Kathleen Kauth
Kathleen Kauth (Republican Party) is a member of the Nebraska State Senate, representing District 31. She assumed office on June 7, 2022. Her current term ends on January 8, 2025.
Kauth ran for re-election to the Nebraska State Senate to represent District 31. She won in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Kauth completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Gov. Pete Ricketts (R) appointed Kauth to the state Senate on June 7, 2022, to replace Rich Pahls (R).[1]
Biography
Kathleen Kauth was born in Illinois. She graduated from Bettendorf High School. Kauth earned a bachelor's degree in criminology/sociology and a master's degree in public policy from the University of Northern Iowa in 1991 and 1992, respectively. She received a graduate certificate from the University of Nebraska, Omaha in 2016. Her career experience includes founding and working as the president of K.T. Beck Enterprises, LLC.[2][3][4]
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.
Committee assignments
2023-2024
Kauth was assigned to the following committees:
Elections
2024
See also: Nebraska State Senate elections, 2024
General election
General election for Nebraska State Senate District 31
Incumbent Kathleen Kauth defeated Mary Ann Folchert in the general election for Nebraska State Senate District 31 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Kathleen Kauth (Nonpartisan)  | 54.5 | 10,237 |
 | Mary Ann Folchert (Nonpartisan) | 45.5 | 8,538 | |
| Total votes: 18,775 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Nebraska State Senate District 31
Incumbent Kathleen Kauth and Mary Ann Folchert advanced from the primary for Nebraska State Senate District 31 on May 14, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Kathleen Kauth (Nonpartisan) | 59.1 | 4,680 |
| ✔ | | Mary Ann Folchert (Nonpartisan) | 40.9 | 3,235 |
| Total votes: 7,915 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Kauth in this election.
2022
General election
Special general election for Nebraska State Senate District 31
Incumbent Kathleen Kauth defeated Tim Royers in the special general election for Nebraska State Senate District 31 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Kathleen Kauth (Nonpartisan) | 52.5 | 8,076 |
 | Tim Royers (Nonpartisan) | 47.5 | 7,306 | |
| Total votes: 15,382 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2021
See also: City elections in Omaha, Nebraska (2021)
General election
General election for Omaha City Council District 5
Don Rowe defeated Patrick Leahy in the general election for Omaha City Council District 5 on May 11, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Don Rowe (Nonpartisan) | 52.9 | 8,324 |
| Patrick Leahy (Nonpartisan) | 46.8 | 7,374 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.3 | 51 | ||
| Total votes: 15,749 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Omaha City Council District 5
The following candidates ran in the primary for Omaha City Council District 5 on April 6, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Don Rowe (Nonpartisan) | 19.4 | 2,554 |
| ✔ | | Patrick Leahy (Nonpartisan) | 18.8 | 2,480 |
| Kathleen Kauth (Nonpartisan) | 18.1 | 2,383 | |
| Kate Gotsdiner (Nonpartisan) | 14.1 | 1,857 | |
 | Colleen Brennan (Nonpartisan) | 13.7 | 1,811 | |
| Jeff Moore (Nonpartisan) | 12.6 | 1,663 | |
| Destiny Stark (Nonpartisan) | 3.2 | 424 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 26 | ||
| Total votes: 13,198 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Kathleen Kauth completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Kauth's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Parent, spouse, small business owner focused on mediation and conflict coaching.
- Push back against Federal over reach. Anything not in the constitution needs to be decided by the state.
- Reduce the size of government - it should provide guardrails without infringing on rights. We should always remember that the government does not make money - they take money. We must be good stewards of those funds.
- Those guardrails should be put in place to provide safety and protections for those who cannot protect themselves.
tax policy, women's rights, education
My parents - they are people of immense integrity and grit, filled with love for family and country. My mom marched with MLK Jr. at Selma, and my Dad served in the Navy and always made us aware how lucky we were to be citizens of this country.
Integrity and transparency
Integrity, strength of character to stand up for what I believe in, commitment to serve my constituents.
To serve the constituents of the district and to make the state strong
Make Nebraska strong and stable.
Ronald Reagan's inauguration - 10 years old.
Babysitting, and then HyVee Bakery at age 16. Held it through high school
Peers working for the betterment of the state as a whole
Tax policy. Our property tax system is doing serious damage to our citizens and our economy. Other taxes like the inheritance tax, wheel tax, personal property tax etc. eat away at the financial stability of Nebraskans. Spending at all levels needs to be cut and prioritized to better reflect needs, versus wants.
It can be helpful, but I don't believe it is necessary. A fresh perspective can be a significant benefit.
Absolutely. We all work together on bills to make them better and get them passed. We also frequently attend events outside the legislature.
No - I prefer to stand on my own merits.
I am focused on LD31 in 2024. There is a lot of work to be done!
The seniors who are fearful of losing their homes because the property taxes are escalating so high and inflation is eating away their income.
Only elected officials should be able to use emergency powers, and they must be responsible for the use of them if delegated. If those powers are abused the elected official needs to be voted out. No unelected bureaucrat should have the power to infringe on citizen rights.
Protect women's sports and spaces
Currently on Revenue and Banking, which I enjoy very much. Each committee brings a unique perspective on the issues introduced before a bill goes onto the floor.
Every dollar the government spends belongs to someone else. Citizens deserve to understand where each penny is spent and to understand how they can influence those spending decisions.
I would like to limit the ability to donate to ballot initiatives to only those who can actually vote for them. We have seen a tremendous influx of money from outside the state to influence ballots here.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
2022
Kathleen Kauth did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2021
Kathleen Kauth did not complete Ballotpedia's 2021 Candidate Connection survey.
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.
2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
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In 2023, the Nebraska State Legislature was in session from January 4 to June 1.
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2022
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show]. |
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In 2022, the Nebraska State Legislature was in session from January 5 to April 20.
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See also
2024 Elections
External links
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Candidate Nebraska State Senate District 31 |
Officeholder Nebraska State Senate District 31 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Office of Governor Pete Ricketts, "Gov. Ricketts Appoints Kathleen Kauth as Senator for Legislative District 31," June 7, 2022
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Kathleen Kauth," accessed July 2, 2022
- ↑ Office of Governor Pete Ricketts, "Gov. Ricketts Appoints Kathleen Kauth as Senator for Legislative District 31," June 7, 2022
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 2, 2024
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Rich Pahls (R) |
Nebraska State Senate District 31 2022-Present |
Succeeded by - |
