Danielle Nantkes Conrad is a politician from the U.S. state of

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

. From 2007 to 2015, she served in the

Nebraska State Legislature The Nebraska Legislature (also called the Unicameral) is the legislature of the U.S. state of Nebraska. The Legislature meets at the Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln. With 49 members, known as "senators", the Nebraska Legislature is the sma ...

, representing District 46 on the city of Lincoln's north side. She was elected again to the Nebraska Legislature in 2022.

Early life and education

She was born on August 5, 1977, in

Seward, Nebraska Seward is a city in and the county seat of Seward County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 7,643 at the 2020 census. Seward is part of the Lincoln, Nebraska metropolitan area. History Seward was platted in 1868. It was named from ...

. Her father served as a Deputy Sheriff for over 25 years; her mother served as a teacher at

Lincoln Public Schools Lincoln Public Schools was founded in 1923, and is the second largest public school district in the U.S. state of Nebraska, located in the heart of the Great Plains The Great Plains is a broad expanse of plain, flatland in North America. ...

for over 15 years. Conrad graduated from the

University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the M ...

with a B.A. in 2000. She went on to earn her

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

at the

University of Nebraska College of Law The University of Nebraska College of Law is the law school of the 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 disclosures, 70.3% of th ...

in 2003. According to a background article prepared by the

Unicameral Update Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

, Conrad became a fan of politics as a teenager, following the historic race for Governor pitting two women, Republican

Kay 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 ...

against Democrat

Helen Boosalis Helen Boosalis (née Geankoplis; August 28, 1919 – June 15, 2009) was an American Democratic Party politician from Nebraska. Early life Helen Boosalis was born as Helen Geankoplis in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Greek immigrant parents, where s ...

Career

After becoming a member of the Nebraska State Bar Association, she took a job with the Nebraska Appleseed Center for Law in the Public Interest, a non-profit, non-partisan law project providing

legal counsel A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as wel ...

to the poor, minorities, and immigrants in the state of

Nebraska Legislature (2007–2015)

A registered Democrat, Conrad first ran for elected office in 2006, seeking to represent the 46th Legislative District. She defeated Republican Carol Brown with 55% of the vote. Her standing committee assignments included Appropriations and Nebraska Retirement Systems. She also served on the Performance Audit Committee, Redistricting Committee, and chaired the Legislature's Innovation and Entrepreneurial Task Force. During Conrad's time in office, she was one of only ten women in the 49-member Nebraska Legislature. Due to term limits, she did not seek re-election to the Legislature in 2014, and was succeeded by

Adam Morfeld Adam Morfeld (born July 22, 1985) is an American politician from the state of Nebraska. In 2014, he was elected to the Nebraska Legislature, representing a district in the city of Lincoln. He is also the executive director and founder of a nonp ...

Executive Director of the ACLU of Nebraska

Conrad headed the ACLU of Nebraska from 2014 to 2022. During this time, the staff grew from just four people to a team of ten full-time staff with two contact lawyers. They won legal victories concerning LGBTQ+ equality, open government, and reproductive rights. She also supported expanding Medicaid eligibility, banning predatory payday lending, eliminating the last vestiges of slavery from Nebraska's state constitution, increasing the minimum wage, and increasing election participation through a mass mailing of vote-by-mail applications.

Nebraska Legislature (2023-present)

During her second term, Conrad has served on the Education, Natural Resources, and Nebraska Retirement Systems Committees.

Personal life

Conrad's affiliations in the community include the Lincoln YWCA Board of Directors; Community Development Taskforce, Nebraska Bar Association, Lincoln Bar Association, and the Volunteer Lawyers Project. She married in 2008 and is now Danielle Conrad.

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conrad, Danielle Democratic Party Nebraska state senators 1977 births Living people Women state legislators in Nebraska People from Seward, Nebraska University of Nebraska College of Law alumni 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century members of the Nebraska Legislature