A 25-year-old former Marine Corps sergeant who served in Iraq said he'll seek the 1st District House seat held by Jeff Fortenberry.

Max Yashirin, a Democrat, joined the Marine Reserves after graduating from Lincoln's Northeast High School.

He started working on a degree at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, majoring in international business with minors in Russian and economics.

Yashirin was called to active duty in 2004 and served a year at al-Asad in western Iraq.

He now works with people with mental and physical disabilities at Region 5 Services and is finishing his degree at UNL.

Fortenberry is in his third term and is running for re-election.