Lincoln Democrat Will Run Against Sen. Fischer

Nebraska—Democrat Jane Raybould, a member of the Lincoln City Council, said Thursday she plans to challenge U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer in the 2018 election. Raybould said she wants to bring her business background and commitment to bipartisanship to the job. She said she is not happy with how congressional Republicans handled debate over the health care bill. She also criticized Fischer, a first-term senator, for her vote to confirm Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. Fischer formally announced her re-election bid in June, saying she would continue to prioritize national security and transportation during a second term. Raybould acknowledged she has an uphill battle against a Republican incumbent in a state where Republicans outnumber Democrats by roughly three to two. But Raybould, 58, said she’s ready. “I have never shied away from a fight,” said Raybould, who is a vice president at her family’s grocery store business. She cites her time on the Lancaster County Board, where she was the lone Democrat, as proof that she can work across the aisle. Raybould said she’s particularly proud of the board’s work with labor unions and others to reduce the county’s pension contributions. On health care, Raybould said she would fight to maintain some provisions of the Affordable Care Act, such as mandatory coverage of pre-existing conditions and insurance subsidies for those whose incomes are under a certain threshold. She said she wants a bipartisan group of the “smartest and the brightest” to come together to propose changes. She said she would look at a single-payer system or allowing people older than 55 to buy into Medicare, but did not endorse any specific changes in health care laws. Raybould said she would be “fierce” on agricultural issues and would seek a spot on the Senate Agriculture Committee. Fischer, a rancher from Valentine and a former state senator, has a position in Senate leadership as “counsel” to the majority leader. “It has been the honor of my lifetime to be your fighter, and today I am asking you for the chance to keep on fighting for our shared values,” she said in June during her re-election announcement. Fischer serves on the Environment and Public Works Committee and the Armed Services Committee. She has pushed back on Environmental Protection Agency regulations and has sought regulation changes to improve sales of ethanol. She talks frequently about the importance of modernizing the country’s nuclear force. She was one of the last Senate Republicans to publicly announce her support for DeVos, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Education, a decision that drew heat from activists who objected to DeVos’ record on school choice. Fischer said at the time that she supported the nomination after securing commitments from DeVos to fight for all children and to respect local control on issues like school choice.
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