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Buffett Early Childhood Institute employee announces run for state legislature

Posted at 6:03 PM, Jul 24, 2017
and last updated 2017-07-24 19:03:54-04

Citing the need to "put problem-solving over partisanship," an Omaha native with nearly 20 years experience in public affairs and community engagement has announced her run for Nebraska Legislature's District 6

Machaela Cavanaugh, an employee at the Buffett Early Childhood Institute at the University of Nebraska, announced her candidacy Monday in a press release. 

“I’m running for the Legislature because as a mother of two little girls, I want to see a Nebraska that gives my girls and children across our state more opportunities to achieve their hopes and dreams,” Cavanaugh said in the release. “I’ll be a needed voice for District 6’s priorities: property tax relief, investing in education, protecting our seniors, and growing the good-paying jobs of the future. The only way we can make lasting progress on these issues is to have a State Senator who truly puts problem solving over partisanship.”

A former staff assistant for U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson in Washington, D.C., Cavanaugh has also served as Director of Development for both Opera Omaha and the American Province of the Servants of Mary.

Cavanaugh, a resident of the Peony Park Neighborhood, serves on the Board of Directors of Inclusive Communities and is a member of the Preschool Advisory Committee at Morning Star Preschool. She and her husband, Nick Brotzel, have two daughters, Della and Harriet. Cavanaugh is the daughter of John Cavanaugh, who served as a U.S. Congressman for Nebraska’s Second Congressional District from 1977-80.

Cavanaugh graduated Marian High School in Omaha, and obtained her Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of Nebraska – Omaha. She also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in sociology from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. 

Legislative District 6 includes voters from Central and West-Central Omaha. District 6 spans the area west of Interstate 680, to 132nd Street, between Maple Road and Pacific Street; and most of the area between I-680 and 72nd Street, between Blondo and Pacific streets; as well as the area north of Dodge street, bordered by Western Avenue, and between 62nd and 72nd streets.