The governor of Nebraska holds the "supreme executive power" of the state of Nebraska as provided by the fourth article of the Nebraska Constitution. The current governor is Dave Heineman, a Republican, who assumed office on January 20, 2005, upon the resignation of Mike Johanns (who had been appointed United States Secretary of Agriculture). He won a full term in 2006. The current lieutenant governor is Rick Sheehy.
Governors of Nebraska must be at least 30 years old and have been citizens and residents of the state for five years before being elected. Before 1966, the governor was elected to a two-year term. The state constitution was amended in a 1962 referendum so that beginning with the 1966 election, the governor would be elected to a four-year term; in 1966, this was further amended to place a term limit of two consecutive terms. The lieutenant governor is subject to the same limitations and runs on a combined ticket with the governor. Governors are limited to two consecutive terms but there is no limit on the total number of terms one may serve.
If the governor becomes incapacitated or is out of the state, the Lieutenant Governor acts as Governor; if there is a vacancy or permanent incapacitation, the Lieutenant Governor becomes Governor. However if both offices become vacant, the next person in the line of succession is the Speaker of the Nebraska Legislature.
Famous quotes containing the words governor of, governor and/or nebraska:
“Three years ago, also, when the Sims tragedy was acted, I said to myself, There is such an officer, if not such a man, as the Governor of Massachusetts,—what has he been about the last fortnight? Has he had as much as he could do to keep on the fence during this moral earthquake?... He could at least have resigned himself into fame.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“President Lowell of Harvard appealed to students ‘to prepare themselves for such services as the Governor may call upon them to render.’ Dean Greenough organized an ‘emergency committee,’ and Coach Fisher was reported by the press as having declared, ‘To hell with football if men are needed.’”
—For the State of Massachusetts, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“What should concern Massachusetts is not the Nebraska Bill, nor the Fugitive Slave Bill, but her own slaveholding and servility. Let the State dissolve her union with the slaveholder.... Let each inhabitant of the State dissolve his union with her, as long as she delays to do her duty.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)