Janis Johnson McKenzie

McKenzie was born in Hastings, Nebraska, and graduated from Sutton High School.^[2] She attended the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, receiving her bachelor's degree in 1977, and the University of Connecticut, where she received her master's degree in education in 1989^[2][3] McKenzie worked as a public school teacher in several local school districts and as a curriculum specialist.^[3]

Following the election of State Senator Rod Johnson to the Nebraska Public Service Commission in 1992, Governor Ben Nelson appointed McKenzie as his successor,^[3] and was sworn in on January 5, 1993.^[4]

McKenzie ran for re-election in 1994 and was challenged by Clay County Commissioner Gene Arnold.^[5] She placed first in the primary by a wide margin, winning 64 percent of the vote to Arnold's 36 percent,^[6] and won the general election in a landslide with 60 percent of the vote.^[6]

In 1997, McKenzie announced that she would resign from the legislature, effective July 31, 1997, to become the director of gifted education in the state Department of Education, citing several years of bad crops on her family farm and the need to earn a regular salary to support her family.^[1]