Outside ads attack Vargas over school board staff vote,
OMAHA — A new, darker front has been drawn in the TV and digital advertising wars between outside groups spending money in the U.S. House race in Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District.
U.S. Rep. Don Bacon is unhappy with an outside ad targeting his opponent, Omaha Sen. Tony Vargas.
Vargas faced unusually sharp television scrutiny over $414,000 in two routine votes as an Omaha Public Schools board member in 2014 and 2016.
The ad is the latest salvo in Nebraska’s most competitive congressional race. Experts say it could be one of the few parties that decides control of the House of Representatives next year.
Advertising attacks Vargas’ OPS board vote
advertise, Funded by the National Republican Congressional Committeeinvolved the board’s vote to hire an assistant educator who was later convicted of child sex abuse. The ad suggested Vargas should have known the deputy educator had been fired from her previous school district for touching a student.
Omaha Sen. Tony Vargas (center) with Lincoln Sen. George Dungan, Omaha Sen. Machala Kavanaugh and Omaha Sen. John Kavanaugh (from left) Have talks. July 26, 2024.
The ad also accuses the Vargas board of hiring a middle school IT specialist who was later convicted of possessing and distributing child pornography.
An OPS spokesperson told the Examiner that Nebraska school board members do approve any hiring by district administrators based on recommendations from human resources staff.
Large district councils vote on bulk recruitment
But in a school district as large as OPS, which serves 52,000 students and has 7,000 employees, school board members rely on staff and administrators to check backgrounds and recommend hires.
Sources familiar with the matter explained that the school board conducts batch voting on recruits. They generally do not conduct individual research on specific applicants.
The only rare exception, current and former board members said, was when voters raised concerns about someone who made it through the screening process.
In such cases, board members can, and sometimes have, pulled out individual names for individual discussions.
Background of relevant employee
in the first round of voting The NRCC ad noted that starting in September 2014, the OPS board unanimously approved a motion to hire 27 assistant staff. The list included Greg Sedlacek, who was later convicted of assaulting six Fontenelle Elementary School students.
omaha world herald 2019 reports Sedlacek had previously been expelled from a school district on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation for “excessive hugging and tickling.”
another vote The ad mentioned relates to Brandon Lanzahe was hired as an IT specialist at Davis Middle School. He was later convicted of possessing and distributing child pornography.
The OPS board hired Lanza and two other back-office staff, as well as 61 teachers, a principal, nine assistants, two office staff, a custodian and a food service employee, according to August 2016 board meeting minutes personnel.
The vote was 8-0, with then-board member and current state Sen. Justin Wayne abstaining from one vote. Wayne declined to comment for this story.
Vargas pushes for bill to protect students
As a state senator, Vargas introduced Legislative Bill 1210 in 2020, which would have made the sexual exploitation of students a felony. Much of the bill was modified into the crime package passed that year, known as LB 881.
He also introduced Legislative Bill 478 in 2019, which would have eliminated the consent of a minor as a factor that can reduce civil liability in post-sexual assault lawsuits.
“Don Bacon’s allies are exploiting the suffering of children to tell blatant, vile lies to protect Bacon’s political career,” Vargas campaign spokesperson Meg Mundy said.
Mundy said Vargas was a former teacher who worked in the Legislature where he was responsible for protecting students and “fighting sexual abuse.” She said he prioritized protecting children.
Bacon asks about external advertising
Asked about outside advertising, Bacon said that was not the way he would choose to handle it.
U.S. Rep. Don. Bacon, a Nebraska Republican, responds to reporters’ questions on Monday, Sept. 30, 2024.
“This is not my ad,” Bacon said. “You have to talk to the NRCC. Judge me by my own ad. I’ve been running on my own record and that’s a separate ad that has nothing to do with me.
NRCC spokesperson Delanie Bomar argued the ad was an accurate and shared document about school board votes and court cases involving hired personnel. She said Vargas was reckless.
“Sexual predators had access to Nebraska’s children because of Tony Vargas,” Bomar said in a statement about the ads.
Local political consultants agreed the ad was technically accurate. However, they noted that such ads often oversimplify complex processes, such as school district hiring, to play on voters’ fears.
Outside ads targeting Bacon attack his anti-abortion views and his support for former President Donald Trump, who he endorsed for a third time near the end of the 2024 Republican primary.
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