Lee Terry

Lee Raymond Terry (born January 29, 1962) is a former American politician and a senior law firm adviser.

He received his J.D. from Creighton University School of Law in 1987.

He worked as a private practice attorney specializing in civil matters before entering politics.

He was a member of the Omaha City Council from 1991 to 1999, and served for two years as president and another two years as vice president of the body.

While on the city council, Terry advocated using private-public partnerships as a way to lower taxation within Omaha.

In 1998, incumbent Republican Representative Jon Lynn Christensen retired to run for governor of Nebraska.

Terry ran to succeed him, winning the Republican primary with a plurality, 40%, in a three-way race.

Attorney Steve Kupka came second with 30%, businessman Brad Kuiper came third with 27% and three other candidates took the remaining 4%.

In the general election, Terry defeated Democratic nominee Michael Scott, a television anchor, 67% to 34%.

From 1999 to 2015, he served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for NE's 2nd congressional district as a member of the Republican Party.

In 2000, Terry defeated Democratic State Senator Shelley Kiel, 66% to 31%.

In 2002, he defeated Democratic businessman Jim Simon, 63% to 33%.

In 2004, he defeated Democratic State Senator Nancy Thompson, 61% to 36%.

In 2006, he faced his first primary contest since 1998, defeating Steven Laird, who had run against Terry in 1998 and taken 1% in the primary.

Terry defeated him again, 84% to 16%.

In the general election, Lee faced Democratic businessman Jim Esch.

In an election that saw Democrats make sweeping gains and retake control of the House after 12 years of a Republican majority, Terry defeated Esch by just 55% to 45%.

In 2008, Terry faced another primary challenge from Steven Laird, defeating him by 84% to 16%.

He also faced a rematch in the general election against Jim Esch.

The election was concurrent with the 2008 presidential election.

Nebraska is one of two states that uses the Congressional District Method in presidential elections: the winner of the statewide popular vote receives two electoral votes and the winner in each congressional district receives one vote.

The Democratic nominee, Barack Obama, therefore targeted the district in case the Electoral College was otherwise tied.

That effort made Terry even more vulnerable.

CQ Politics forecast the race as 'Leans Republican', The Cook Political Report ranked it 'Republican Toss-Up' and The Rothenberg Political Report rated it 'Toss-Up/Tilt Democratic'.

In response, Terry appealed to Obama supporters, dubbing them "Obama-Terry voters", and emphasizing that he would work with Obama if he won the election.

National Committees and outside groups spent millions of dollars on the race and Terry's supporters tried to paint Esch as a "liberal", a supporter of gay marriage and insufficiently opposed to abortion.

Ultimately, Terry was reelected by just 52% to 48%.

In 2010, Terry faced another primary challenge, this one from Matt Sakalosky, a Tea Party challenger who accused Terry of being "insufficiently conservative".

Terry refused to debate him and Sakalosky struggled to raise money but ended up taking 37% of the vote to Terry's 63%.

In the general election, Esch declined to seek another rematch with Terry and so he faced Democratic State Senator Tom White.

In a year that saw the Republicans make widespread gains and retake the House, Terry defeated White 61% to 39%.

After redistricting following the 2010 United States Census, Nebraska Republicans redrew the state's congressional map and made the 2nd district more Republican, so Obama's reelection campaign did not target the district as heavily as in 2008.

Terry was considered a potential candidate for the United States Senate in 2012 but declined to run, instead seeking an eighth House term.

In the primary, he emerged victorious with 59% of the vote.

The anti-Terry vote was split between former University of Nebraska football player Brett Lindstrom, who took 23%, and University of Nebraska professor Jack Heidel, with 11%.

Glenn Freeman and Paul Anderson took 4% and 2% respectively.

Since 2015, Terry reactivated his law license and is a senior adviser to the government relations and public group for the international law firm Kelley Drye & Warren.

Terry was born in Omaha, Nebraska, the son of Mary Chalone (née Courtney) and Leland Roy Terry, however Lee was raised by Janet Terry (née Ickes) and his father Leland Terry.

He graduated from Omaha Northwest High School.

He then attended the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.