Don Stenberg

Don Stenberg

Republican Party

Prior offices

Attorney General of Nebraska

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Nebraska Treasurer

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Education

Bachelor's

University of Nebraska, Lincoln

Graduate

Harvard Business School

Law

Harvard Law School

Don Stenberg was the Republican Nebraska Treasurer from 2011 to 2019. He was elected to the statewide position in 2010, defeating Democrat Mark Stoj in the general election on November 2.

Stenberg was up for re-election in 2014. He won the Republican nomination in the primary on May 13, 2014. The general election took place on November 4, 2014. Though Stenberg had been mentioned as a possible candidate for either governor or U.S. Senate in the 2014 elections, when both seats would have been open, he opted to run for re-election instead. Don Stenberg won the general election on November 4, 2014.

Stenberg ran for U.S. Senate in 2012, but lost to Deb Fischer in the May 15, 2012, primary.

A lawyer by trade, Stenberg practiced in Lincoln until 1979, when he was named legal counsel to the Governor of Nebraska. He served in several capacities while working for the governor, including Director of the Governor's Policy Research Office, Assistant to the Governor and Director of the Nebraska Department of Administrative Services. Stenberg served as the Attorney General of Nebraska from 1991 to 2003.

Biography

Stenberg was raised in Tekamah, Nebraska. His parents operated a small business out of their home. Before going to college, Stenberg worked on a farm, mowed lawns, and worked as a lifeguard. He attended the University of Nebraska and won an athletic scholarship to run track. He went on to earn both an M.B.A. and J.D. from Harvard.

After graduating from law school, Stenberg entered private practice in Lincoln where he practiced until 1979, when he was named legal counsel to the Governor of Nebraska. He worked as director of the Governor's Policy Research Office, assistant to the Governor, and director of the Nebraska Department of Administrative Services.

Education

• B.A., University of Nebraska at Lincoln
• MBA, Harvard Business School
• J.D., Harvard Law School

Political career

Nebraska Treasurer (2011 - 2019)

Stenberg identified seven principles that guided his actions as treasurer:

1. Economy and efficiency in government. I have directed my staff to use the latest technology, as it becomes available, to reduce the cost of doing business and to minimize the number of employees needed to perform our assigned duties.
2. Customer service. We work for you, the Nebraska taxpayer. I have instructed my staff to be responsive, helpful and courteous in responding to requests for service or information.
3. State finances should be an open book and should be easily accessible to the public online.
4. When it comes to state investments, safety of principal should be a very high priority.
5. We will make every effort to return unclaimed property to the Nebraskans to whom it belongs.
6. Because education is so important to the future of our state, we will do our best to make Nebraskans aware of the advantages of the Nebraska College Savings Program as a way to save for the college education of their children or grandchildren.
7. As State Treasurer I will be an advocate for sound financial management practices at both the state and federal level.

Attorney General of Nebraska (1991 - 2003)

As attorney general, Stenberg fought in the state legislature for "tough anti-crime legislation to protect Nebraska families" and in the state courts to "protect Nebraska's irrigation water." He also argued in front of the Supreme Court in favor of Nebraska's ban on partial birth abortion.

Elections

2018

See also: Nebraska treasurer election, 2018

Don Stenberg was not able to file for re-election due to term limits.

2014

See also: Nebraska down ballot state executive elections, 2014

Stenberg ran for re-election to the office of Nebraska Treasurer. Stenberg won the Republican nomination in the primary on May 13, 2014 against Christopher Costello. The general election took place on November 4, 2014.

See also: United States Senate elections in Nebraska, 2014 and Nebraska gubernatorial election, 2014

Before choosing to seek re-election as treasurer, Stenberg reportedly considered bids for governor and U.S. Senate, both open seats in the 2014 elections.

Results

Primary

Nebraska Treasurer, Republican Primary, 2014
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Don Stenberg	85%	172,861
Christopher Costello	15%	30,566
Total Votes		203,427
Election results via Nebraska Secretary of State.

General election

Nebraska Treasurer, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Don Stenberg Incumbent	68.1%	357,474
	Democratic	Michael O'Hara	26.5%	139,101
	Libertarian	Michael Knebel	5.3%	28,009
Total Votes				524,584
Election results via Nebraska Secretary of State

2012

See also: United States Senate elections in Nebraska, 2012

Stenberg ran for U.S. Senate in 2012. He was defeated by Deb Fischer in the May 15, 2012, primary.

Primary results

The primary took place on May 15, 2012.

U.S. Senate, Nebraska General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Deb Fischer	57.8%	455,593
	Democratic	Bob Kerrey	42.2%	332,979
Total Votes				788,572
Source: Nebraska Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

US Senate - Nebraska Republican Primary, 2012

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Deb Fischer	40.8%	77,594
Jon Bruning	36.1%	68,796
Don Stenberg	18.9%	35,984
Pat Flynn	2.8%	5,251
Spencer Zimmerman	0.8%	1,526
Sharyn Elander	0.6%	1,236
Total Votes		190,387
Source: Nebraska Secretary of State

Personal finances

Media reports in January 2012 regarding Stenberg and fellow Republican candidate Jon Bruning centered around their personal finances. Stenberg criticized Bruning for becoming wealthy while in office as attorney general. Reports indicated that Stenberg was also a millionaire, but he said he earned his money in the private sector before taking office.

2010

Stenberg won election as state treasurer in the November 2010 election, defeating Democrat Mark Stoj.

Nebraska State Treasurer (2010)
Candidates		Votes
Don Stenberg (R)		345,661
Mark Stoj (D)		128,231

Campaign themes

2012

On his campaign website, Stenberg listed fourteen issues. They were:

• Cut federal spending

• On his website, Stenberg says, "I have a proven record of restraining government spending. As Nebraska’s State Treasurer, I asked the Nebraska Legislature to cut my budget by 13% for each of the next two fiscal years. When I was Nebraska’s Attorney General, I operated the Nebraska Attorney General’s office on the third smallest budget in the nation."

• No new taxes

• On his website, Stenberg says, "If we want a stronger economy and more jobs, then we need to make the Bush tax cuts permanent and consider additional tax cuts to strengthen the economy and create jobs."

• Repeal Obamacare

• On his website, Stenberg says, "Senator Nelson continues to defend his vote in favor of Obamacare even though it violates the Constitution of the United States, is an unaffordable new entitlement, and is opposed by a majority of the Nebraskans who Senator Nelson is supposed to represent. As Nebraska’s next United States senator I will vote to repeal Obamacare!"

• No earmarks

• On his website, Stenberg says, "The wheeler dealers in Washington like earmarks. Even my GOP opponent has supported them. But they are fundamentally wrong. They lead to scandals, as Senators seek earmarks for their friends and cronies. They are used to buy votes for bad legislation and grease the skids for vast deficit spending. As Nebraska’s next United States Senator I will not seek any earmarks and will oppose all earmarks sought by others."

• Develop our domestic energy resources

• On his website, Stenberg says, "We urgently need a common sense national energy policy that will open parts of Alaska and offshore to oil and gas development, that will promote the construction of needed oil refineries, and promote renewable fuels like ethanol and bio-diesel that we can produce right here in Nebraska."

• Defeat Cap and Trade

• On his website, Stenberg says, "Imposing massive tax increases on energy consumption or limiting our energy development through cap and trade, will further depress our economy and increase unemployment. This is far too high a price to pay in response to an unproven theory of what might cause the climate of the earth to change in the future."

• Secure our Borders

• On his website, Stenberg says, "We need to greatly strengthen our border security to prevent terrorists, weapons of mass destruction, and illegal immigrants from entering the United States. And we should provide for levels of legal immigration that will meet our economic needs, and be consistent with the social needs of our country."

• Defend the 2nd Amendment, Life and Religious Freedom

• On his website, Stenberg says, "I firmly believe that a just God will not forever allow his innocent children to be slaughtered. And I look forward to the day when the Supreme Court of the United States will say that our Constitution, which was written to, “secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity,” does not authorize the killing of the very posterity it was written to protect. I pray that that day will come soon."

• No bailouts

• On his website, Stenberg says, "I am opposed to all bailouts. Your tax dollars should not be used to bailout mismanaged companies."

• Uphold the Constitution

• On his website, Stenberg says, "The Constitution of the United States was written to limit the power of the federal government and protect the rights of individual citizens. I firmly believe in the doctrine of original intent. I will take my oath to uphold the Constitution very seriously."

• Balanced Budget Amendment

• On his website, Stenberg says, "The vast federal budget deficits of recent years are a serious threat to the economic future of our nation. It has to stop!"

• Term Limits

• On his website, Stenberg says, "When elected officials spend too much time in Washington they often lose touch with the American people. That is why as Nebraska’s next United States senator I will support a constitutional amendment to limit the terms of Senators and members of Congress. Whether that amendment passes or not, if the people of Nebraska send me to the United States Senate, I will voluntarily limit my service to two terms. I want to go to Washington to serve my country, not climb the political power ladder."

• Repeal Obama regulations

• On his website, Stenberg says, "As Nebraska’s next United States Senator I will offer legislation to repeal every rule and regulation adopted by the Obama administration. Any that are truly needed can then be submitted by the bureaucrats to Congress for a vote."

• Take power away from bureaucrats

• On his website, Stenberg says, "Heavy-handed federal regulations are severely damaging our economy. The time has come to take the power out of the hands of the bureaucrats. As Nebraska’s next United State Senator I will support legislation that will require the approval of the Congress of the United States before any new major federal rule or regulation can go into effect."

Campaign finance summary

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Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

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Don Stenberg campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2014	Nebraska Treasurer	Won	$31,870	N/A**
2010	Nebraska Treasurer	Won	$100,284	N/A**
Grand total			$132,154	N/A**
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

2016 Republican National Convention

See also: Republican National Convention, 2016

Stenberg was an at-large delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention from Nebraska. All 36 delegates from Nebraska were bound by state party rules to support Donald Trump at the convention. As of July 13, 2016, Trump had approximately 1,542 delegates. The winner of the Republican nomination needed the support of 1,237 delegates. Trump formally won the nomination on July 19, 2016.

Delegate rules

See also: RNC delegate guidelines from Nebraska, 2016 and Republican delegates from Nebraska, 2016

Delegates from Nebraska to the Republican National Convention were elected at a state convention in May 2016. Donald Trump won all 36 Nebraska delegates in the state primary election on May 10, 2016. Delegates from Nebraska were bound for the first two ballots at the national convention unless the candidate to whom they were pledged released them or received less than 35 percent of the vote on the first ballot.

Nebraska primary results

See also: Presidential election in Nebraska, 2016

Nebraska Republican Primary, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes	Delegates
Donald Trump	61.5%	122,327	36
Ted Cruz	18.4%	36,703	0
John Kasich	11.4%	22,709	0
Marco Rubio	3.6%	7,233	0
Ben Carson	5%	10,016	0
Totals		198,988	36
Source: The New York Times and Nebraska Secretary of State

Delegate allocation

See also: 2016 presidential nominations: calendar and delegate rules’’

Nebraska had 36 delegates at the 2016 Republican National Convention. Of this total, nine were district-level delegates (three for each of the state's three congressional districts). Nebraska's district delegates were allocated on a winner-take-all basis; the plurality winner of the statewide primary vote received all of the state's district delegates.

Of the remaining 27 delegates, 24 served at large. Nebraska's at-large delegates were allocated on a winner-take-all basis; the plurality winner of the statewide primary vote received all of the state's at-large delegates. In addition, three national party leaders (identified on the chart below as RNC delegates) served as bound delegates to the Republican National Convention. The RNC delegates were required to pledge their support to the winner of the state's primary.

Recent news

This section links to a Google news search for the term "Don + Stenberg + Nebraska + Treasurer"

Don Stenberg News Feed

Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
When he served as state treasurer, Stenberg and his wife, Sue, had four children.

See also

• Nebraska Treasurer
• Nebraska down ballot state executive elections, 2014

External links

Suggest a link

• Nebraska State Treasurer
• Biography from Project Vote Smart
• Campaign contributions
• The Hill article about Stenberg failed senate bid

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Shane Osborn (R)	Nebraska Treasurer 2011–2019	Succeeded by John Murante (R)