Ernie Chambers

Ernie Chambers

Ernest (Ernie) W. Chambers (born July 10, 1937) is a former Nebraska State Senator who represented North Omaha's 11th District in the Nebraska State Legislature. He is also a civil rights activist and is considered by most citizens of Nebraska as the most prominent and outspoken African American leader in the state. As a State Senator, Chambers was considered one of the Legislature's most passionate, controversial and colorful members and was characterized by some outlets of the national media as "the Maverick of Omaha," the "angriest black man in Nebraska," and "defender of the downtrodden". Due to a term limits law passed in 2000, his term in the Nebraska Legislature ended in January 2009. It is generally agreed that even after 38 years he would have easily won re-election. As he put it, "They had to change the constitution to get rid of me." He is the longest-serving state senator in the history of Nebraska.

On November 6, 2012, Chambers was once again elected to represent north Omaha's 11th district in the Nebraska Unicameral, defeating Brenda Council by a comfortable margin.

Read more about Ernie Chambers:  Biography, Political Career, Legacy

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