Moul mulling run at 1st District seat

[Omaha Steve]

Published Friday
December 9, 2005

Moul mulling run at 1st District seat

BY LESLIE REED


WORLD-HERALD BUREAU

LINCOLN - Former Lt. Gov. Maxine Moul said Friday she is seriously considering a bid for the 1st District U.S. House seat next year. The Democrat said she would make a final decision after the first of the year.

Former Lt. Gov. Maxine Moul

The seat is held by Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of Lincoln, a first-term Republican.

Moul, 58, shared the governor's ticket with Ben Nelson when he first was elected governor in 1990.

She served as lieutenant governor until 1993, when she became state director of economic development, a post she held until Mike Johanns was elected governor in 1998.

"It would be fun to be on the same ballot as Ben Nelson again," she said.

Since 1993, Moul has been involved with the Nebraska Community Foundation in Lincoln, helping set up endowments to preserve Nebraskans' assets for the benefit of their home communities.

For the past two years, Moul has been president emeritus of the foundation. She said she now has the flexibility to pursue a congressional bid. She said she would fully retire from the foundation if she runs.

If elected, Moul would be the first Democrat to hold the seat in decades.

Moul said Congress appeals to her because of the important policy issues facing the nation.

"We have an $8 trillion budget deficit," she said. "That's $15.5 billion for the 1st District alone. We're mortgaging our great-grandchildren's future."

Moul said she also was motivated to run by what she called "the meltdown" in Congress of partisan bickering since Rep. John Murtha, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, called for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq.

"I was appalled," Moul said. "We need someone who puts the district's interests first, rather than party interests."

[BensMom]

1. This is great news

Frances and Maxine Maul are both great people.
Their lives have been spent on good things for Nebraska.