Hal Daub

Hal Daub
Mayor of Omaha, Nebraska
In office 1995–2001
Preceded by	Subby Anzaldo (acting)
Succeeded by	Mike Fahey
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Nebraska's 2nd district
In office January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1989
Preceded by	John J. Cavanaugh
Succeeded by	Peter Hoagland
Personal details
Born	Harold John Daub Jr. (1941-04-23) April 23, 1941 Fort Bragg, North Carolina, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Mary Mernin
Children	3
Alma mater	University of Nebraska–Lincoln Washington University in St. Louis

Harold John "Hal" Daub Jr. (born April 23, 1941) is an American lawyer and Republican Party politician in Nebraska who served four terms in the United States House of Representatives and as Mayor of Omaha, Nebraska. In 2012, Daub was elected to the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska system.

Background

Born at Fort Bragg, near Fayetteville, North Carolina, where his father was stationed in the military, Daub grew up in North Omaha. He graduated from Benson High School before receiving his B.S. from Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri in 1963, and his J.D. from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln College of Law, Lincoln, Nebraska in 1966. He served in the United States Army as an infantry captain from 1966 to 1968 during the Vietnam War.

Daub settled in Omaha, where he went into private practice of law. He also became active in the Republican Party. He ran for the United States House of Representatives in the Omaha-based 2nd congressional district in 1978, losing to incumbent Democrat John J. Cavanaugh III. He ran again in 1980 and defeated Cavanaugh in a year Republican's made big gains nationwide thanks to presidential nominee Ronald Reagan's coattails. Daub would be reelected three more times in 1982, 1984, and 1986.

In March 1987, Nebraska's senior U.S. Senator Edward Zorinsky, a Democrat, died of a heart attack and Governor Kay A. Orr appointed businessman David Karnes to fill the seat. Daub challenged Karnes in the Republican primary for election to a full term in the Senate in 1988, but lost by nine points to Karnes, who then lost the general election to former Democratic Governor Bob Kerrey. In 1990, Daub challenged the state's other Democratic senator, J. James Exon, for reelection, easily winning the Republican nomination, but losing the general election by a substantial margin to Exon.

In 1995, Daub won a special election for Mayor of Omaha following the resignation of Mayor P.J. Morgan, and was narrowly elected to a full term in 1997, both times defeating city councilwoman Brenda Council. In 2001, he was defeated for reelection by insurance executive Mike Fahey in a close race. Daub then served as a member of the Social Security Advisory Board from 2002 to 2006 and joined Missouri-based law firm Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin LLP (now Husch Blackwell) in 2005.

In 2007, Daub briefly ran for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Senator Chuck Hagel; he exited the race to offer an early endorsement to Mike Johanns, former Nebraska governor and USDA secretary, who won the seat.

On November 10, 2008, Daub announced he was running again for Mayor of Omaha. On April 7, 2009, Daub won the most votes in the mayoral primary. But on May 12, 2009, he lost to Democrat Jim Suttle in the race for mayor, with unofficial final results of 48.7% to 50.7%. In that election, Democrats also gained control of the city council.

Daub served for five years on the board of Omaha's Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority (MECA). On November 6, 2012, he was elected to the board of regents of the Nebraska University system.

On September 27, 2016 Daub criticized student-athletes at the University of Nebraska for expressing their concerns regarding the treatment of the black community by police. Daub too issue with the players placing their own agenda above that of the collective team and said, “They won’t take the risk to exhibit their free speech in a way that places their circumstance in jeopardy, so let them get out of uniform and do their protesting on somebody else’s nickel."

External links

• United States Congress. "Hal Daub (id: D000065)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.