Jen Day (born July 28, 1981) is an American politician and

weightlifter Olympic weightlifting, or Olympic-style weightlifting (officially named Weightlifting), is a sport in which athletes compete in lifting a barbell loaded with weight plates from the ground to overhead, with each athlete trying to successfully lift ...

. She is a member of the

Nebraska 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 small ...

. Day became an

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

in 2010, advocating for public education among other topics. She participated in the IFW World Masters Championship weightlifting competition in 2016, finishing in 7th place. She ran for a seat in the state's

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multic ...

legislature in 2020, defeating incumbent

Andrew La Grone Andrew La Grone (born November 4, 1990) is a lawyer and a former member of the Nebraska Legislature. Early life La Grone was born on November 4, 1990 in Omaha, Nebraska. Education La Grone graduated from Millard South High School in 2009. La G ...

. The race was marked by an incident in which La Grone's campaign mailed an

attack ad Attack may refer to: Warfare and combat * Offensive (military) * Charge (warfare) * Attack (fencing) * Strike (attack) * Attack (computing) * Attack aircraft Books and publishing * ''The Attack'' (novel), a book * '' Attack No. 1'', comic an ...

flier to voters with a misidentified photograph the flyer featured a volunteer on Day's campaign mislabeled as Day herself. Day assumed office in January 2021 representing the 49th district. As a member of the legislature's education committee, Day has advocated for school

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrical ...

safety and for

freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic News media, media, especially publication, published materials, should be conside ...

for

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

student newspapers. She supports legal abortion, saying "the Nebraska Legislature must reject medically unnecessary restrictions on abortion." Day is a business owner and fitness coach. She is married to Jonathan Day; they have two children. Since 2016 Day has been president of the Nebraska Local Weightlifting Committee.

References

Living people 1981 births Politicians from Omaha, Nebraska University of Nebraska Omaha alumni Democratic Party Nebraska state senators American female weightlifters 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians People from Council Bluffs, Iowa {{Nebraska-politician-stub