Early voting for the June 28 special 1st Congressional District election is underway.
The election will decide who will serve the remaining six months of what had been Rep. Jeff Fortenberry’s ninth term. Two state senators were chosen by their respective political parties: Democrat Patty Pansing Brooks and Republican Mike Flood.
They both will also square off in the Nov. 8 general election in a battle for a two-year term after winning the primary vote.
Nebraska’s 1st District includes Madison, Stanton, Cuming, Platte, Colfax, Dodge, Butler, Seward, Lancaster and Cass Counties, along with parts of Sarpy County (including La Vista and the bulk of Papillion) and northeastern Polk County.
Early voting started Tuesday. Lancaster County Election Commissioner David Shively reminded residents that state law permits any registered voter to vote an early/absentee ballot, but they must request that ballot in writing.
An early/absentee ballot request form is available through the Nebraska Secretary of State website at sos.nebraska.gov/elections/2022-elections (click on “2022 Special Election – U.S. Congressional District 1”). June 17 is the last day for voters to return an early/absentee ballot application to their county election office.
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Fortenberry announced his resignation from Congress March 26, two days after a federal jury convicted him of one count of concealing conduit campaign contributions and two counts of lying to federal agents. He has since requested the convictions be overturned.
The judge in the case has scheduled a hearing on Fortenberry’s request on the same day as the former congressman’s sentencing, which happens to be the same day as the special election, June 28.
State Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks will vie to serve the rest of former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry’s term in a June special election.
Voters in Nebraska’s 1st Congressional District have another election date to add to their 2022 calendars: June 28.
U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry announced his resignation Saturday, two days after being convicted on three felonies and one day after top leaders called for his resignation.
References to elephants, horses, opossums and raccoons weren’t the only things that stood out about the Jeff Fortenberry trial.
Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts and U.S. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Friday both called for U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry to resign.
The jury took less than two hours deliberating in the federal case of Nebraska Rep. Jeff Fortenberry. He was found guilty on all three charges.
For the first time Thursday, the public — and more importantly, jurors — heard an overview of U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry’s defense in his court case.
A U.S. district judge begins questioning jurors Wednesday on their ability to be fair and impartial in deciding U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry’s fate.
U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, Nebraska’s 1st District congressman, is set to go on trial in Los Angeles, facing three felony charges as he runs a reelection campaign.
A federal judge rejected U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry’s attempts to suppress his two 2019 statements to the FBI and U.S. attorneys investigating illegal contributions.
A judge will not transfer Rep. Jeff Fortenberry’s trial to Nebraska, noting that a fundraiser that was the genesis of the criminal case against the nine-term congressman took place in California.
Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., faces three felony charges as he seeks his 10th term in Congress. His lawyers want the trial to be held in Nebraska, not California, and held before the May 10 primary.
Rep. Jeff Fortenberry’s attorneys are seeking to show that the congressman was simply confused, rather than lying to agents.
California’s federal courts have suspended jury trials through the end of February because of a surge in COVID-19 cases. U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry’s trial had been scheduled to begin Feb. 15.
The judge in the federal case against U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry blistered Fortenberry’s attorneys Tuesday for attacking an FBI agent’s reputation.
A federal judge has rejected U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry’s first barrage of defense attacks on the indictment against the nine-term Nebraska congressman.
When federal prosecutors announced indictments against the Nebraska congressman, GOP operatives privately began discussing possible successors. But none have emerged.
Federal prosecutors are accusing lawyers representing indicted U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of smearing the reputation of an FBI agent by falsely claiming he was biased against Arabs and Muslims.
Federal prosecutors and lawyers for Rep. Jeff Fortenberry argued for an hour before a judge on Monday over three defense motions to dismiss the case.
Attorneys for indicted U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry claim that a lead prosecutor misled the congressman into making incriminating statements.
In a motion filed Monday, Rep. Jeff Fortenberry’s lawyers asked a judge to force prosecutors to disclose what promises they made to a key informant in the case.
In court briefs filed Tuesday, the Central California U.S. District Attorney’s Office asked a judge to reject motions by Fortenberry’s defense lawyers to dismiss three felony indictments.
A spokesman for U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry blasted federal prosecutors, saying they hadn’t shared “the whole truth” about why he had not returned illegal campaign contributions.
Prosecutors have turned over more than 11,600 pages of documents and more than 50 audio and video recordings to lawyers defending Rep. Jeff Fortenberry.
The motion argues that any misstatements made by Fortenberry to investigators were not “material” to crimes the FBI was investigating, so the felony charges against the congressman should be dismissed.
Fortenberry’s attorney accused federal prosecutors of “opportunistic venue shopping” and “gross abuse of power” for filing charges against the Republican congressman in California, far from his home in Lincoln.
A judge has barred Rep. Jeff Fortenberry from possessing or being left alone with evidence gathered by confidential informants during a federal investigation into illegal campaign contributions.
Toufic Baaklini, who resigned on Sunday, had served as president and a board member for several years for In Defense of Christians, an organization that fights persecution of Christians.
“You got to know these people … they tell you they’re citizens, and then all of a sudden they’re not,” said former Rep. Lee Terry, who said he donated the money that originated from Gilbert Chagoury.
The defense attorney representing Rep. Jeff Fortenberry against allegations that he misled and obstructed a federal investigation came out swinging during the congressman’s initial court hearing.
A federal grand jury indictment charges U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry with one count of scheming to falsify and conceal material facts and two counts of making false statements to federal investigators.
Fortenberry has said the allegations, linked to a federal investigation into illegal campaign contributions from a Nigerian billionaire, are untrue and a betrayal after he cooperated with the FBI.
A source said an indictment could come as early as Tuesday. The nine-term Republican from Lincoln said he is being wrongly accused. “We will fight these charges. I did not lie to them,” he said.
Fortenberry hired a lawyer and set up a legal expense fund — but was not charged — after being named in reports about a foreign national who illegally gave money to U.S. campaigns, the spokesman said.
