National GOP doubles down in Nebraska

by Ben Kamisar - 10/27/14 1:42 PM ET

The National Republican Congressional Committee has released another harsh ad in Nebraska, in hopes of protecting Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.).

The new ad, released Monday, accuses state Sen. Brad Ashford (D-Neb.) of supporting “removing sexual offenders from [the] state registry, preventing families from knowing when sexual predators are in their neighborhood.”

{mosads}“Liberal Brad Ashford is dangerously wrong on crime,” the ad ends.

Kurt Gonska, Ashford’s campaign manger, panned the ad in an emailed statement.

“It’s the most disgusting, vile, Hail Mary we’ve ever seen,” he said. “It’s untrue, plays to the worst fears and shows just how desperate Lee Terry is to cling to his high-paying job.”

In 2009, the state passed a new law that put all sex offenders on the state’s registry with no flexibility depending on their crimes. As chairman of the state legislature’s Judiciary Committee, Ashford backed amendments to that law to remove low-risk offenders from the public registry and give judges flexibility on who to add.

An Associated Press story from 2011 that is cited in the NRCC ad says sex crime researchers backed Ashford’s changes and panned the original law’s “blanket approach” for failing “to show the public which offenders pose the greatest dangers, and prevents law enforcement from focusing attention on the most serious offenders.”

A spokesman for the Nebraska County Attorneys Association said that constant changes makes enforcing the law more difficult for its members.

Tyler Q. Houlton, a spokesman for the NRCC said in an email that Ashford “should be ashamed of himself for putting violent criminals and sexual predators ahead of Nebraska.”

“Nebraska voters deserve to know about Brad Ashford’s pro-criminal policies that have made them less safe,” he said.

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The latest ad also recalls the GOP’s previous attack on Ashford that aimed to link him to a convicted murder. That ad was condemned by former RNC chairman Michael Steele, who called it “racist.”

Private polling shows the race is a toss-up. Terry represents Nebraska’s 2nd District, which includes Omaha.