John Milton Wightman (October 2, 1938 – January 5, 2017) was a politician from the 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 ...

in the

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. He served two terms, from 2007 to 2015, in the

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

, representing a district in the central part of the state. Wightman was a member of the Republican Party.

Early life and education

Wightman was born on October 2, 1938, in

North Platte, Nebraska North Platte is a city in and the county seat of Lincoln County, Nebraska, United States. It is located in the west-central part of the state, along Interstate 80, at the confluence of the North and South Platte Rivers forming the Platte River. ...

. He grew up between

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and Overton, and graduated from Sumner High School in 1956. He obtained a B.S. from Kearney State College, now the

University of Nebraska at Kearney The University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK) is a campus of the public University of Nebraska system and located in Kearney, Nebraska. It was founded in 1905 as the Nebraska State Normal School at Kearney. History In March 1903 the Nebraska S ...

, in 1959. After teaching high school for one year in

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, he attended 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 ...

, receiving a J.D. in 1963. In 1963, Wightman moved to Lexington to practice law.

Political career

Wightman served several terms on the Lexington city council, amounting to some 20 years; for two of those years, he served as the city's mayor. In 2006, Wightman ran for the Nebraska legislature from the 36th District, which consisted of parts of

Buffalo Buffalo most commonly refers to: * True buffalo or Bubalina, a subtribe of wild cattle, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo * Bison, a genus of wild cattle, including the American buffalo * Buffalo, New York, a city in the n ...

and Dawson Counties in the south-central part of the state. He was one of two candidates, both

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, in the nonpartisan race; the other was Dick Pierce, a farmer and rancher from

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, then a member of the Buffalo County Board of Supervisors. In the May 2006 primary election, Wightman received 4227 of the 7147 votes cast, or 59.1% of the total; Pierce obtained 2920 votes, or 40.9%. Since only two candidates had run in the primary, both moved on to the November general election, which Wightman won with 5623 votes (55.3%) to Pierce's 4552 votes (44.7%). In 2010, Wightman was unopposed for re-election to the 36th District seat. Based on the 2010 U.S. census, the boundaries of the district were redrawn in 2011; it now consisted of the entirety of Dawson and

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Counties, and the northern half of Buffalo County. Wightman suffered health problems during his tenure in the Legislature, including several knee replacements, one of which was followed by a persistent infection that forced him to miss part of the 2011 legislative session. In September 2012, he suffered what was described as a "moderate" stroke; later, he stated that he had no memory of the two weeks after the stroke. Under Nebraska's term-limits law, Wightman was ineligible to run for a third consecutive term in 2014. He was succeeded by

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banker Matt Williams.

Personal life

In 1964, he married Janet L. Hyde; the couple eventually had three children. Wightman died on January 5, 2017, at the age of 78.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wightman, John 1938 births 2017 deaths People from Lexington, Nebraska Politicians from North Platte, Nebraska University of Nebraska at Kearney alumni University of Nebraska College of Law alumni Nebraska lawyers Nebraska city council members Mayors of places in Nebraska Republican Party Nebraska state senators 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century members of the Nebraska Legislature