Nebraska

NATIVE AMERICAN TRIBES settled Nebraska, the western part of which is dominated by the Great Plains, long before intrepid white settlers first inhabited it during the early 19th century. It was called the Nebraska Territory in 1854, as a result of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, a political move by which Kansas was expected to become a slave state, and Nebraska a free state. The capital was initially at Omaha, but was moved to Lancaster, renamed Lincoln after President Abraham Lincoln. Nebraska gained statehood in 1867 as the 37th state, with David Butler, a Republican, elected as the first governor.

David Butler, born in Indiana, had been nominated for an Indiana state senate seat in 1856, then moved to Pawnee City, Nebraska. He was elected state senator in 1863, and governor in 1866. He won a second two-year term, entrenching the Republican Party in power, although Butler himself was removed from office before the end of his term. Although the Republicans tended to dominate in the state, Nebraska generally elected moderate Republicans or, at times, moderate Democrats, showing itself to be a politically progressive state. The state also had a long tradition of support for civil rights.

In the 1890 gubernatorial election, the incumbent John Milton Thayer believed he had won, but victory was awarded to James E. Boyd, the first Democrat to be elected as a governor. Boyd was sworn in as governor in January 1891, but Thayer appealed and in May, Boyd had to stand down and Thayer returned as governor. However, Boyd succeeded him in 1892. In the 1894 gubernatorial election, Silas A. Holcomb ran for the Democratic Party and the Populist Party on a fusion ticket. He was elected, as was his successor, William A. Poynter, also on a fusion ticket.

Control of the state then returned to the Republican Party, until 1909 when Ashton C. Shallenberger was elected as the governor. He was former member of the U.S. House of Representatives and after his term as governor he returned to being a congressman, remaining in House of Representatives from 1915 through 1935. In 1918, Nebraska voted in favor of Prohibition, making it the 37th state to support the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

One of the major political figures in the first part of the 20th century was George Norris, who served in the U.S. House of Representatives 1903–13, and as a U.S. Senator 1913–43. Of Dutch descent, in 1911 he had helped establish the National Progressive Republican League, becoming its vice president. Norris then supported Robert La Follette, Sr. in the 1912 U.S. presidential election, and then transferred his support to Theodore Roosevelt.

Remaining a progressive Republican, Norris urged that Nebraska have a unicameral legislative body, which was finally introduced in 1934. As a result, Nebraska remains the only state with a unicameral legislature, with its members all known as senators. One other aspect of Nebraska politics that differs from most other states is that, although many candidates in elections have party affiliations, technically they all stand as Independent candidates: no party name appears on the ballot. Norris spent his last years in the state legislature as an Independent.

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