J. James Exon

John James "Jim" Exon (August 9, 1921 – June 10, 2005) was an American Democratic politician. He served as the Governor of Nebraska from 1971 to 1979, and as a U.S. Senator from Nebraska from 1979 to 1997. Exon was a Nebraska Democrat who never lost an election. He was elected and re-elected governor in 1970 & 1974, elected to the Senate in 1978, and re-elected in 1984 and 1990. He is the only Nebraskan besides George Norris, the architect of Nebraska's Unicameral, to win five consecutive statewide elections.

Governor of Nebraska 1971-1979

Exon's first bid for public office was his successful campaign for the Governor of Nebraska defeating incumbent Republican Norbert Tiemann. The term of the Governor was extended to four years before the election. He was re-elected in a landslide in 1974 and became the first Nebraska Governor to serve eight years in that position.

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His repeated vetoes of the legislature's spending programs earned Exon the reputation as a fiscal conservative. He vetoed 141 bills in his final seven years as Governor or an average of 20 a year. Due to his ability to control expenditure and his reluctance to raise taxes, Exon won the support of many Nebraskans who normally voted Republican.

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