Jon Lynn Christensen (born February 20, 1963) is an American lawyer, politician and corporate executive who served two terms as a member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from

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 1995 to 1999.

Early life

Jon Lynn Christensen was born on February 20, 1963, in St. Paul, Nebraska, to Audrey Thayer (1932 - 2019) and Harlan Christensen (1931 - 1996). He has two siblings, Jim and Kay. He graduated from St. Paul High School, earned a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in business and biology from

Midland Lutheran College Midland University is a private Lutheran university in Fremont, Nebraska. It has an approximate enrollment of 1,600 students on campus. Known as Midland Lutheran College from 1962 to 2010, the college is affiliated with the Evangelical Luthe ...

in 1985, and a

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 ...

from

South Texas College of Law South Texas College of Law Houston (STCL or South Texas) is a private law school in Houston, Texas. It was founded in 1923 when the YMCA made the decision to establish a law school with a focus on offering night classes for working professi ...

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

in 1989. He was admitted to the bar in

in 1992.

Career

Christensen was vice president of COMREP, Inc. He was a marketer and salesperson for Connecticut Mutual Insurance Company. For his last several years prior to serving in Congress, he was an insurance executive and helped form the Aquila Group, Inc.

Congress

Christensen was elected as a Republican to the 104th and

105th United States Congress The 105th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1997, ...

es serving from January 3, 1995, to January 3, 1999. In 1998, he ran for

Governor of Nebraska 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 ...

but came third in the Republican primary behind State Auditor John Breslow and Mike Johanns, who went on to win the general election. Christiansen voted yes on the Housing for Older Persons Act of 1995, which would ultimately be passed by the House of Representatives in a 424-5 vote. The Act passed the Senate in a 94-3 vote and it was signed into law by President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

on December 28, 1995. Christiansen voted yes on the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995, which would pass through the House in a 374-37 vote. It went through the Senate where it was passed in a 93-5 vote. It became law on November 8, 1995 without a presidential signature. Christiansen voted yes on the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996, which was passed in the House by a unanimous vote of 417-0. It was passed in the Senate in a unanimous vote. President Bill Clinton signed it into law on August 3, 1996. Christiansen voted yes on the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996. The act was passed by the House in a 342-67 vote. The Senate passed the bill in an 84-15 vote. President Bill Clinton signed the bill into law on September 21, 1996. The Defense of Marriage Act was overturned by the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

in the case

Obergefell v. Hodges ''Obergefell v. Hodges'', ( ), is a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court which ruled that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of th ...

, which occurred in 2015. The Act was struck down in its entirety by the

Respect for Marriage Act The Respect for Marriage Act (RFMA; ) is a landmark United States federal law passed by the 117th United States Congress in 2022 and signed into law by President Joe Biden. It repeals the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), requires the U.S. federal ...

, which was passed by the 117th Congress in 2022. Christiansen voted 'yea' on all four articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton in 1998, including both

perjury Perjury (also known as forswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an insta ...

charges,

obstruction of justice In United States jurisdictions, obstruction of justice refers to a number of offenses that involve unduly influencing, impeding, or otherwise interfering with the justice system, especially the legal and procedural tasks of prosecutors, investiga ...

, and

abuse of power Abuse of power or abuse of authority, in the form of "malfeasance in office" or "official abuse of power", is the commission of an Crime, unlawful act, done in an official capacity, which affects the performance of official duties. Malfeasan ...

Later career

After leaving Congress, he became an attorney and policy advocate in Washington, D.C. Christensen is a member of the ReFormers Caucus of

Issue One Issue One is an American 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 influence of money ...

Personal life

Christensen has been married twice. He married Meredith Stewart Maxfield in 1987. The marriage ended in divorce in 1996. In 1998, he married the former

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 18 and 28. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is judged on competition segments with scoring percentages: ''Priva ...

, Tara Dawn Holland; they have two daughters.

References

# * 1963 births Living people People from St. Paul, Nebraska South Texas College of Law alumni Nebraska lawyers Midland University alumni Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Nebraska Members of Congress who became lobbyists 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives {{Nebraska-politician-stub