Harold John Daub Jr. (born April 23, 1941) is an American lawyer and politician from

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

who served four terms in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

and as the 48th Mayor of

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest ...

. In 2012, Daub was elected to the Board of Regents of the

University of Nebraska system The University of Nebraska system is the public university system in the U.S. state of Nebraska. Founded in 1869 with one campus in Lincoln, the system has four university campuses and operates a two-year technical agriculture college and a hi ...

. He is a member of the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa * Republican Party (Liberia) *Republican Party ...

Background

Born at

Fort Bragg Fort Bragg is a military installation of the United States Army in North Carolina, and is one of the largest military installations in the world by population, with around 54,000 military personnel. The military reservation is located within Cu ...

, near

Fayetteville, North Carolina Fayetteville () is a city in and the county seat of Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is best known as the home of Fort Bragg, a major U.S. Army installation northwest of the city. Fayetteville has received the All-America ...

, where his father was stationed in the military, Daub grew up in

North Omaha North Omaha is a community area in Omaha, Nebraska, in the United States. It is bordered by Cuming and Dodge Streets on the south, Interstate 680 on the north, North 72nd Street on the west and the Missouri River and Carter Lake, Iowa on the ...

. He graduated from Benson High School before receiving his B.S. from Washington University in St. Louis, in 1963, and his J.D. from the

University of Nebraska–Lincoln College of Law The University of Nebraska College of Law is one of the professional graduate schools of University of Nebraska system. It was founded in 1888 and became part of University of Nebraska in 1891. According to Nebraska's official 2017 ABA-required di ...

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

, Nebraska in 1966. He served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

as an infantry captain from 1966 to 1968 in Korea. Daub is a

Distinguished Eagle Scout The Distinguished Eagle Scout Award (DESA) is a distinguished service award of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). It is awarded to an Eagle Scout for distinguished service in his profession and to his community for a period of at least 25 years af ...

. Daub settled in Omaha, where he went into private practice of law.

Political career

After moving to Omaha, Daub became active in the Republican Party. He ran for the

in the Omaha-based 2nd congressional district in 1978, losing to incumbent Democrat John J. Cavanaugh III. Cavanaugh declined to run for re-election in 1980 and Daub ran for the seat again, defeating Democrat Richard Fellman. Daub was reelected three times, in 1982, 1984, and 1986. In March 1987, Nebraska's senior

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and power ...

Edward Zorinsky, a Democrat, died of a heart attack and

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Kay A. Orr Kay Avonne Orr (née Stark; January 2, 1939) is an American politician who served as the 36th governor of Nebraska from 1987 to 1991. A member of the Republican Party, she was the state's first and to date only female governor. Early life and e ...

appointed businessman

David Karnes David Kemp Karnes (December 12, 1948 – October 25, 2020) was an American politician, businessman, and attorney. He was a United States Senator from Nebraska from 1987 to 1989, and was president and chief executive officer of The Fairmon ...

to fill the seat. Daub challenged Karnes in the Republican primary for election to a full term in the Senate in

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

, but lost by nine points to Karnes, who then lost the general election to former Democratic Governor

Bob Kerrey Joseph Robert Kerrey (born August 27, 1943) is an American politician who served as the 35th Governor of Nebraska from 1983 to 1987 and as a United States Senator from Nebraska from 1989 to 2001. Before entering politics, he served in the Vie ...

. In

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicis ...

, 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 This is a list of mayors of Omaha, Nebraska, United States. List of mayors See also * Government of Omaha * History of Omaha References {{Omaha Omaha * Mayors In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municip ...

following the resignation of Mayor P.J. Morgan, and was narrowly elected to a full term in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

, both times defeating city councilwoman

Brenda Council Brenda J. Council (born 1953 or 1954) is a politician and a disbarred labor lawyer from North Omaha, Nebraska. She represented the 11th District in the Nebraska State Legislature from 2009 to 2013, succeeding longtime state senator Ernie Chamb ...

. In

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanist ...

, he was defeated for reelection by insurance executive

Mike Fahey Michael Gahan Fahey (born December 20, 1943) is an American businessman who served as the 49th mayor of Omaha, Nebraska. He first took office on June 11, 2001. Fahey won his second term as mayor in the May 10, 2005 election. He is a member of the ...

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 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...

, Daub briefly ran for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Senator

Chuck Hagel Charles Timothy Hagel ( born October 4, 1946)Mike Johanns Michael Owen Johanns ( ; born June 18, 1950) is an American attorney and politician who served as a United States Senator from Nebraska from 2009 to 2015. He served as the 38th governor of Nebraska from 1999 until 2005, and was chair of the Mi ...

, former

Nebraska governor The governor of Nebraska is the head of government of the U.S. state of Nebraska as provided by the fourth article of the Constitution of Nebraska. The officeholder is elected to a four-year term, with elections held two years after presidential e ...

and

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of comme ...

secretary, who won the seat."Hal Daub exits Senate race"
''Omaha.com'', Retrieved September 29, 2007 In 2008, Daub announced he was running again for Mayor of Omaha in the 2009 election. In the April 2009 primary, he received the most votes; however, in the May 2009 runoff election, he lost to

Jim Suttle James H. Suttle (born June 13, 1944) is an American corporate executive, engineer, and politician who served as the 50th mayor of Omaha, Nebraska from 2009 to 2013. Earlier career Suttle held the position of vice-chair of the Board of Directors for ...

, 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). In 2012, he was elected to the board of regents of the Nebraska University system. In 2018, he was defeated in his reelection bid by Barbara Weitz. Currently, Daub is a member of the ReFormers Caucus of

Issue One Issue One is an American nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that seeks to reduce the role of money in politics. It aims to increase public awareness of what it views as problems within the present campaign finance system, and to reduce the influ ...

Controversy

As a University regent, Daub called for football players to be removed from the

Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference, and the Cornhuskers compete in NCAA Divis ...

because they knelt during the national anthem in 2017 as a protest against police violence. Daub later denied having calling for the players' removal. Coach Mike Riley said that Daub's view of the protest as unpatriotic was a misinterpretation. When senator Julie Slama reported in 2022 that she had been sexually assaulted by Charles Herbster, Daub remarked that he wanted to put Slama on a witness stand because "I'd like to ask her what she was wearing." He was publicly criticized for this, and for saying that Slama "was trying to attract Herbster's attention" at the gathering where she says she was assaulted.

References

External links

* , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Daub, Harold J. 1941 births Living people Mayors of Omaha, Nebraska Military personnel from Nebraska Nebraska lawyers People from Fort Bragg, North Carolina Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Nebraska United States Army soldiers University of Nebraska College of Law alumni Washington University in St. Louis alumni