Rep. Ashford (D-NE) says he’s catching flak for focusing on his work, not fundraising

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.omaha.com/news/politics/rep-ashford-says-he-s-catching-flak-for-focusing-on/article_a87c918c-73ba-57c4-8bee-59014454ff66.html

POSTED: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2015 1:00 AM
By Joseph Morton / World-Herald Bureau

WASHINGTON — Rep. Brad Ashford, D-Neb., has been in office less than three months, but he’s already learning that representing a swing district comes with intense fundraising expectations.

Ashford said Tuesday that Democratic operatives and his own staff members are telling him that he needs to be more committed to raising money. In fact, he said, his unwillingness to focus on fundraising is one reason that he will soon lose his top Washington aide.

“I think I’m not doing it the way it’s normally done,” Ashford said.

Both parties agree that Nebraska’s Omaha-based 2nd District will be a fiercely contested battleground in 2016 after Ashford knocked off longtime GOP incumbent Rep. Lee Terry last year. Ashford has been placed in the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s Frontline program — a list of the party’s most vulnerable incumbents who are expected to need a serious pile of dough to win another term.

FULL story at link.