Ernie Chambers

Ernie Chambers
Formal/Professional photo of Ernie Chambers while he was serving as Nebraska senator for District 11. An older black man with white hair, in a black shirt with a gray background.
Ernie Chambers as a Nebraska Senator
Member of the Nebraska Legislature
from the 11th district
In office
January 9, 2013 – January 6, 2021
Preceded byBrenda Council
Succeeded byTerrell McKinney
In office
January 6, 1971 – January 7, 2009
Preceded byGeorge W. Althouse
Succeeded byBrenda Council
Personal details
Born
Ernest William Chambers

(1937-07-10) July 10, 1937 (age 86)
Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.
Political partyIndependent
Other political
affiliations
New Alliance (1988)
Residence(s)Omaha, Nebraska, US
Alma materCreighton University (BA, JD)

Ernest William Chambers (born July 10, 1937)[1] is an American politician and civil rights activist who represented North Omaha's 11th District in the Nebraska State Legislature from 1971 to 2009 and again from 2013 to 2021. He could not run in 2020 due to term limits.[2]

Chambers is the longest-serving state senator in Nebraska history, having represented North Omaha for 46 years.[3] For most of his career, Chambers was the only nonwhite senator.[4] He is the only African-American to have run for governor and the first to have run for the U.S. Senate in Nebraska history.[5][6] For years he was the only openly atheist member of any state legislature in the United States.[7]

  1. ^ "Ernest Chambers – United States Public Records". FamilySearch. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  2. ^ Star, Lincoln Journal. "New faces in the Legislature include some familiar ones". Hastings Tribune. Archived from the original on January 3, 2021. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  3. ^ "Facts and figures from Ernie Chambers' time in Nebraska Legislature". Omaha World-Herald. Omaha, NE. August 9, 2020. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
  4. ^ Stoddard, Martha (August 9, 2020). "'Once-in-a-lifetime lawmaker' Ernie Chambers winds down historic career in Nebraska Legislature". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
  5. ^ Steed, Camille; Aylward, Pat; Valentine, Julie (1997). Ernie Chambers: Still Militant After All These Years. Lincoln: Nebraska ETV Network. OCLC 46454011. Archived from the original (Video interview, 59 min.) on March 1, 2019. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  6. ^ Huggins, Rachel (May 28, 2015). "The eccentric lawmaker who helped end Nebraska's death penalty once sued God and compared cops to ISIS". Vox. Retrieved May 29, 2015.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Kurtz2015 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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