Hal Daub

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American lawyer and politician

title: "Hal Daub" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1941-births", "20th-century-mayors-of-places-in-nebraska", "20th-century-united-states-representatives", "21st-century-mayors-of-places-in-nebraska", "living-people", "mayors-of-omaha,-nebraska", "members-of-the-united-states-congress-who-became-lobbyists", "military-personnel-from-nebraska", "nebraska-lawyers", "people-from-fort-bragg,-north-carolina", "republican-party-united-states-representatives-from-nebraska", "united-states-army-soldiers", "university-of-nebraska-college-of-law-alumni", "washington-university-in-st.-louis-alumni"] description: "American lawyer and politician" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hal_Daub" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American lawyer and politician ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
name	Hal Daub
image	Hal Daub (2008).jpg
office	Chair of the Social Security Advisory Board
term_start	2002
term_end	2006
president	George W. Bush
predecessor	Mark Weinberger
successor	Mark Warshawsky
office1	48th Mayor of Omaha
term_start1	January 1995
term_end1	January 2001
predecessor1	P. J. Morgan
successor1	Mike Fahey
state2	Nebraska
district2
term_start2	January 3, 1981
term_end2	January 3, 1989
predecessor2	John Cavanaugh
successor2	Peter Hoagland
birth_name	Harold John Daub Jr.
birth_date
birth_place	Fort Bragg, North Carolina, U.S.
party	Republican
education	Washington University (BS)
University of Nebraska–Lincoln (JD)
allegiance	United States
branch
serviceyears	1966–1968
::

Background

Born at Fort Bragg, near Fayetteville, North Carolina, where his father was stationed in the military, Daub grew up in North Omaha. He graduated from Benson High School before receiving his B.S. from Washington University in St. Louis, in 1963, and his J.D. from the University of Nebraska College of Law in Lincoln, Nebraska in 1966. He served in the United States Army as an infantry captain from 1966 to 1968 in Korea. Daub is a Distinguished Eagle Scout. Daub settled in Omaha, where he went into private practice of law.

Political career

After moving to Omaha, Daub became active in the Republican Party.

Congress

He ran for the United States House of Representatives in the Omaha-based 2nd congressional district in 1978, losing to incumbent Democrat John J. Cavanaugh III. Cavanaugh declined to run for re-election in 1980 and Daub ran for the seat again, defeating Democrat Richard Fellman. Daub was reelected three times, in 1982, 1984, and 1986.

In March 1987, Nebraska's senior U.S. Senator Edward Zorinsky, a Democrat, died of a heart attack and Governor Kay A. Orr appointed businessman David Karnes to fill the seat. Daub challenged Karnes in the Republican primary for election to a full term in the Senate in 1988, but lost by nine points to Karnes, who then lost the general election to former Democratic Governor Bob Kerrey. In 1990, Daub challenged the state's other Democratic senator, J. James Exon, for reelection, easily winning the Republican nomination, but losing the general election by a substantial margin to Exon.

Ginni Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, worked as an assistant for Daub in the 80s. Their families had known each other previously. Thomas eventually became Daub's legislative director.

Mayor

In 1995, Daub won a special election for Mayor of Omaha following the resignation of Mayor P.J. Morgan, and was narrowly elected to a full term in 1997, both times defeating city councilwoman Brenda Council. In 2001, he was defeated for reelection by insurance executive Mike Fahey in a close race. Daub then served as a member of the Social Security Advisory Board from 2002 to 2006 and joined Missouri-based law firm Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin LLP (now Husch Blackwell) in 2005.

In 2007, Daub briefly ran for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Senator Chuck Hagel; he exited the race to offer an early endorsement to Mike Johanns, former Nebraska governor and USDA secretary, who won the seat.

In 2008, Daub announced he was running again for Mayor of Omaha in the 2009 election. In the April 2009 primary, he received the most votes; however, in the May 2009 runoff election, he lost to Jim Suttle, with unofficial final results of 48.7% to 50.7%. In that election, Democrats also gained control of the city council.

Later career

Daub served for five years on the board of Omaha's Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority (MECA). In 2012, he was elected to the board of regents of the University of Nebraska system. In 2018, he was defeated in his reelection bid by Barbara Weitz.

Daub has held several lobbyist positions including at Blackwell Sanders LLP, and Deloitte.

Currently, Daub is a member of the ReFormers Caucus of Issue One.

Controversy

As a University regent, Daub called for football players to be removed from the Nebraska Cornhuskers because they knelt during the national anthem in 2017 as a protest against police violence. Daub later denied having calling for the players' removal. Coach Mike Riley said that Daub's view of the protest as unpatriotic was a misinterpretation.

When senator Julie Slama reported in 2022 that she had been sexually assaulted by Charles Herbster, Daub remarked that he wanted to put Slama on a witness stand because "I'd like to ask her what she was wearing." He was publicly criticized for this, and for saying that Slama "was trying to attract Herbster's attention because she was trying to get reelected in her own right," at the gathering where she says she was assaulted.

References

Dunker, Chris. [https://journalstar.com/sports/huskers/football/nu-president-defends-players-right-to-kneel-following-critical-comments/article_9ce9b1d7-24b6-5892-98fd-16d9ba999dfe.html "NU president defends players' right to kneel following critical comments from regent", ''The Lincoln Journal Star'', 28 September 2016. Accessed 18 June 2018.]
"Hal Daub". [[University of Nebraska–Lincoln]].
[https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1980/11/23/election-80-new-faces-in-the-house/ed22e710-212c-47ec-9860-8772296ea97b/ "Election 80—New Faces in the House".] ''Washington Post''. November 23, 1980. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
(9 May 2023). "Clarence and Ginni Thomas: Politics, Power and the Supreme Court (full documentary) {{!}} FRONTLINE".
Blumenfeld, Laura. (1991-09-10). "THE NOMINEES'S SOUL MATE". Washington Post.
link. (2008-09-18 , ''Omaha.com'', Retrieved September 29, 2007)
http://www.votedouglascounty.com/pdf/2009Primary/Results-Summary.htm{{Dead link. (January 2020)
[http://www.votedouglascounty.com/election_results.asp "2009 Election results"] {{Webarchive. link. (2009-03-25 , Vote Douglas County)
(August 2024). "Revolving Door: Hal Daub Employment Summary {{!}} OpenSecrets".
"Issue One – ReFormers Caucus".
Dunker, Chris. (September 29, 2016). "Leaders come to defense". [[Lincoln Journal Star]].
Heady, Chris. (September 27, 2017). "One year later, former Husker Michael Rose-Ivey stands by his decision to kneel during national anthem". Omaha World-Herald.
Kipper, Jon. (April 14, 2022). "Political world reacts to accusations that Herbster groped state senator, other women". 3 KMTV News Now.
Report, KETV Staff. (2022-04-15). "Former Omaha Mayor Hal Daub says Sen. Julie Slama 'was trying to attract Herbster's attention'".
Report, KETV Staff. (2022-04-15). "Former Omaha Mayor Hal Daub says Sen. Julie Slama 'was trying to attract Herbster's attention'".

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