Mark Kolterman

Personal life and professional career

Kolterman was born March 16, 1951, in Seward, Nebraska. He graduated from Seward High School in 1969. From 1969 to 1971, he attended the University of Nebraska–Lincoln; in 1974, he received an associate's degree in building construction from Southeast Community College in Milford, Nebraska. He received a bachelor's degree in industrial technology from Peru State College in Peru, Nebraska, in 1994.

Kolterman began working as an insurance professional in 1976. In 1980, he founded Kolterman Agency, Inc., a financial-services firm specializing in employee and executive benefits, estate planning, and investments; as of 2015, he remained co-owner, with his wife, and president of the firm.

In 1971, Kolterman married Suzanne Geis; the couple eventually produced two children.

2014 election

In June 2013, Kolterman announced that he would run in the 2014 election for the Nebraska legislature from the 24th District, comprising Polk, Seward, and York Counties. The incumbent, Greg Adams, then the Speaker of the Legislature and a member of the Republican Party, was barred by Nebraska's term-limits law from running for a third consecutive term.

At the time of his announcement of candidacy, Kolterman stated that he favored some sort of expansion of Medicaid, which funds medical expenses for low-income people, if it could be done cost-effectively. In subsequent campaign materials and interviews, he declared that he was entirely opposed to the 2010 Affordable Care Act, and that "I do not support expanding [M]edicaid or other social welfare programs"; his opposition, he stated, was based in part on his belief that the federal government would eventually renege on its pledge to reimburse states for the costs of Medicaid expansion.

Kolterman described himself as "solidly pro-life". Beside defining his position on abortion, he said, this affected his views on capital punishment; although he regarded the death penalty as "an important tool for prosecutors", it should only be used in extreme cases.

Kolterman stated that he was opposed to a proposed increase in Nebraska's minimum wage. He stated that the nation was suffering from an excess of government regulations, while declaring that a certain amount of regulation was necessary.

In the nonpartisan primary election, Republican Kolterman faced Kirk Tesar, a 31-year-old Democrat and a production supervisor for a seed-corn company from York. Tesar was thought to be associated with progressive organization Bold Nebraska, and to have been recruited by opponents of the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline; one source described him as "outspoken against" the pipeline.

When the primary election was held, Kolterman received 5147 votes, or 80% of the total, to Tesar's 1302 votes (20%). As the top two vote-getters in the primary, both candidates moved on to the general election.

In the course of the campaign, Kolterman raised about $48,000, and spent about $42,000. Tesar did not register a campaign organization with the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission; candidates who raised less than $5,000 were not required to do so.

Kolterman won the November 2014 general election with 7971 votes, or 80.5% of the total. Tesar obtained 1937 votes, or 19.5%.

2015 session

In the 2015 legislative session, Kolterman was named vice-chair of the Agriculture Committee. He was also appointed to the General Affairs Committee, the Health and Human Services Committee, and the Nebraska Retirement Systems Committee.

Among the "most significant" actions taken by the Legislature in its 2015 session were three bills that passed over vetoes by governor Pete Ricketts. LB268 repealed the state's death penalty; LB623 reversed the state's previous policy of denying driver's licenses to people who were living illegally in the United States after being brought to the country as children, and who had been granted exemption from deportation under the Barack Obama administration's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program; and LB610 increased the tax on gasoline to pay for repairs to roads and bridges. Kolterman voted in favor of the death-penalty repeal, and to override Ricketts's veto of the measure; he voted for passage of LB623, and to override the gubernatorial veto; and he voted for the gas-tax increase, and to override the veto.

2016 session

In its 2016 session, the Nebraska legislature passed three bills that Ricketts then vetoed. LB580 would have created an independent commission of citizens to draw new district maps following censuses; supporters described it as an attempt to de-politicize the redistricting process, while Ricketts maintained that the bill delegated the legislature's constitutional duty of redistricting to "an unelected and unaccountable board". Kolterman voted for the bill in its 29–15 passage. Sponsor John Murante opted not to seek an override of the governor's veto.

A second vetoed bill, LB935, would have changed state audit procedures. The bill passed by a margin of 37–8, with 4 present and not voting; Kolterman was among those voting in favor. The bill was withdrawn without an attempt to override the veto; the state auditor agreed to work with the governor on a new version for the next year's session.

A third bill passed over Ricketts's veto. LB947 made DACA beneficiaries eligible for commercial and professional licenses in Nebraska. The bill passed the Legislature on a vote of 33–11–5; the veto override passed 31–13–5. Kolterman was recorded as "present and not voting" both for the bill and for the vote to override Ricketts's veto.

The legislature failed to pass LB10, greatly desired by the Republican Party, which would have restored Nebraska to a winner-take-all scheme of allocating its electoral votes in U.S. presidential elections, rather than continuing its practice of awarding the electoral vote for each congressional district to the candidate who received the most votes in that district. Supporters were unable to break a filibuster; in the 32–17 cloture motion, Kolterman was among those who voted in favor of the bill.