Democrat enters U.S. Senate race

By Deena Winter | Nebraska Watchdog

LINCOLN, Neb. – One of Nebraska’s most prominent trial lawyers – a man who is representing landowners who are battling the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline – announced Tuesday he is running for the U.S. Senate.

Dave Domina’s entrance marks the first Democrat in the race to fill the seat being vacated by U.S. Sen. Mike Johanns.

During his announcement at the capitol, Domina said “We cannot be stuck in a debate of 40-year-old issues or questions that are ever present in human history.” When asked later which issues he was referring to, he acknowledged it was abortion and “any 40-year-old issue,” referring to Pope Francis’ comments that the Catholic Church should not act narrowly on issues such as homosexuality and abortion. Domina said the pope has made it clear it’s “time to move on.”

“We need to do that with the Senate,” he said in an interview after his announcement. “It’s job is not to perpetuate old issues.”

Domina got emotional when he started his announcement at the state capitol by saying, “I am a Nebraskan.” Later, he said he’s a “Nebraskan through and through enough to be emotional about it.”

Domina said he was responsible for getting two Nebraska public officials impeached, represented the state in a complex banking crisis and was the trial lawyer in a case in which Nebraska’s property tax was declared unconstitutional. His campaign literature says he’s believed to be the only lawyer in the nation to win both capital acquittal cases and a $1.2 billion civil jury verdict.

He faced off with meat packing lobbyists in a public forum, decrying their abuse and exploitation of employees and speaking for livestock producers who wanted competitive markets.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Contact Deena Winter at deena@nebraskawatchdog.org. Follow Deena on Twitter at @DeenaNEWatchdog

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