Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R) Elected 2004, 1st term
Born:	Dec. 27, 1960, Baton Rouge, LA
Home:	Lincoln
Education:	LA St. U., 1982, Franciscan U. of Steubenville, M.A. 1985, Georgetown U., M.P.P. 1986
Religion:	Catholic
Marital Status:	married (Celeste)
Elected  Office:	Lincoln City Cncl., 1997-2001.
Professional Career:	Staffer, U.S. House Comm. on Ag., 1986; Research assoc., Gulf South Research Inst., 1987-89; Asst. Dir., Baton Rouge Downtown Dev. District, 1989-92; Sales rep., Sandhills Publishing, 1995-2004.
DC Office	1517 LHOB20515, 202-225-4806; Fax: 202-225-5686; Web site: www.house.gov/fortenberry
State Offices	Lincoln, 402-438-1598.
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The eastern half of Nebraska, between the Missouri River and the 98th parallel, was laid out in relentless Midwestern mile-square grids and became some of America's prime farmland in the single decade of the 1880s. The land here has contours just regular enough and weather just favorable enough to make farming economically viable. The plains here have completed most of their gentle decline from the Rockies to sea level; above the river bottoms the land is open to the winds. This land was settled by Yankee-descended Midwestern farmers and immigrants from Germany and other countries. The immigrant heritage is not often remembered now, but traces of it can still be found. Many immigrants from Luxembourg, for example, settled along the Platte River in Butler County, where St. Mary's Presentation Parish still has a statue of Our Lady of Luxembourg. Not far away are villages with names that recall other immigrants' heritage--Prague (Czechs), Malmo (Swedes), Aloys (Germans). Now a new wave of immigrants is coming to eastern Nebraska, Latinos from Mexico and the southwest United States, to work in the meatpacking factories in the area. Wakefield (Dixon County) had the highest percentage increase in Hispanic population in the country in the 1990s, 8,700%--though that's a little less impressive when you realize that the Hispanic population went from 4 to 348. But there are larger numbers in other towns, and Nebraska's face is changing.

The 1st Congressional District of Nebraska is made up of 22 counties and parts of two others in the eastern part of the state; Omaha and most of its suburbs are in the 2d District. The 1st District's large city is Lincoln, the state capital and home of the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers. Lincoln, with the state government, the university and telemarketing, has been growing rapidly; it is affluent, with above-national-average incomes and unemployment that is among the lowest in the United States. In smaller towns there are significant farm equipment and meatpacking factories; population growth has been robust around Schuyler, Norfolk and Dakota City. Politically, Lincoln is fond of moderate Democrats but is still on balance Republican in national contests; the district voted 59% for George W. Bush in 2000 and 63% in 2004.

The congressman from the 1st District is Jeff Fortenberry, a Republican elected in 2004. Fortenberry grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the son of a life insurance salesman and a mother who worked as a 4-H extension agent. He graduated from Louisiana State University, got a master's degree in theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, and then another one in public policy from Georgetown. For a time, he studied for the priesthood. He worked as assistant director for the Baton Rouge Downtown Development District and in 1995 moved to Nebraska to take a public relations position with Sandhills Publishing, a publisher of trade magazines for the trucking, aircraft and computer industries. He then moved into publishing sales at the company, working on what he called a "truckers' eBay." His first foray into local politics came in 1997, two years after his arrival in Nebraska, when he won a seat on the Lincoln City Council. He served for four years, focusing on neighborhood concerns, and worked to increase the number of police officers.

In December 2003, Congressman Doug Bereuter, first elected in 1978, announced he would not run again and would resign September 1. Seven candidates ran for the Republican nomination, but only three mounted competitive campaigns: Fortenberry; Curt Bromm, the speaker of the state's unicameral legislature; and Greg Ruehle, a former executive vice president of the Nebraska Cattlemen's Association. Bromm, a moderate whom Bereuter endorsed, began as the front-runner. But he quickly lost momentum after a barrage of negative television ads financed by the Club for Growth, an anti-tax group that supported Ruehle. Fortenberry, a social conservative, drew criticism from his opponents as a single-issue candidate but his superior grass roots operation and surprising talent for fundraising carried him to victory in the primary. He won just seven of the 24 counties but in Lincoln's Lancaster County, which cast 43% of the votes, he got 52% to 29% for Bromm and 13% for Ruehle. The vote in the rest of the district was closer: 29% for Fortenberry, 36% for Bromm and 27% for Ruehle. Overall, Fortenberry won with 39% of the vote, to 33% for Bromm and 21% for Ruehle.

Some national Republicans worried that Fortenberry, a Louisiana native and relatively recent arrival in Nebraska who focused on family and cultural issues like abortion, would not be able to hold the seat in November. But Fortenberry made a point of talking about jobs, farming and health care, and emphasized that he was not a single-issue candidate. In the general, he faced state Senator Matt Connealy, who sought to become the first Democrat in nearly 40 years to represent the 1st. A farmer from Decatur, Connealy sought to exploit Republican divisions (Bromm refused to endorse Fortenberry after the primary) and characterized Fortenberry as a stranger to Nebraska farm issues, a potent charge in a state where one in four jobs is connected to agriculture. "If you want a guy in a slick suit with slick answers, I'm probably not your guy," he said. Fortenberry responded by promising to help families retain control of their farms by improving trade policies and by supporting ethanol development; he cited his 4-H participation as a youth, and his agriculture research performed during a brief stint as a Senate subcommittee special projects staffer. He also promised to stand up to trial lawyers. His main message, however, focused on socially conservative themes. He opposes abortion, favors capital punishment and supports a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman. He got campaign visits from national Republicans, including Vice President Dick Cheney and House Speaker Dennis Hastert, and tied himself to George W. Bush.

Connealy gained traction briefly by hammering Fortenberry's city council attendance record but his advance came to a halt when the Fortenberry campaign responded with an emotional ad explaining that the absences were connected to his infant daughter's open-heart surgery. Bromm, Fortenberry's primary opponent, criticized as "disingenuous and unfair" Republican ads that attacked Connealy's votes for raising taxes, but it wasn't enough to sink Fortenberry. He won 54%-43%, losing only two small Indian reservation counties along the river north of Omaha. In Lancaster County, which cast 46% of the votes, he won by only 49%-47%.

Committees

• Agriculture (24th of 25 R): Conservation, Credit, Rural Development & Research; Department Operations, Oversight, Nutrition & Forestry; General Farm Commodities & Risk Management.
• International Relations (25th of 27 R): Africa, Global Human Rights & International Operations; Middle East & Central Asia.
• Small Business (15th of 18 R): Rural Enterprises, Agriculture & Technology; Tax, Finance & Exports.

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
2004 general	Jeff Fortenberry (R)	143,756	54%	$1,224,266
	Matt Connealy (D)	113,971	43%	$989,884
	Other	7,345	3%
2004 primary	Jeff Fortenberry (R)	18,735	39%
	Curt Bromm (R)	15,708	33%
	Greg Ruehle (R)	10,077	21%
	Other	3,236	7%
2002 general	Doug Bereuter (R)	133,013	85%	$191,344
	Robert Eckerson (Lib)	22,831	15%

2004 Presidential Vote Bush (R) 169,888 (63%) Kerry (D) 96,314 (36%)

2000 Presidential Vote Bush (R) 138,799 (59%) Gore (D) 85,634 (36%)

For 1992 and 1996 presidential results in the First District, please see the Almanac 2000 online. Please note that these older returns reflect district lines as they existed prior to 2002 redistricting.

• Cook Partisan Voting Index: R +12
• District Size: 12,034 square miles
• Population in 2000: 570,325; 65.1% urban; 34.9% rural
• Median Household Income: $40,021; 9.2% are below the poverty line
• Occupation: 26.2% blue collar; 57.7% white collar; 16.1% gray collar; 12.9% military veterans
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 90.5% White, 1.4% Black, 1.5% Asian, 1.2% Amer. Indian, 0.0% Hawaiian, 1.1% Two+ races, 0.1% Other, 4.2% Hispanic origin
• Ancestry: 30.8% German, 8.7% Irish, 6.8% English
• Click here for statewide demographic data.