Don Stenberg

Don Stenberg
Treasurer of Nebraska
Incumbent
Assumed office 2011
Governor	Dave Heineman
Preceded by	Shane Osborn
30th Attorney General of Nebraska
In office 1991–2003
Governor	Ben Nelson Mike Johanns
Preceded by	Robert M. Spire
Succeeded by	Jon Bruning
Personal details
Political party	Republican
Occupation	Attorney

Don Stenberg is a Republican politician and attorney from Nebraska. He served as Attorney General of Nebraska from 1991 to 2003 and currently serves as State Treasurer of Nebraska to which he took office in 2011. He also served as legal counsel to Governor Charles Thone from 1979 to 1983.

Stenberg v. Carhart

Stenberg was the named defendant in the noted Supreme Court abortion case, Stenberg v. Carhart 530 U.S. 914 (2000).^[1]

Political campaigns

In 1978, Stenberg ran for Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska, coming in fourth in the Republican primary. He first ran for Nebraska Attorney General in 1986, but lost the primary by 6 points to Robert M. Spire. Four years later in 1990, he was able to win both the primary and general elections for the same office and was reelected in 1994.

Stenberg first ran for the U.S. Senate in 1996 to succeed retiring Democratic Senator J. James Exon. Initially seen as the frontrunner, he lost the Republican primary to business executive Chuck Hagel by 25 points. Hagel went on to win an upset against Democratic Governor Ben Nelson. After being reelected Attorney General in 1998, Stenberg again ran for the Senate in 2000 to succeed retiring Democrat Bob Kerrey. Winning the primary, he faced Democrat Ben Nelson. In one of the closest elections in Nebraska history, Nelson topped Stenberg by just 2 points, even as Republican presidential nominee George W. Bush easily won a majority of the popular vote in the state.

Stenberg left office as Attorney General in 2003 and returned to work in the private sector as of counsel at Erickson and Sederstrom, the same firm where his former boss, Charles Thone, is a partner.

In 2006, Stenberg launched his third bid for the Senate. Once again, an early frontrunner, he came second in the primary to former Ameritrade chief operating officer Pete Ricketts, with former state Republican chairman David Kramer taking third. Ricketts went on to lose to incumbent Senator Nelson. In 2010, Stenberg ran for Nebraska State Treasurer to succeed retiring Shane Osborn. He won the primary over state Senator Tony Fulton and won the general election. In 2011, he announced his intention to run for the Senate a fourth time for the right to challenge Ben Nelson.

Criticisms

Stenberg has drawn criticism over the years for his use of outside counsel while serving as Nebraska's Attorney General. During his tenure as Nebraska's chief legal officer, the state spent tens of millions of dollars on outside counsel for river and nuclear waste lawsuits. Stenberg has also been questioned for recusing himself from a case involving low level nuclear waste for political reasons. The case cost Nebraska taxpayers $21 million in legal fees.

References

1. ^ http://supreme.justia.com/us/530/914/case.html

Legal offices
Preceded by Robert M. Spire	Nebraska Attorney General 1991 - 2003	Succeeded by Jon Bruning
Party political offices
Preceded by Jan Stoney	Republican Party nominee for United States Senator from Nebraska (Class 1) 2000	Succeeded by Pete Ricketts

Persondata
Name	Stenberg, Don
Alternative names
Short description	American politician
Date of birth
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death