Julie Slama (born May 2, 1996) is an American politician who served 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 the 1st district from 2019 to 2025.

Early life

Julie Slama was born on May 2, 1996. She graduated from Auburn High School in 2014. She graduated from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

with a bachelor's degree in political science in 2018, and 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 2022. During her time at Yale she was the director of operations for ''

Yale Daily News The ''Yale Daily News'' is an independent student newspaper published by Yale University students in New Haven, Connecticut, since January 28, 1878. Description Financially and editorially independent of Yale University since its founding, th ...

''. Slama was an alternate delegate to the 2014

United States Senate Youth Program The United States Senate Youth Program (USSYP) is an annual scholarship competition sponsored jointly by the U.S. Senate and the William Randolph Hearst Foundation. After a testing and interview process, two high school students are selected fro ...

. During the 2018 gubernatorial election she worked as the press secretary for

Pete Ricketts John Peter Ricketts (born August 19, 1964) is an American businessman and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from Nebraska since 2023. A member of the Republican Part ...

's gubernatorial campaign.

Nebraska Legislature

Elections

Dan Watermeier Dan Watermeier (born May 29, 1961) is an American politician currently serving as a member of the Nebraska Public Service Commission from the 1st district. He was elected in 2018 and began his term in 2019, succeeding Frank E. Landis. Prior to h ...

, a member of the

from the 1st district, was elected to the Nebraska Public Service Commission in 2018 and thus vacated his seat. Slama applied for the position and was appointed to the seat by Ricketts. She was the youngest member of the legislature's 2019 session and the third-youngest person to serve in the state legislature. Slama announced her campaign for the 2020 election on July 10, 2019, and placed first in the primary against Janet Palmtag and Dennis Schaardt. She defeated Palmtag, who had the endorsement of former Governor

Dave Heineman David Eugene Heineman (born May 12, 1948) is an American politician who served as the 39th governor of Nebraska from 2005 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he was the 39th treasurer of Nebraska from 1995 to 2001 and 37th lieutenant gove ...

and U.S. Representative

Jeff Fortenberry Jeffrey Lane Fortenberry (born December 27, 1960) is an American politician. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 2005 to 2022, representing as a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party. In Octo ...

. Jessica Flanagain was her campaign manager. She defeated Palmtag in the general election. Slama declined to file for re-election on February 15, 2024, and retired at the end of her tenure. She initially sought a second term.

Tenure

During Slama's tenure in the state legislature she has served on the Judiciary, Natural Resources, Reference, and Executive Board committees. In 2021, she sought the position of vice-chair of the Executive Board committee, but lost to Senator

Tony Vargas Anthony Vargas (born September 2, 1984) is an American politician and former educator who served as a member of the Nebraska Legislature from 2017 to 2025. Vargas represented the 7th district, which covers all of downtown Omaha and much of southe ...

. Slama was named legislator of the year by the

Young Republicans The Young Republican National Federation, commonly referred to as the Young Republicans or YRNF, is a 527 organization for members of the Republican Party of the United States between the ages of 18 and 40. It has both a national organization ...

and placed on the

Forbes 30 Under 30 ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30 is a set of lists published annually by ''Forbes'' magazine since 2011 consisting of 30 notable people under 30 years old in various industries. The American list consists of 600 people, with 30 selected in each of 20 sect ...

in 2019. In 2022, Slama accused

Charles Herbster Charles Wesley Herbster (born 1954) is an American agribusiness executive, cattle producer, political donor, and politician. He was an agriculture advisor and chairman of Donald Trump's agriculture and rural advisory committee during Trump's 202 ...

of reaching up into her skirt at an event hosted by the Douglas County Republican Party in 2019. Both filed lawsuits against each other, but later dropped them.

Political positions

Slama proposed legislation to require students in 8th and 11th grade to pass the

American Civics Test The American Civics Test (also known as the American Citizenship Test, U.S. Civics Test, U.S Citizenship Test, and U.S. Naturalization Test) is an oral examination that is administered to immigrants who are applying for Citizenship of the United ...

. She proposed legislation to expand the

castle doctrine A castle doctrine, also known as a castle law or a defense of habitation law, is a legal doctrine that designates a person's abode or any legally occupied place (for example, an automobile or a home) as a place in which that person has protection ...

to include occupied vehicles. She supported an attempt to call a special legislative session to pass legislation to prohibit vaccine requirements by businesses, governmental entities, and schools. She opposed expanding

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program In the United States, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, is a federal government program that provides food-purchasing assistance for low- and no-income persons to help them maintai ...

benefits to people with felony drug convictions. She proposed anti-

Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) is a nonviolent Palestinian-led movement promoting boycotts, divestments, and economic sanctions against Israel. Its objective is to pressure Israel to meet what the BDS movement describes as Israel's ...

legislation Legislation is the process or result of enrolling, enacting, or promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred ...

. Slama opposes

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

in all cases, including when the life of the mother is at risk. She proposed a

heartbeat bill A six-week abortion ban, also called a "fetal heartbeat bill" by proponents, is a law in the United States which makes abortion illegal as early as six weeks gestational age (two weeks after a woman's first missed period), which is when propon ...

in 2022. She proposed a motion to censure Senator

Machaela Cavanaugh Machaela M. Cavanaugh (born January 17, 1979) is an American politician serving in the Nebraska Legislature from the 6th district since 2019. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Early life and education Cavanaugh was born on January 17, ...

for stating that legislation prohibiting gender-affirming care for transgender children was akin to genocide, but Speaker

John Arch John Arch (born John Maurice Archambault; May 15, 1959) is an American singer most well known for his work with the progressive metal band Fates Warning. Fates Warning Arch co-wrote the majority of the band's songs with guitarist Jim Matheos ...

declined to have it go forward. Slama proposed a constitutional amendment to require

voter ID A voter identification law is a law that requires a person to show some form of identification in order to vote. In some jurisdictions requiring photo IDs, voters who do not have photo ID often must have their identity verified by someone else ( ...

in order to vote. She proposed legislation to alter Nebraska's selection of

presidential electors In the United States, the Electoral College is the group of presidential electors that is formed every four years for the sole purpose of voting for the president and vice president in the presidential election. This process is described in ...

by switching to having them selected through winner-take-all. She proposed a constitutional amendment to make the state legislature partisan.

Personal life

Slama converted to

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. Her twin sister, Emily, was appointed by Ricketts to the

Sarpy County Sarpy County is a county located in the U.S. state of Nebraska. As of the 2020 census, the population was 190,604, making it the third-most populous county in Nebraska. Its county seat is Papillion. Sarpy County is part of the Omaha-Council B ...

Election Commission in October 2021. She married former state senator Andrew La Grone on December 18, 2021. Slama and La Grone have a son.

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Slama, Julie 1996 births 21st-century American women politicians Catholics from Nebraska University of Nebraska College of Law alumni Converts to Roman Catholicism Living people Politicians from Lincoln, Nebraska Republican Party Nebraska state senators Women state legislators in Nebraska Yale University alumni 21st-century members of the Nebraska Legislature