Ken Haar
Ken Haar (b. 1943) is a former Democratic member of the Nebraska State Senate, representing District 21 from 2009 to 2017.[1]
Haar did not seek re-election to the Nebraska State Senate in 2016 because he was term-limited.
Prior to his election to the Nebraska Legislature, he was a member of the Lincoln City Council, and the Lincoln/Lancaster County Board of Health.
Biography
Haar earned his B.S and M.S. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. His professional experience includes working as a businessman, computer programmer, computer technology consultant, systems anaylst, and teacher. Haar is the founder and CEO of Compliance at a Glance.[2]
Haar suffered a mild heart attack on April 26, 2013, returning to the Legislature less than two weeks later.[3]
Committee assignments
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Haar served on the following committees:
| Nebraska committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Appropriations |
2013-2014
In the 2013-2014 legislative session, Haar served on the following committees:
| Nebraska committee assignments, 2013 |
|---|
| • Education |
| • Natural Resources |
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Haar served on the following committees:
| Nebraska committee assignments, 2011 |
|---|
| • Education |
| • Natural Resources |
2009-2010
In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Haar served on the following committees:
| Nebraska committee assignments, 2009 |
|---|
| • Education |
| • Natural Resources |
Campaign themes
2012
Haar's website highlighted the following campaign themes:[4]
Strong Economy
- Excerpt: "I plan to provide Nebraskans with the tax relief they deserve. I will use my experience and knowledge in working with state and local government to ensure Lincoln receives its fair share of funding. A healthy business climate, good roads and our high quality of life can bring quality jobs to Lincoln and all of Nebraska. I will promote our strong work ethic and workforce to emphasize why this is a great place to live and do business."
Affordable Healthcare
- Excerpt: "I will fight to provide affordable healthcare for small businesses and families. It is important that families are not burdened with outrageous co-pays and premiums. We must ensure that every child in Nebraska has health coverage."
Quality Education
- Excerpt: "The state of Nebraska cannot afford to lose its best teachers to other states with higher salaries. I will work to ensure that Nebraska children continue to receive a quality education. I support public-private partnerships to help make post-secondary education affordable to working class families."
Renewable Energy
- Excerpt: "I am committed to strengthening Nebraska's economy by developing our abundance of renewable energy resources, including wind, solar and bio-mass. Finding alternative energy sources is imperative to the environment, and for the future of generations to come."
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2016
- See also: Nebraska State Senate elections, 2016
Elections for the Nebraska State Senate were held in 2016. The primary election took place on May 10, 2016. The general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was February 16, 2016, for incumbents. Challengers were required to file by March 1, 2016.[5] Incumbent Ken Haar did not seek re-election because of term-limits.
Mike Hilgers defeated Larry Scherer in the Nebraska State Senate District 21 general election.[6][7]
| Nebraska State Senate, District 21 General Election, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Mike Hilgers |
56.67% | 8,588 |
| Larry Scherer | 43.33% | 6,567 |
| Total Votes | 15,155 | |
| Source: Nebraska Secretary of State | ||
Mike Hilgers and Larry Scherer defeated Rick Vest in the Nebraska State Senate District 21 primary.[8][9]
| Nebraska State Senate, District 21 Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Mike Hilgers |
53.36% | 3,053 |
| Larry Scherer |
33.84% | 1,936 |
| Rick Vest | 12.79% | 732 |
| Total Votes | 5,721 | |
2012
- See also: Nebraska State Senate elections, 2012
Haar won re-election in the 2012 election for Nebraska State Senate District 21. Haar advanced past the May 15 primary election and defeated Mike Hilgers in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[10][11]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Ken Haar Incumbent |
50.3% | 6,869 | |
| Nonpartisan | Mike Hilgers | 49.7% | 6,784 | |
| Total Votes | 13,653 | |||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Ken Haar Incumbent |
51% | 2,471 |
| Mike Hilgers |
46.2% | 2,238 |
| Bryan C. Ifland | 2.8% | 134 |
| Total Votes | 4,843 | |
2008
- See also: Nebraska State Senate elections, 2008
On November 4, 2008, Haar won election to the 21st District Seat in the Nebraska Senate, defeating James Jeffers.[12]
| Nebraska State Senate, District 21 (2008) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| Ken Haar
|
7,806 | |||
| James Jeffers | 7,786 | |||
Campaign finance summary
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.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Nebraska scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2020
In 2020, the Nebraska State Legislature was in session from January 8 to August 13.
- Legislators are scored on children's issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the Nebraska Unicameral Legislature was in its 107th Legislature, 1st session from January 9 through May 31.
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2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
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In 2018, the Nebraska Unicameral Legislature was in its 106th Legislature, 2nd session from January 3 to April 18.
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2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the Nebraska Unicameral Legislature was in its 105th Legislature, 1st session from January 4 to May 23.
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2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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In 2016, the Nebraska Unicameral Legislature was in its 104th Legislature, 2nd session from January 6 to April 20.
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2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
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In 2015, the Nebraska Unicameral Legislature was in its 104th Legislature, 1st session from January 7 to May 29.
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2014
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show]. |
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In 2014, the Nebraska Unicameral Legislature was in its 103rd Legislature, 2nd session from January 8 to April 17.[13]
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2013
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
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In 2013, the Nebraska Unicameral Legislature was in its 103rd Legislature, 1st session from January 9 to June 5.
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2012
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2012, click [show]. |
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In 2012, the Nebraska Unicameral Legislature was in its 102nd Legislature, 2nd session from January 4 to April 18.
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2011
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2011, click [show]. |
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In 2011, the Nebraska Unicameral Legislature was in its 102nd Legislature, 1st session from January 5 to June 8.
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Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Haar is currently married to his wife, Chris. He has been involved with the Lancaster County Board of Health, Lincoln Mediation Center, and the Nebraska Sierra Club.
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Ken + Haar + Nebraska + Senate"
See also
External links
- Official campaign website
- Profile from the Nebraska Legislature
- Profile from Open States
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Legislative profile from Project Vote Smart
- Ken Haar on Facebook
- Ken Haar on YouTube
- Campaign contributions via Follow the Money
Footnotes
- ↑ Note: Although the Nebraska State Senate elects its members in nonpartisan elections, members of the chamber generally function along party lines when it comes to voting and caucusing. Please see Nebraska State Senate partisan affiliation for more information.
- ↑ Nebraska Legislature, "Biography," accessed August 29, 2013
- ↑ Associated Press, "Nebraska Sen. Haar returns after mild heart attack," accessed May 8, 2013
- ↑ haarforlegislature.com "Ken's positions," accessed May 13, 2014
- ↑ Nebraska Secretary of State, "Official Election Calendar," accessed December 7, 2015
- ↑ Nebraska Secretary of State, "Statewide Candidate List for general election," accessed August 19, 2016
- ↑ Nebraska Secetary of State, "General election results, 2016," accessed December 21, 2016
- ↑ Nebraska Secretary of State, "Statewide Candidate List," accessed May 16, 2016
- ↑ Nebraska Secretary of State, "Primary Election May 10, 2016," accessed October 14, 2016
- ↑ Nebraska Secretary of State, "Statewide Candidate List," accessed February 14, 2014
- ↑ Nebraska Secretary of State, "Official Report of The Board of State Canvassers of the State of Nebraska - Primary Election, May 15, 2012," accessed May 13, 2014
- ↑ Nebraska Secretary of State, "2008 General Election Results," accessed April 10, 2014
- ↑ Nebraska Legislature, "2014 Legislative Session," accessed June 27, 2014
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Carol Hudkins |
Nebraska State Senate District 21 2009–2017 |
Succeeded by Mike Hilgers |
