District details
Allison Heimes, a nonpartisan, and Tony Sorrentino, a Republican, are vying for the seat in what will be a close race, judging by the results in the primary. Both are attorneys. Heimes works as a managing attorney at Brown Immigration Law, and Sorrentino is an adjunct professor at Creighton University and the president and co-founder of HPfid (Health Plan Fiduciary Guides).
Heimes previously ran for this seat in 2020 and received 44% of the votes. In addition to her role as an immigration attorney, she’s a military spouse, mom and member of the Kim Foundation’s loss team advisory board. She said she is running for office to pass mental health initiatives in honor of her brother who died by suicide in 2017. She wants voters to know she “will choose empathy and kindness every time there is an alternative presented.”
Sorrentino ran for a seat in the Legislature in 2006 but lost in the general election. He served on the Metropolitan Community College board from 2009 to 2012. He’s a certified public accountant, board chair for El Museo Latino, a Doane University board member and a volunteer cross country and track and field coach at Creighton University. He said he is running for office because he wants to help businesses and ensure Nebraska remains a great place to live. He wants voters to know he plans to use his litigating experience to work across the aisle and put “state before party.”
Heimes has the backing of the state teachers union, the Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys, two International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers chapters, Sierra Club’s Nebraska chapter and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Nebraska, among others.
Sorrentino has endorsements from Rep. Don Bacon and U.S. Sens. Pete Ricketts and Deb Fischer. He also touts endorsements from the Nebraska Society of Certified Public Accountants, the Nebraska Realtors Association and the Nebraska Bankers Association, among others.
Sorrentino received $101,564 in cash contributions and had $18,971 on hand as of June. Heimes received $72,925 and had $3,338 as of June.
On the issues
The two candidates disagree when it comes to school choice. Sorrentino said he favors school choice but did not elaborate on his stance. Heimes said she believes school choice is unconstitutional because public tax dollars should not go to private schools that limit enrollment for certain students.
Both candidates told the Flatwater Free Press they would like to help Nebraska businesses and both mentioned the need to address high property taxes. Heimes said the state needs to restructure how it funds public schools and “stop pitting property owners against the public school system.” She said there are other sources of revenue that can go toward education. Sorrentino said he would like to broaden the tax base by attracting more employers, and he’d like to place caps on school spending increases. “Education is the most important budget item in our State, but it cannot be without limitations,” he said.
The two differed on abortion – Sorrentino favors a six-week ban with limited exceptions and Heimes favors a 24-week ban. Additionally, Sorrentino said he supports a bill seeking to limit sports participation to the sex a student was born with. Heimes said she opposes the proposal.
Location
The district covers the southwest corner of Douglas County, including the Elkhorn area and Waterloo.
In the primary
Sorrentino received 51% of the votes compared to Heimes’ 49%.
