List of Nebraska state senators


This is a list of all senators who have served in the Nebraska Legislature since it became a unicameral body in 1937.
Records show that the apportionment of the legislative districts established for the 1936 election remained unchanged through the election of 1962. The boundaries of these districts were restricted to fall along county lines. In the election of 1962, the voters of Nebraska passed a measure to loosen the county-line boundary restriction and to increase the number of legislative districts from 43 to 49. This resulted in a new apportionment that renumbered all the existing districts and added two additional districts to Lancaster County, three additional districts to Douglas County, and one north of Douglas county. That plan went into effect for the election of 1964.
However, on June 15, 1964, the United States Supreme Court handed down Reynolds v. Sims, which held that state senate districts must be roughly equal in population. One month later, the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska in League of Nebraska Municipalities v. Marsh held that the portion of the 1962 amendment to the Nebraska Constitution allowing the legislature to give consideration to area when redistricting was unconstitutional. This meant that the legislature had to once again redraw the district boundaries in 1965 based solely on population. In July 1965, the legislature approved a plan with newly apportioned districts which was upheld by the Nebraska Supreme Court in January 1966 and went into effect for the election of 1966. After 1966, the Nebraska Legislature conducts a process of redistricting every ten years after the decennial United States Census.
After its inception in 1937, members of the unicameral Nebraska legislature served for a term of two years, and all state legislative districts were up for reelection in every biennial election. However, another change adopted by the voters of Nebraska in the 1962 election was to increase the term of state senators from two to four years, and to stagger the election of state senators so that roughly half of the districts were up for election every two years. The election of 1964 was the last election in which all legislative districts were up for election at the same time. Odd-numbered districts elected senators to four-year terms, such that odd-numbered-district elections would coincide with United States presidential elections. Even-numbered districts elected senators in 1964 to two-year terms, such that even-numbered-district senators would be up for election again in 1966, in which they would be elected to four-year terms such that even-numbered-district elections would coincide with United States midterm elections.
Even though the Nebraska Legislature, as a nonpartisan body, officially recognizes no party affiliations, the party affiliations of individual members are still noted below when known for reference.

District 1

In the pre-1964 apportionment, what is now District 1 was also called District 1, and it consisted of the counties of Johnson, Pawnee, and Richardson. In 1964, the district was expanded to include Nemaha. The district's boundaries were then changed in the 1966 reapportionment to exclude Pawnee County, but in the 1971 redistricting, Pawnee County was regained, as well as the southeastern corner of Gage County, but Johnson was excluded. From 1980 to 2010, the district grew in size to encompass parts of Johnson and Otoe counties, and in the ten years after the 1991 redistricting, it even included the southern third of Gage County.
Today, District 1 covers Otoe, Johnson, Nemaha, Pawnee, and Richardson counties.
NameYears Elected PartyResidenceNotes
1936DemTecumseh
1938RepFalls City
1940DemHumboldtSon of Otto Kotouc, Sr.
1942, 1944RepFalls City
1946DemFalls City
1948RepLiberty
1950, 1952, 1954, 1956DemHumboldtFather of Otto Kotouc, Jr.
1958RepHumboldtBrother of Calista Cooper Hughes
1960, 1962DemHumboldt
1964RepHumboldtSister of John R. Cooper, Sr.
1968, 1972RepFalls City
1976DemFalls City
1980, 1984RepAuburn
1988DemTecumseh
1992, 1996, 2000RepTable Rock
2004, 2008RepElk Creek
2012, 2016RepSyracuse
, 2020RepPeru/DunbarAppointed by Governor Pete Ricketts; Wife of Andrew La Grone
2024RepSyracuse

District 2

In the pre-1964 apportionment, what is now District 2 was also called District 2, and it consisted of the counties of Otoe and Nemaha. In 1964, the district was changed to consist of Otoe and Cass counties, and in the 1966 reapportionment it was changed yet again to only include the eastern half of Otoe and Cass counties. In the 1971 redistricting, District 2 was expanded to include more of Otoe and Cass counties and added most of Johnson County. In the 1981 redistricting, Johnson county was shifted back to District 1, and District 2 was drawn to include all of Cass County and the northern half of Otoe county. For the 1991, 2001, and 2011 redistrictings, District 2 continued to shrink in size by including less and less of Otoe County.
Today, District 2 consists of only Cass County and a small portion of eastern Lancaster County.
NameYears Elected PartyResidenceNotes
1936RepAuburn
1938, 1940, 1942, 1944DemSyracuse
1946, 1948, 1950RepAuburn
RepAuburnAppointed by Governor Val Peterson
1952, 1954, 1956, 1958RepJulian
1960, 1962RepUnadilla
1964, 1966RepNebraska City
RepNebraska CityAppointed by Governor Norbert Tiemann
1970, 1974, 1978, 1982RepAvocaSon of Fred L. Carsten
1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002RepPlattsmouth
2006, 2010RepLouisville
RepPlattsmouthAppointed by Governor Dave Heineman
2012, 2014RepPapillion
, 2018, 2022RepElmwoodAppointed by Governor Pete Ricketts

District 3

In the pre-1964 apportionment, what is now District 3 was also called District 3, and it consisted of the entirety of Sarpy County. This remained the same in the 1964 reapportionment, but after the 1966 reapportionment, it was reduced to only include a portion of Sarpy County, which continued to be readjusted for population in subsequent redistrictings.
Today, District 3 still consists of a portion of Sarpy County.
NameYears Elected PartyResidenceNotes
1936, 1938RepAvocaFather of Calvin Carsten; Listed as a Democrat in the 1937 legislature but as a Republican in the 1939 legislature
1940DemCedar CreekSon of Christian E. Metzger
1942, 1944DemPapillion
1946, 1948DemCedar CreekSon of Christian E. Metzger
1950DemCedar CreekFather of William Allan Metzger
1952DemPapillion
1954DemCedar CreekSon of Christian E. Metzger
1956DemPapillion
1958, 1960RepMurdock
1962, 1964RepBellevue/Papillion
1968, 1972, 1976DemSpringfieldElected as a Republican in 1968 and 1972 but switched to the Democratic Party in 1973
1980, 1984, 1988RepGretna
1992DemGretna
1996, 2000RepGretnaNebraska Attorney General
RepPapillion/BellevueAppointed by Governor Mike Johanns
2004DemGretna
2008, 2012RepBellevue
, 2014RepBellevueAppointed by Governor Dave Heineman
2016, 2020DemBellevue
2024DemBellevue