Nebraska campaign mailer uses photo of wrong person
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska state senator who is running for a new term made an embarrassing error in a recent campaign mail piece attacking his opponent.
The mailing by Sen. Andrew La Grone, of Gretna, criticizes his legislative challenger, Jen Day, of Omaha. But the photo that purports to show Day is actually an image of one of Day’s campaign staffers, Brooklynne Rosado.
Rosado, of La Vista, called the ad humiliating and said, “Someone didn’t do their due diligence on this.”
The black-and-white photo shows Rosado in a Day campaign sweatshirt with her face partially obscured by sunglasses. Day has previously posted photos of herself in sunglasses on her Twitter account, and La Grone argued that the picture his campaign used closely resembles some of those.
La Grone is seeking to win his first election after he was appointed to his seat by Gov. Pete Ricketts, a fellow Republican, in 2019. Day is a Democrat in the officially nonpartisan race. In an email, La Grone said the use of the photo was “inadvertent and unfortunate.”
Day said she initially found the gaffe funny, but then felt sorry for Rosado because the mailing indicates that she’s weak on law enforcement. Day said the mailing is inaccurate, but Rosado “doesn’t deserve to be in the middle of this.”
The ad claims that Day would “set criminals free,” based on Aug. 4 her Twitter postings that criticized La Grone for reading a Dr. Seuss book in the Legislature to filibuster a bill that would have allowed some Nebraska prisoners to qualify for parole early. Ricketts later vetoed the bill after lawmakers adjourned for the year.
Day called the allegation “ridiculous.”
La Grone and Day are running to represent Legislative District 49, which includes the fast-growing city of Gretna and other parts of western Sarpy County.
La Grone, an attorney and former legislative staffer, was appointed to the seat previously held by his boss, former state Sen. John Murante, after Murante was elected state treasurer. Day is an Omaha gym owner.