OMAHA- With Sen. Robert Hilkemann leaving the Legislature, Nebraska's 4th district is up for grabs. Two candidates, Republican Brad Von Gillern, and Independent Cindy Maxwell-Ostdiek, are vying for the seat.

Maxwell-Ostdiek, despite her Independent registration, is hoping to defend abortion rights if elected to the Legislature. "No one wants these extreme bans in our state," she said, "I'm talking with voters and they are worried."

Von Gillern has a different approach in mind. Being pro-life, the candidate believes that it goes even beyond protecting the life of the child. "Pro-life means caring for the baby, caring for the mother. It means doing all that we can to care for them. If we're going to restrict abortion further, we need to be sure that we are supporting those parents and those children...," said Von Gillern.

Both candidates, if elected, intend to help tackle inflation. Von Gillern, laying out his plan, stated, "One of the biggest things we can do here in the state is again manage our tax plan. Right now, the state is sitting on about $2 billion in excess revenue," he stated.

Von Gillern also plans on addressing public safety and education. "We need to make sure that we're paying enough to those teachers and para-educators to keep them in the industry and to entice new people into the industry," he said.

Maxwell-Ostdiek has also been setting goals to grow small businesses in Nebraska. "We have more than 50,000 jobs open in Nebraska right now. Companies can't grow if they don't have enough employees to do that," said the candidate.

Both candidates, despite their differences, plan on making changes in the legislature, and hope to work across the aisle to pass bills that would benefit all Nebraskans.

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