It is said to be the most diverse legislative district in the state, District 13. The two candidates vying for the seat are current State Sen. Tanya Cook and Timothy Ashford.
The incumbent for District 13, Cook, says she wants to return to Lincoln to continue her work. "Things related to workforce development, education for employment and access to health care and being able to access it physically and being able to pay for it."
Cook says she is most proud of her first bill in the Legislature, which worked out a compromise for funding community colleges. "Certainly proud to represent this district and proud in a way that the people of the district, who are not primarily African-American, recognized that I was the best candidate for the job," said Cook.
Cook and State Sen. Brenda Council made history as the first African-American women elected to serve in the Legislature, but her opponent, Timothy Ashford says he's running because more needs to be done.
"I've looked at some of her bills and to be quite frank it seems she's just occupying the position," said Ashford. "I have to say the reason I ran is because my competitor is a former campaign manager of Brenda Council in District 11, she's voted the same way Brenda has voted, she's given Brenda a significant amount of time, in District 11, I didn't elect her to do that."
Ashford's main goal is to boost tourism as a source of tax revenue. "Everybody in the district who owns a home looks at the property taxes, that what they're looking at, and the auto taxes, we are one of the highest places in the nation for auto taxes and they say can you please do something about that."
An attorney for 23 years, Ashford says it's his experience with the law, which makes him right for the job.
