Pansing Brooks Announces Candidacy, While Congressman Fortenberry Faces Federal Charges

Patty Pansing Brooks (Courtesy of the Nebraska Legislature)

Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.). Photo: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

LINCOLN–(AP Nov. 15)–U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska will likely be facing two opponents in the 2022 election: a progressive Democrat with a lot of support in the state’s second-largest city, and a federal prosecutor in California who has accused him of lying to the FBI.

Democratic state Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln announced her candidacy for Congress on Monday. Pansing Brooks acknowledges it will be “a tough race,” but she says that she has “an ability to make friends on all sides of the aisle.”

Her announcement comes as Fortenberry, the nine-term Republican incumbent, faces federal charges that could send him to prison and cost him his retirement benefits. He has pleaded not guilty and vowed to fight the charges in court.