Lawyers compete to succeed Linehan In legislative race, one candidate has health insurance background, the other works on immigration Nebraska Legislature, District 39: Lawyers vie to succeed Lou Ann Linehan in Elkhorn race
ELECTION 2024
To help inform voters,
Two lawyers are competing to replace the term-limited Sen.
Linehan has focused much of her legislative energy on untying the Gordian knot binding property tax overhaul and public-school funding in
He has worked as a certified public accountant and an attorney, advising businesses about employee benefits. He spent 32 years in leadership positions at
A lifelong Omahan, Sorrentino earned accounting and law degrees at
He served on the
"I didn't see a similarly situated candidate," he said.
Though legislative races in
He opposes expanding abortion rights, and he favors restrictions on medical treatments, bathroom use, and sports participation for transgender youths. He opposes legalizing recreational marijuana and online sports betting.
But what animates him are fiscal matters: reforming the tax system and shrinking state government. He wants to cut property taxes, eliminate the inheritance tax, and expand tax credits for job creation and business investment.
Because the state must balance its budget, any tax cuts must be offset by spending cuts or other tax increases - most likely, in the sales tax. That conundrum has bedeviled legislators for years, and hobbled the Legislature from making the sweeping changes Gov.
Sorrentino doesn't want to hike sales taxes, though he said he might support removing certain exemptions. He wants to see a thorough study of state spending, with an eye on cuts.
"We need to start at ground zero, not step two or three," he said.
Heimes is making her second run for the
Born in
A defining moment in her life occurred in 2017, when her younger brother, Matthew, a 23-year-old
Heimes' desire to boost
"We just don't have enough mental health practitioners," she said.
Heimes wants to create incentives for new college graduates in the mental health field to stay in
Improving child care affordability and availability is also a top priority. She wants to give businesses incentives to create in-house day care, and prod universities and community colleges to expand training for caregivers. At the root of the problem, Heimes said, is a severe shortage of workers, worsened by pandemic-era retirements.
She said
"We need to be enticing people to come to
Heimes was a registered Democrat when she ran in 2020. After her defeat, she changed her registration to nonpartisan - though she said her opinions on issues haven't changed.
"Party politics is limiting. It allows people to have a preconceived notion of how you're going to vote," she said. "What I'd rather people think is that I'm going to read the bill and look at the issue before I decide how to vote. The best way to give people that assurance is to be an independent."
Through the last reporting period in mid-June, Sorrentino held a
Sorrentino's contributors include PACs representing Realtors, CPAs and bankers. He received
Heimes' contributions have come from labor union PACs representing teachers and electrical workers, as well as
In the May primary, Sorrentino edged Heimes by a slim 51% to 49% margin.
[email protected]; twitter.com/Steve Liewer
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