Chip Maxwell

Chip Maxwell
Member of the Douglas County Board of Commissioners from the 5th district
In office
January 3, 2005 – January 3, 2009
Succeeded by Marc Kraft
Member of the Nebraska Legislature
from the 9th district
In office
January 8, 2001 – January 8, 2005
Preceded by Shelley Kiel
Succeeded by Gwen Howard
Personal details
Born August 10, 1962
Omaha, Nebraska
Political party Republican Party (through December 31, 2013)
Nonpartisan (as of December 31, 2013)
Residence Omaha, Nebraska
Alma mater Boston College
University of Oxford
University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
Religion Catholic[1]

Chip Maxwell (born August 10, 1962[1]) is an American politician from the state of Nebraska. A member of the Republican Party, Maxwell served in the unicameral Nebraska Legislature from 2001 to 2005 and on the Douglas County Board of Commissioners from 2005 to 2009.

Career

Maxwell earned his BA in political science from Boston College, his MA in American history from the University of Oxford, and his JD from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.[1]

In 2000 when Democratic State Senator Shelley Kiel ran for Nebraska's 2nd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives, Maxwell ran to succeed her. In the technically nonpartisan race to succeed her, he defeated fellow Republican J. Scott Knudsen by 4,663 votes (54.83%) to 3,751 (44.11%).[2] He declined to run for re-election in 2004, instead running for the District 5 seat on the Douglas County Board of Commissioners.[3] He defeated Democrat John T. Green by 14,084 votes (52.67%) to 12,600 (47.12%).[4] He was unseated by Democrat Marc Kraft, a former Omaha City Councillor by 13,882 votes (49.04%) to 11,925 (42.13%).[5]

In 2009, Maxwell ran for the Omaha City Council,[6] losing to Democrat Chris Jerram by 4,766 votes (52.39%) to 4,247 (46.69%).[7]

He considered running in the Republican primary election for the House of Representatives in the 2nd Congressional district against incumbent Republican Lee Terry as a Tea Party challenger in the 2014 elections.[8][9] After choosing not to run in the primary, he decided to run in the general election as an independent instead.[10] He dismissed as "hysterical" the idea that his candidacy could be a "spoiler" that conservatives are using to defeat Terry by "any means necessary", whether by Maxwell winning or by him and Terry splitting the Republican vote, thus allowing Democratic nominee Brad Ashford to win, meaning that there would be an open Republican primary for the seat in 2016.[11]

Despite collecting enough signatures to make the ballot, Maxwell withdrew from the race on July 24, saying that he had been "begged" by "high-profile" Republicans not to run and didn't want to create a "permanent rift" in the district's Republican Party. He did however say that he plans to run against Terry in the Republican primary in 2016 and noted that "I think this thing's a toss-up, even with me out of it."[12][13] Democratic nominee Brad Ashford defeated Terry and Maxwell declared that he would run against Ashford in 2016.[14]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Chip Maxwell's Biography". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
  2. ↑ "NE State Senate 09 2000". OurCampaigns. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Legislature losing 74 years of experience next year". Fremont Tribune. April 10, 2004. Retrieved February 27, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Douglas County Commissioner District 5 2004". OurCampaigns. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Douglas County Commissioner District 5 2008". OurCampaigns. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
  6. ↑ http://www.wowt.com/news/headlines/43467272.html
  7. ↑ "Omaha City Council District 3 2009". OurCampaigns. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
  8. ↑ Beck, Margery (October 9, 2013). "Terry faces possible tea party primary challenge". Lincoln Journal Star. Retrieved October 10, 2013.
  9. ↑ http://www.kcautv.com/story/23680251/omaha-councilman-running-for-senate
  10. ↑ Joseph Morton (May 21, 2014). "'I have a plan to save the country': Chip Maxwell to run against Lee Terry". Omaha.com. Retrieved May 22, 2014.
  11. ↑ Robynn Tysver (May 22, 2014). "'Chip Maxwell, running for House against Lee Terry, calls spoiler theory 'hysterical'". Omaha.com. Retrieved May 22, 2014.
  12. ↑ "Maxwell drops out of 2nd District race". Lincoln Journal Star. July 24, 2014. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
  13. ↑ Jordan, Joe. "It’s official: Tea partyer Maxwell won’t challenge GOP’s Lee Terry". Nebraska Watchdog. Franklin Center for Government & Public Integrity. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  14. ↑ http://watchdog.org/181754/congressman-elect-ashford/

External links