Congressional Candidate Visits Madison County Democrats

NORFOLK — Health care was on the mind of congressional candidate Dennis Crawford on Thursday night. The Lincoln personal injury attorney and Democratic candidate for Nebraska’s Congressional District One spoke at an event for Madison County Democrats at the Norfolk Country Club. He is opposing incumbent representative Jeff Fortenberry who has been in the House since 2005. Most of Crawford's speech was focused on the country’s debate over health care. “The Trumpcare bill that Mr. Fortenberry voted for in May would have taken away insurance from 23 million people, brought back pre-existing condition clauses, all to fund a tax cut for the top one percent of wealthiest Americans,” Crawford said. "In my estimation, that’s going in completely the wrong direction.” In addition to a speech, Crawford also answered questions and had dinner with the group. He hammered on Fortenberry’s alignment with President Trump, saying he voted with the President 95 percent of the time. “The Trump Administration is proposing cuts in crop insurance programs and the Ag budget,” Crawford said. "Once again, that would be very bad for Nebraska.” Crawford ran against Fortenberry in the 2014 election and lost by over 67,000 votes. He says the 2018 election would have a different result because the Democratic base will turn out. “I think this time the Democratic base is engaged. I think they’re alarmed by the decisions of the Trump administration and the Republican Congress. I think our voters will be willing to run through a wall to elect a Democrat in 2018,” Crawford said. Crawford will face Democrat Jessica McClure in the primary election.