Dave Heineman

Dave Heineman
39th Governor of Nebraska
In office
January 20, 2005 – January 8, 2015
Lieutenant Rick Sheehy
Lavon Heidemann
John Nelson
Preceded by Mike Johanns
Succeeded by Pete Ricketts
37th Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska
In office
October 1, 2001 – January 20, 2005
Governor Mike Johanns
Preceded by David Maurstad
Succeeded by Rick Sheehy
Treasurer of Nebraska
In office
January 2, 1995 – October 1, 2001
Governor Ben Nelson
Mike Johanns
Preceded by Dawn Rockey
Succeeded by Lorelee Hunt Byrd
Personal details
Born David Eugene Heineman
(1948-05-12) May 12, 1948
Falls City, Nebraska, U.S.
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Sally Ganem
Alma mater United States Military Academy (BS)
Military service
Allegiance  United States
Service/branch  United States Army
Rank Captain
Heineman (left) with Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt (center), and predecessor Mike Johanns (right) in 2006.
Former Governor of Virginia Gerald L. Baliles, Governor of Nebraska Dave Heineman, and former Governor of Wyoming Jim Geringer at The Miller Center Higher Education Conference in 2010

David Eugene "Dave" Heineman (born May 12, 1948) is an American politician who was the 39th Governor of Nebraska from 2005 to 2015. He is a member of the Republican Party. He was elected to full four-year terms in 2006 and 2010.

Early life, education and career

Heineman was born in Falls City, Nebraska, the son of Irene (née Larkin) and Jean T. Heineman, a stock manager for J. C. Penney.[1] He lived in a variety of places in eastern Nebraska during his youth, eventually attending high school in Wahoo, Nebraska. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1970. He served five years in the U.S. Army, leaving with the rank of captain. He also graduated from the Army Ranger training program.[2]

Heineman served on the Fremont City Council from 1990 to 1994. He also served two terms as the Nebraska State Treasurer from 1995 to 2001. He was appointed the 37th Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska by Governor Mike Johanns on October 1, 2001 after David Maurstad resigned to take a post in the George W. Bush administration. He was elected to his first full term as lieutenant governor in 2002 as Johanns' running mate.

Heineman is married to Sally Ganem, a former elementary school principal. They have one son.[3]

Governor of Nebraska

Heineman became Governor on January 20, 2005, following Mike Johanns' resignation to become United States Secretary of Agriculture in President George W. Bush's Cabinet. On April 11, 2005, he announced that he would be seeking election to a full four-year term. He had the backing of Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel, although he faced a difficult challenge in the Republican primary from former Nebraska Cornhuskers football coach and U.S. Representative Tom Osborne. He took 49 percent of the more than 197,000 votes cast, and Osborne 45 percent.[4]

In the November 7, 2006, general election, Heineman defeated Democratic nominee David Hahn, securing 73.4% of the vote to Hahn's 24.5%.[5] The Lincoln Journal Star's analysis of the 2006 gubernatorial race attributed Heineman's win to his opposition to Class I rural school reorganization and the granting of resident college tuition rates to the children of illegal immigrants, helping him win over rural voters. This proved critical in the primary. While Osborne carried most of the Omaha and Lincoln areas, which cast more than two-thirds of Nebraska's vote, Heineman won by sufficient margins in western and central Nebraska to secure the nomination.[6]

In 2010, Heineman signed two bills restricting abortion. One bill banned abortions at and after 20 weeks of pregnancy, based on the claim that fetuses of that age can feel pain; the other required that women seeking abortions be screened for mental-health problems.[7]

Heineman was reelected in 2010 with 73.9 percent of the vote to Democratic nominee Mike Meister's 26.1%.[8]

In June 2011, Heineman became the first sitting governor to endorse Mitt Romney's presidential campaign.[9]

As of 2012 Heineman worked with the Nebraska Legislature to pass the "largest tax relief package in Nebraska history". His website describes him as a "leader for Nebraska’s agricultural industry", stating that he secured trade deals for the export of wheat, soybeans, and other commodities.[10]

In January 2013, he approved a revised route for the Keystone pipeline, that would avoid the environmentally sensitive Sandhills region, but cut through the High Plains Aquifer.[11] Heineman was able to do this after a 2012 state law "let oil pipeline companies take their projects directly to the governor, bypassing the Nebraska Public Service Commission", which Nebraska justices upheld even though a lower court had blocked this law.[12]

In March 2014, together with Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning, Heineman brought Nebraska into a lawsuit filed by Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster against California's egg production standards; in a press release, Heineman stated "This is about protecting Nebraska’s farmers and ranchers from the potential for regulatory burdens that hamper interstate trade."[13] In October 2014, federal judge Kimberly Mueller dismissed the lawsuit, rejecting the states' challenge to Proposition 2, California's prohibition on the sale of eggs laid by caged hens kept in conditions more restrictive than those approved by California voters in a 2008 ballot initiative.[14][15][16][17] Heineman had previously squared off against the Humane Society of the U.S., a champion of Proposition 2.[18]

In April 2014, Heineman signed a bill striking the word "firearms" from the list of those items a governor may suspend during a state of emergency.[19]

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://fremonttribune.com/news/local/article_38efffb6-7ccb-5137-9963-31b0db64425e.html
  2. ↑ "About The Governor". Retrieved 2008-07-30.
  3. ↑ "First Lady - Sally Ganem". Retrieved 2008-07-30.
  4. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/washington/politics-nebraska.html
  5. ↑ "Official Report of the Board of State Canvassers of the State of Nebraska: General Election, November 7, 2006", p. 1. Retrieved 2015-01-12.
  6. ↑ Don Walton (2006-05-10). "Gov. turns back Osborne". JournalStar.com. Retrieved 2008-07-30.
  7. ↑ "Nebraska Governor Signs Landmark Abortion Bills". Fox News. April 13, 2010.
  8. ↑ "Official Report of the Board of State Canvassers of the State of Nebraska: General Election, November 2, 2010", p. 11. Retrieved 2015-01-12.
  9. ↑ http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0611/56680.html
  10. ↑ "About The Governor". Governor Dave Heineman. Retrieved 2012-12-06.
  11. ↑ Aamer Madhani (January 22, 2013). "Nebraska governor approves Keystone pipeline". USA news. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  12. ↑ CORAL DAVENPORT and MITCH SMITH (Jan 9, 2015). "Obama Facing Rising Pressure on Keystone Oil Pipeline". NY Times. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  13. ↑ "Nebraska joins California lawsuit over egg issues." Lincoln Journal Star. 2014-03-05. Retrieved 2014-10-14.
  14. ↑ http://brownfieldagnews.com/2014/03/05/nebraska-joins-missouris-lawsuit-california/
  15. ↑ http://m.sfgate.com/food/article/Judge-tosses-suit-by-6-states-over-California-law-5797844.php
  16. ↑ http://www.politico.com/morningagriculture/1014/morningagriculture15540.html
  17. ↑ http://www.sacbee.com/2014/10/02/6757006/judge-tosses-lawsuit-challenging.html
  18. ↑ http://nebraskaradionetwork.com/2014/08/27/state-fair-provides-stage-to-proclaim-agricultures-importance-audio/
  19. ↑ http://www.nraila.org/legislation/state-legislation/2014/4/nebraska-emergency-powers-protection-bill-signed-into-law.aspx
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