arts, but to hear diverse voices from students on what they need to know and who to hear from while guiding them.
“I think the main thing is ensuring that we’re centering equity and excellence in all of our decision-making within terms of curriculum,” Renner said.
LeDonna White Griffin, a former school principal also running in District 4, emphasized the importance of reading skills and critical thinking.
“They have to be competent readers,” White Griffin said. “Able to take information and then analyze what that means and how it applies to the state they’re in, the place they’re in, and the world and then provide that back to others.”
Israel and Hamas war
An audience member asked the Democratic candidates how they would make sure lobbying groups, such as AIPAC, would not influence their policies relating to Israel and Palestinian territories.
McKinney, Chambers, Spivey, and Love Jr. spoke about the need for a ceasefire, humanitarian aid and the ending of complex conflicts.
“I think it is important to articulate what movement building looks like and how we can ensure genocide across cultures and races does not happen and also continue to talk about the genocide in Sudan,” Spivey said.
Vargas spoke about his dislike of money influencing politicians and that while he supports Israel as an ally, he also does not want “endless murder and killing.”
“I also believe that they have the right to defend themselves,” Vargas added. “I also believe that a two-state solution is the only pathway forward in the long term.”
