List of speakers of the Nebraska Legislature
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The speaker of the Nebraska Legislature is the highest-ranking officer elected from among the membership of the Nebraska Legislature. The speaker presides over the body in the absence of the lieutenant governor.[1] The speaker is generally recognized to be the parliamentary leader of the Nebraska Legislature and, with the approval of the executive board, determines the legislative agenda (the order in which bills and resolutions are considered).[2] The speaker has the privilege of speaking at any stage of the legislature's proceedings in accordance with their responsibilities as speaker.[3]
_(cropped).jpg)
| Speaker of the Legislature of Nebraska | |
|---|---|
| Type | Speaker |
| Member of | Nebraska Legislature |
| Term length | Two years |
| Formation | 1937 |
| First holder | Charles J. Warner |
| Succession | Second |
The speaker is second in line to become the Governor of Nebraska if both the offices of governor and lieutenant governor become simultaneously vacant.[4]
Before the creation of this office, Nebraska had a bicameral legislature, and the leaders of the upper and lower houses were, respectively, the president pro tempore of the Nebraska Senate and the speaker of the Nebraska House of Representatives.[5]
List
The following is a list of the speakers of the Nebraska Legislature since it became a unicameral body in 1937.[5]
| # | Image | Name | Party[a] | Tenure | District[b] | City of residence | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Charles J. Warner | Rep | 1937–1938 | 25 (18) | Waverly | Later served as Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska; Father of Jerome Warner, the 18th Speaker; Served during a vacancy in the office of lieutenant governor from June 26 to Nov. 8, 1938 |
| 2 |  |
William H. Diers | Dem | 1939–1940 | 24 | Gresham | |
| 3 |  |
Rufus Howard | Rep | 1941–1942 | 44 (39) | Sutherland | |
| 4 | .jpg) |
Robert B. Crosby | Rep | 1943–1944 | 45 (38) | North Platte | Later served as Lieutenant Governor and Governor of Nebraska |
| 5 |  |
C. Petrus Peterson | Rep | 1945–1946 | 29 (20) | Lincoln | |
| 6 |  |
Walter R. Raecke | Dem | 1947–1948 | 35 (30) | Central City | |
| 7 |  |
Earl J. Lee | Rep | 1949–1950 | 15 (11) | Fremont | |
| 8 |  |
Ed Hoyt | Rep | 1951–1952 | 38 (33) | McCook | Resigned as senator to accept appointment of Gov. Robert Crosby as assistant agriculture director[6] |
| 9 |  |
Otto Prohs | Rep | 1952 | 48 (42) | Gering | Selected to finish the term of Speaker Hoyt |
| 10 |  |
Charles Tvrdik | Dem | 1953–1954 | 7 | Omaha | |
| 11 |  |
Dwight Burney | Rep | 1955–1956 | 19 (14) | Hartington | Later served as Lieutenant Governor and Governor of Nebraska; Served during a vacancy in the office of lieutenant governor from Sep. 24, 1955, to Jan. 1, 1957 |
| 12 |  |
John Beaver | Rep | 1957–1958 | 16 (12) | Beemer | |
| 13 |  |
Harry Pizer | Rep | 1959–1960 | 45 (38) | North Platte | Served during a vacancy in the office of lieutenant governor from Sep. 9, 1960, to Jan. 3, 1961 |
| 14 |  |
Donald Thompson | Rep | 1961–1962 | 38 (33) | McCook | |
| 15 |  |
Bill Moulton | Rep | 1963–1964 | 8 (10) | Omaha | |
| 16 |  |
Kenneth Bowen | Rep | 1965–1966 | 37 | Red Cloud | |
| 17 |  |
Elvin Adamson | Rep | 1967–1968 | 43 | Valentine | |
| 18 |  |
Jerome Warner | Rep | 1969–1970 | 25 | Waverly | Son of Charles J. Warner, the first speaker |
| 19 |  |
William Hasebroock | Rep | 1971–1972 | 18 | West Point | |
| 20 |  |
Richard Proud | Rep | 1973–1974 | 12 | Omaha | |
| 21 |  |
Jules Burbach | Dem | 1975–1976 | 19 | Hartington | |
| 22 |  |
Roland Luedtke | Rep | 1977–1978 | 28 | Lincoln | Later served as Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska |
| 23 |  |
Richard Marvel | Rep | 1979–1982 | 33 | Hastings | |
| 24 |  |
William E. Nichol | Rep | 1983–1986 | 48 | Scottsbluff | Later served as Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska |
| 25 |  |
Bill Barrett | Rep | 1987–1990 | 39 | Lexington | Later served as a U.S. representative |
| 26 | Dennis Baack | Rep | 1991–1993 | 47 | Kimball | Resigned as senator to become the executive director of the Nebraska Community College Association[7] | |
| 27 | Ron Withem | Dem | 1994–1997 | 14 | Papillion | Elected to finish the term of Speaker Baack[8] | |
| 28 | Doug Kristensen | Rep | 1998–2002 | 37 | Minden | Later became chancellor of the University of Nebraska at Kearney[9] | |
| 29 | Curt Bromm | Rep | 2002–2004 | 23 | Wahoo | ||
| 30 | Kermit Brashear | Rep | 2005–2006 | 4 | Omaha | Served during a vacancy in the office of lieutenant governor from Jan. 20 to Jan. 24, 2005 | |
| 31 |  |
Mike Flood | Rep | 2007–2012 | 19 | Norfolk | Later became a U.S. representative |
| 32 | Greg L. Adams | Rep | 2013–2014 | 24 | York | Served during two vacancies in the office of lieutenant governor from Feb. 2 to Feb. 13, 2013, and from Sep. 9 to Sep. 29, 2014 | |
| 33 | Galen Hadley | Rep | 2015–2016 | 37 | Kearney | ||
| 34 | Jim Scheer | Rep | 2017–2020 | 19 | Norfolk | ||
| 35 |  |
Mike Hilgers | Rep | 2021–2022 | 21 | Lincoln | Later became the Nebraska Attorney General |
| 36 | |
John Arch | Rep | 2023–Present | 14 | La Vista |
See also
Notes
- Although Nebraska state senators are elected on a nonpartisan basis, party affiliations during the time each individual served as speaker are listed here when known.
- Many, but not all, of the Nebraska legislative districts were renumbered in 1964. The current number of the district is listed for all speakers, but if the speaker served prior to 1964, the district number at the time they served is listed in parentheses if it was different.