Nebraska's Most Powerful Man, Ernie Chambers, Aims To Reclaim His Seat In 2012.
Ernie Chambers plans 2012 return to the Legislature
Ernie Chambers
faced all manner of challenges during a history-making and often fiery 38-year career in the Legislature, save one. He never faced a serious challenge at the ballot box.
After four years on the sidelines, imposed by Nebraska’s term limits, Chambers will ask North Omaha voters to return him to the Unicameral in 2012.
To do that, they would have to choose Chambers, 74, over incumbent Sen. Brenda Council. She was elected to succeed Chambers, with his endorsement, four years ago. Council said she won’t step aside for him next year.
"Anybody is free to file to seek that seat," Council told the Omaha World-Herald. The soft spoken, 57-year-old lawyer is a former member of the Omaha City Council. "I believe I've represented the district very well and that the electorate will see the work that I've done and return me for another term."
The two will first face each other in the May primary.
For most of his career Chambers was the only black member of the Legislature. Council is one of two black lawmakers, both women, now serving in the 49-member Legislature.
His signature garb, blue jeans and a t-shirt that revealed bulging muscles, seemed appropriate to his persona as the self-proclaimed “Defender of the Downtrodden,” as he chose to have himself officially described within the Nebraska Blue Book.
He is still full of the hellfire and brimstone, and the towering intellect, that contributed to making his name a household word in Nebraska. It is a name that was showered with praise and admiration; and at least as often was pelted with hate-filled vitriol, racist epithets and, sometimes, death threats.
None of it slowed him down during a career that made him famous to some, infamous to others.
While alleging and denouncing racism, sexism, religiosity, greed, the judiciary, governors and the hypocrisy he perceived throughout too much of society, his unequaled mastery of legislative rules allowed him to tie the lawmaking process in knots for hours, days and weeks.
He quoted at will the bible, Shakespeare, the constitution, authors ancient and contemporary and import judicial decisions dating to the nation’s founding. He denounced and sometimes insulted his colleagues as cowering before the power of interest groups while being fed and entertained by lobbyists, failing in their duty to ordinary Nebraskans, and perpetuating policies that benefited the powerful and burdened others.
And on many occasions he taunted and endeavored to shame other lawmakers. During one debate he described his view of his ability.
"I own this Legislature. You all are my white folks. If a law must be passed, I will allow you to pass it. If I want to bring the Legislature to a halt, I will do it. And you know how I do it? Not with a gun, not by choking people. A loaded brain is more powerful than a loaded gun. I master the rules."
A few responded to various of his onslaughts. Through most of his career they simply tried to wait him out, passing rule after rule putting time limits on debate, the offering of amendments and other things.
To suggest Chambers wasn’t the major factor in Nebraskans adopting the 2000 constitutional provision limiting lawmakers to a pair of consecutive, four-year terms is to deny a reality that was as obvious as his disdain for the powerful.
Chambers told the World-Herald:
"There's a job that needs to be done that's not being done, and I think I can do it better than anyone else. "I'll run on my record. People will find [in his record] things that have not been equaled by any legislator, anywhere in this country, during any period in history."
In February of this year, Chambers told the Lincoln Journal-Star:
"The governor is running roughshod over the Legislature. It has been virtually emasculated as one of the branches of government. It has been kicked to the curb, rendered virtually irrelevant. I have read articles which indicate that all he has to do is threaten a veto and the senators run like scared chickadees and will drop issues that they think ought to be addressed.”
When the 2012 Unicameral concluded its work, the Speaker of the Legislature cited the cooperation of lawmakers away from the open arena of the legislative floor that allowed many issues to effectively be settled – and sail through the process with comparatively little public debate among senators.
If Ernie Chambers returns to the Legislature, things will change.
Ernie Chambers
faced all manner of challenges during a history-making and often fiery 38-year career in the Legislature, save one. He never faced a serious challenge at the ballot box.
After four years on the sidelines, imposed by Nebraska’s term limits, Chambers will ask North Omaha voters to return him to the Unicameral in 2012.
To do that, they would have to choose Chambers, 74, over incumbent Sen. Brenda Council. She was elected to succeed Chambers, with his endorsement, four years ago. Council said she won’t step aside for him next year.
"Anybody is free to file to seek that seat," Council told the Omaha World-Herald. The soft spoken, 57-year-old lawyer is a former member of the Omaha City Council. "I believe I've represented the district very well and that the electorate will see the work that I've done and return me for another term."
The two will first face each other in the May primary.
For most of his career Chambers was the only black member of the Legislature. Council is one of two black lawmakers, both women, now serving in the 49-member Legislature.
His signature garb, blue jeans and a t-shirt that revealed bulging muscles, seemed appropriate to his persona as the self-proclaimed “Defender of the Downtrodden,” as he chose to have himself officially described within the Nebraska Blue Book.
He is still full of the hellfire and brimstone, and the towering intellect, that contributed to making his name a household word in Nebraska. It is a name that was showered with praise and admiration; and at least as often was pelted with hate-filled vitriol, racist epithets and, sometimes, death threats.
None of it slowed him down during a career that made him famous to some, infamous to others.
While alleging and denouncing racism, sexism, religiosity, greed, the judiciary, governors and the hypocrisy he perceived throughout too much of society, his unequaled mastery of legislative rules allowed him to tie the lawmaking process in knots for hours, days and weeks.
He quoted at will the bible, Shakespeare, the constitution, authors ancient and contemporary and import judicial decisions dating to the nation’s founding. He denounced and sometimes insulted his colleagues as cowering before the power of interest groups while being fed and entertained by lobbyists, failing in their duty to ordinary Nebraskans, and perpetuating policies that benefited the powerful and burdened others.
And on many occasions he taunted and endeavored to shame other lawmakers. During one debate he described his view of his ability.
"I own this Legislature. You all are my white folks. If a law must be passed, I will allow you to pass it. If I want to bring the Legislature to a halt, I will do it. And you know how I do it? Not with a gun, not by choking people. A loaded brain is more powerful than a loaded gun. I master the rules."
A few responded to various of his onslaughts. Through most of his career they simply tried to wait him out, passing rule after rule putting time limits on debate, the offering of amendments and other things.
To suggest Chambers wasn’t the major factor in Nebraskans adopting the 2000 constitutional provision limiting lawmakers to a pair of consecutive, four-year terms is to deny a reality that was as obvious as his disdain for the powerful.
Chambers told the World-Herald:
"There's a job that needs to be done that's not being done, and I think I can do it better than anyone else. "I'll run on my record. People will find [in his record] things that have not been equaled by any legislator, anywhere in this country, during any period in history."
In February of this year, Chambers told the Lincoln Journal-Star:
"The governor is running roughshod over the Legislature. It has been virtually emasculated as one of the branches of government. It has been kicked to the curb, rendered virtually irrelevant. I have read articles which indicate that all he has to do is threaten a veto and the senators run like scared chickadees and will drop issues that they think ought to be addressed.”
When the 2012 Unicameral concluded its work, the Speaker of the Legislature cited the cooperation of lawmakers away from the open arena of the legislative floor that allowed many issues to effectively be settled – and sail through the process with comparatively little public debate among senators.
If Ernie Chambers returns to the Legislature, things will change.
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