OMAHA — Forward Party leaders came to Omaha on Tuesday to discuss the need for independent voices in politics and to show support for local nonpartisan candidates running for office.

Harold’s Koffee House in the Florence area was among the stops for Andrew Yang, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate who later started the Forward Party, and the party’s executive chair, former Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey.

Healey is a native Omahan who served as chair of the Massachusetts Republican Party from 2001 to 2002.

The two had a bite to eat with and spoke on behalf of Nick Batter, a nonpartisan candidate for Legislative District 13 in the officially nonpartisan Nebraska Legislature.

Batter and opponent Ashlei Spivey, a Democrat, are vying to replace term-limited State Sen. Justin Wayne in northern Douglas County and northeast Omaha.

Yang and Healey said they were in town also to support Dan Osborn, a nonpartisan candidate for U.S. Senate running against incumbent Deb Fischer, R-Neb.

The party describes itself as a centrist party and an alternative to the two major U.S. political parties. Its stated goals, nationally and locally, focus on fostering healthy competition by supporting candidates at all levels who work to build a more effective democracy.

About 50% of Americans now classify as independent, Yang said in an interview Tuesday, and he said the question is whether they have a “meaningful choice” at the ballot box.

“We believe that having that choice is going to set us free and give rise to real solutions from genuine leaders who are running for office to solve the problem they see getting worse around them as opposed to trying to keep a job and make a career out of something for their own personal betterment,” said Yang.

He called out Fischer, saying she had said she would serve two terms and is running for a third.

“That’s an example of the kind of typical political behavior Nebraskans are tired of,” he said.

Osborn was not at the Harold’s gathering.

Fischer’s campaign manager Derek Oden said in response that Yang is “helping other Democrats like Dan Osborn play make-believe as independents to get elected.”

He added, “They should be honest with voters instead of repackaging Democrat policies under an ‘independent’ label.’ ”

Healy said she was excited at the opportunity to return to her native Omaha and to support Batter, corporate counsel for Hawkins Construction who served in the U.S. Army.

“I believe especially that veterans have this particular dedication to putting the country over their own self-interest,” she said. “I believe that someone like Nick and Dan Osborn (also a veteran) … have the opportunity to really be an exemplar for the rest of the country about what public service should look like.”

Batter said it was important to him that the nonpartisan Legislature “be more nonpartisan.”

“In fact I think a lot of the failings we’ve seen in the recent legislative cycles have been because of hyperpartisanship – people not actually trying to get things done for their community but trying to get things done for party bosses or get on the evening news rather than solve problems for their neighbors,” said Batter.

Spivey, founder of I Be Black Girl nonprofit, told the Nebraska Examiner that the culture built into the Legislature prioritizes constituents, not party.

“Nebraskans don’t need more out-of-state millionaires coming to our great state creating division,” she said. “I have actually worked to pass effective policy working across the aisle as an advocate and look forward to bringing resources and investment to District 13 as a voice for working people.”

This story was published by Nebraska Examiner, an editorially independent newsroom providing a hard-hitting, daily flow of news. Read the original article: https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/forward-party-leaders-stump-in-nebra.../