HASTINGS- Over the weekend, Hastings resident Michelle Smith announced that she would enter the running to replace Sen. Steve Halloran, who will be term-limited in 2024, for the District 33 legislative seat. Smith is a mental health practitioner and a lifelong Hastings resident. Thus far, she is also the first candidate to announce that they would be running for the seat.

Smith intends to run on the Democratic ticket in 2024, and says she made the decision to run for the Nebraska Legislature after becoming disheartened by the body's recent passage of bills like the "Let Them Grow Act." Being a mental health practitioner, Smith said such bills personally impacted her, since some of her clients were affected.

"I had to sit with clients who feel like Nebraska doesn't want them, that they don't belong here," said Smith, "and that was extremely hard to sit with." Smith also indicated that she was against the abortion ban provision attached to the "Let Them Grow Act," saying that such decisions should be made between doctors and patients. According to Smith, her biggest goal, if elected, would be to expand mental health services across the state.

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