Dave Heineman

Dave Heineman
39th Governor of Nebraska
Incumbent
Assumed office January 20, 2005
Lieutenant	Rick Sheehy Lavon Heidemann
Preceded by	Mike Johanns
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
Residence	Fremont, Nebraska (personal) Governor's Mansion (official)
Alma mater	United States Military Academy
Religion	Methodism[1]
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.

David Eugene "Dave" Heineman (born May 12, 1948) is an American politician who has been the 39th Governor of Nebraska since 2005. He is a member of the Republican Party. He was elected to full four-year terms in 2006 and 2010, at the end of his second full term, Heineman will become the longest-serving governor in Nebraska history with 10 years of service.

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.^[2] 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.^[3]

Heineman served on the Fremont City Council from 1990 to 1994. He also served two terms as the Nebraska State Treasurer from 1994 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.^[4]

Nebraska Governor

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.^[5]

In retrospect, 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]

Heineman defeated Democratic nominee David Hahn in the November 7, 2006, general election, capturing 73.4 percent of the vote—one of the most lopsided victories for a gubernatorial race in Nebraska history. He was reelected with 73.9 percent of the vote in 2010 over Democratic nominee Mike Meister, carrying every county in the state.

According to his website, Heineman worked with the Nebraska Legislature to pass the "largest tax relief package in Nebraska history". The 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.^[7]

In 2010, Heineman signed two bills restricting abortion. One of these 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.^[8]

See also

• Nebraska gubernatorial election, 2010

References

External links

• Nebraska Office of the Governor Dave Heineman official state site
• Governor Dave Heineman official campaign site
• Campaign contributions for Mike Johanns and Dave Heineman (2000, 2002, 2004) at FollowTheMoney.org

v t e Governors of Nebraska Territorial (1854–1867) Burt Cuming (acting) Izard Cuming (acting) Richardson Morton (acting) Black Morton (acting) Paddock Saunders State (since 1867) Butler James (acting) Furnas Garber Nance Dawes Thayer Boyd Crounse Holcomb Poynter Dietrich Savage Mickey Sheldon Shallenberger Aldrich Morehead Neville McKelvie Bryan McMullen Weaver Bryan Cochran Griswold Peterson Crosby Anderson Brooks Burney Morrison Tiemann Exon Thone Kerrey Orr Nelson Johanns Heineman