[4][5] He later criticized Forrest Gump for its depiction of Abbie Hoffman, but stated that he still enjoyed the movie as "it was a travelogue of my early life".

[7] In 1986, Ashford considered running for the Democratic nomination in Nebraska's 2nd congressional district against incumbent Republican Hal Daub.

He stated that he would support the Republican nominee in the Senate election, but the next day he was appointed onto the finance committee of Bob Kerrey's Democratic senatorial campaign.

However, they withdrew their support after Hagel changed his positions to repealing assault weapon bans and being against abortion in all cases except for a threat to the mother's life.

[34] On August 14, 1993, Ashford announced that he would not seek reelection to the state legislature and that he was interested in running for the Republican nomination in Nebraska's 2nd congressional district.

[35] On October 2, he formally announced his intention to seek the Republican nomination in the district and stated that his priorities would be to ban military-style assault weapons and focus on jobs and welfare reform.

[36] In the Republican primary he lost to Jon Lynn Christensen, who received over fifty percent of the popular vote, and narrowly came ahead of Ronald L.

[51] Ashford was the first incumbent representative in the 2nd congressional district to lose reelection after one term in office since Eugene D. O'Sullivan in the 1950 election.

[53] In 2018, Ashford accused Russian agents of hacking his emails during the 2016 election, after twelve indictments were announced by Robert Mueller.

[57] On September 20, Ashford formally announced his campaign at the Old Mattress Factory in Omaha, Nebraska, and filed to run in the election on January 30, 2018.

[62] However, in the Democratic primary he was narrowly defeated by Kara Eastman, who criticized him for having been a member of the Republican Party in the past, despite having outraised her with $571,000 to her $356,000.

[65] In February 2017, Ashford was selected to serve as the head of Midtown 2050, an Omaha development group, but resigned in April as he felt that he wasn't fit for the position.

[67] On February 1, 2019, Ashford's wife Ann Ferlic announced that she would run for the Democratic nomination in Nebraska's 2nd congressional district.

[68] During the primary campaign Ferlic was endorsed by former senators Ben Nelson and Bob Kerrey and former lieutenant governor Kim M. Robak.

[76] In 1988, Ashford, Jerry Chizek, and Bernice Labedz sponsored legislation that would require all video-cassettes marketed to minors to be given a rating label.

[77] In 1990, Ashford introduced an amendment that would allow the state legislature to confirm members of the appellate court, but it failed with twenty-one to eight voting against it.

[56] In 1987, the Judiciary committee voted five to two, with one member absent, in favor of advancing legislation introduced by Ernie Chambers that would abolish the death penalty.

Before Obergefell v. Hodges he attempted to reach a middle ground on Nebraska's same-sex marriage ban by allowing civil unions.

[88] He, Gwen Graham, Scott Peters, and Ami Bera sponsored legislation that would withhold congressional salaries if the Department of Homeland Security shut down due to a lack of funding.

[94] In 1989, he sponsored legislation to transition ownership of Joslyn Castle from the Omaha Public School District to the Nebraska State Historical Society.

Ashford proposed another amendment that would ban the sale and manufacture of semi-automatic weapons a Class II felony with a punishment of one to fifty years in prison.

However, Barrett ruled that the amendment was not germane and an attempt by Ashford to overrule his decision was defeated by a vote of twenty-six to fourteen.

[102] In 1989, Ashford introduced a bill that would require people attempting to purchase handguns to fill out forms asking for their criminal record and mental health problems and institute a seven-day waiting period.

[106] From January 15 to 17, 1990, National Research Corporation conducted a poll of 450 Nebraskans on their opinion of Ashford's handgun control legislation.

[114] On March 28, Jerry Chizek proposed an amendment, that was approved with twenty-six to sixteen in favor, which would require an annual permit from local law enforcement.

[115] On April 8, Ashford asked the state legislature to defer debate on his bill until May 8 and his request was accepted with thirty voting unanimously in favor.

[119] In 2008, legislation was proposed on the behalf of Governor Dave Heineman and Attorney General Jon Bruning that would have required local and state agencies to verify the immigration status of people seeking benefits.

[120] Ashford later criticized Republicans for spreading pamphlets and robocalls that attacked Steve Lathrop for abstaining from the Judiciary committee vote.

[121] In 2009, he introduced legislation to prohibit businesses from knowingly hiring illegal immigrants and would require employers to confirm employees using E-Verify after December 31, 2010.