[h=3]Loser: DCCC[/h] The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee does not endorse primary candidates, per se, but it does maintain a roster of Red to Blue program members who are considered the party’s best prospects for flipping seats. It sometimes adds people to Red to Blue before nominations have been settled.
One such Red to Blue recruit, entrepreneur and former Air Force officer Chrissy Houlahan, is on a glide path to Congress with an uncontested primary and the chance to run in an open seat in a district Hillary Clinton carried, thanks to the redrawn map and the retirement of incumbent Republican Rep. Ryan Costello.
But Brad Ashford, who served one term in the US House of Representatives from the Omaha-based second district, has not had it so lucky. Ashford, a moderate who used to be a Republican state legislator and who ran for Omaha mayor as a nonpartisan independent, fits the DCCC recruiting model perfectly.
Local progressives rallied instead behind Kara Eastman, a more conventional liberal who runs a nonprofit called the Omaha Healthy Kids Alliance. In national politics, she secured support from Justice Democrats and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.
Despite running a platform of single-payer health care and a $15-per-hour minimum wage, Eastman didn’t snag an Our Revolution endorsement (likely because she backed Clinton in 2016) but
also didn’t secure support from Emily’s List or NARAL. They overlooked Ashford’s past as an anti-abortion state legislator in favor of his solidly pro-abortion rights record during his two years in the House.
The race was incredibly close (and hadn’t yet been called at press time), a fact that doesn’t bode well for the DCCC’s top choices.
