MEET JAMES

An Omaha kid through and through, James grew up in Dundee, earned his Eagle Scout at Dundee Presbyterian Church, and attended Central High School, where he played Center on the football team. He continued his love for the sport by coaching the Central Eagles all four years he attended Creighton University. James and his wife Janelle, a family medicine physician, live in midtown Omaha where they are raising their three young boys and are members of the same parish James was raised in, St. Margaret Mary. As a family, their weekends are filled with sports practices, watching the Huskers and Jays, visits to Lauritzen Gardens where James and Janelle were married, and swapping out books at the library.

When James was a senior at Central, his appreciation and perspective of his community was transformed forever when his father Jim — a pillar of the community — was tragically killed in a car accident. The loss shook his family to its core. His mom, Pat – a longtime professor and assistant dean at UNMC – held the family together with remarkable strength. What got them through was the support of their neighbors, their church, and the protections of Social Security survivor benefits and his father’s pension. Those benefits made it possible for James to afford college and graduate school at the University of Chicago. His father’s local leadership, his mom’s resilience, and the community support his family received following his passing inspired James to a career in public service.

For the past 20 years, James served in senior staff leadership roles in the U.S. House of Representatives, including as Policy Director to former Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. An economic policy expert, James worked on some of the most important issues facing families — from the passage and expansion of the Affordable Care Act to expanding the Child Tax Credit to put more money in the pockets of working families. 

James worked with Congressman Brad Ashford to deliver a new VA medical facility in Omaha that now serves tens of thousands of Nebraska veterans. In a time when Washington struggles to get anything done, James has a proven record of delivering results. 

James uniquely and personally understands what’s at stake in this election. When Donald Trump attacked our democracy on January 6, 2021, James was barricaded with his colleagues inside the U.S. Capitol — a day that underscored for him exactly what’s at stake with Donald Trump in the White House.

In Congress, James will fight harder than anyone to deliver for Omaha families — turning every stone to cut middle-class taxes, lower costs, protect Social Security and Medicare, and hold Donald Trump accountable for the economic pain and chaos he has caused. As a dad to three kids and the son of an aging parent, he knows exactly how the rising costs of groceries, housing, child and elder care are impacting families across Nebraska, and he has the policy experience to go to Washington and take on Trump on day one.