President Obama sends well wishes to former Nebraska Congressman Ashford

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - Former President Obama sent a letter to Brad Ashford last month as the former Nebraska Congressman continues to fight brain cancer.

Ashford posted a photo of the letter, dated March 15, to his Facebook page on Monday evening, saying “President Obama has always had my back. I miss him very much.”

Obama recalled in the letter a visit to Omaha in 2016, when Ashford accompanied the former president to Offutt Air Force Base, and said his family would keep the former Congressman in their prayers.

“I imagine that some days are harder than others, but I hope you’ve been able to find some comfort in turning to your faith and surrounding yourself with loved ones,” Obama’s letter reads. “...I hope you know that there is an enormous community of people rooting for you, myself included.”

Ashford, who represented Nebraska’s 2nd District in Congress for two years after spending 16 years in the state legislature, revealed in February that he is fighting what he called “a little brain cancer.” He shared a few more details with 6 News in the days following, and expressed his appreciation for the abundant number of well-wishers who had reached out as he prepared to start treatments. Among them, Republican Rep. Don Bacon, who won his Congressional seat from the Democrat and attorney several years earlier:

Ashford has spent a lifetime trying to make a difference, focusing his time in the years since he lost his Congressional seat to Bacon — whom he later endorsed — on troubled young people: finding them good jobs, keeping them out of detention, and reuniting families.

“When something like this happens, you think back to what you really stand for... The problems we need to solve are bringing families together and connecting them with hope,” Ashford said in February.

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Reporter Brian Mastre contributed to this report.

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