Tom Carlson (born December 9, 1941) is a politician in the U.S. state of

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

. He served in 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 ...

from 2007 to 2015. In 2014, he ran in the Nebraska gubernatorial election, but was defeated by

Pete Ricketts John Peter Ricketts (born August 19, 1964) is an American politician serving as the 40th governor of Nebraska since 2015. He is a member of the Republican Party. Ricketts is the son of Joe Ricketts, founder of TD Ameritrade. He is also, with oth ...

in the

Republican 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 ...

primary.

Personal life

Tom Carlson was born on December 9, 1941 in

Holdrege, Nebraska Holdrege is a city in Phelps County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 5,495 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Phelps County. The Nebraska Prairie Museum is located in Holdrege. History Holdrege was established in 1883 wh ...

. He attended the

University of Northern Colorado The University of Northern Colorado (UNC) is a public university in Greeley, Colorado. The university was founded in 1889 as the State Normal School of Colorado and has a long history in teacher education. The institution has officially changed ...

playing football, baseball, and basketball, distinguishing himself as a talented athlete and student, earning a Bachelor of Science in 1963 and a Master of Science in 1964. He received a Ph.D. from the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

in 1967. Carlson taught at

Taylor University Taylor University is a private, interdenominational, evangelical Christian university in Upland, Indiana. Founded in 1846, it is one of the oldest evangelical Christian universities in the country. The university is named after Bishop William ...

, where he also coached baseball and football prior to returning to

where he works as a financial advisor. He is married and has three children and 4 grandchildren. Before being elected to the State Legislature, Carlson served on the Holdrege Public School Board for eight years.

State legislature

Carlson was elected in 2006 to represent the 38th Nebraska legislative district with 54 percent of the vote. In 2010, Carlson run unopposed and was elected to a second consecutive term. Due to term limits, he was ineligible to run for a third consecutive term in 2014."Heartwell’s Kuehn running unopposed for Carlson’s seat as state senator".''Kearney Hub''.
2014-05-06. Retrieved 2015-02-09. In the legislature, Carlson served as the chair of the Natural Resources Committee. He also sat on the Banking, Commerce and Insurance Committee and the Committee on Committees.

References

1941 births Living people Republican Party Nebraska state senators People from Holdrege, Nebraska School board members in Nebraska Taylor Trojans baseball coaches Taylor Trojans football coaches Taylor University faculty University of Iowa alumni University of Northern Colorado alumni {{nebraska-politician-stub