Biographical Information | Dick Pierce | John Wightman |
|  |  |
| Your Age | 52 | 67 |
| Campaign Address | 33560 Hwy 183
Miller, NE 68858 | Lexington, NE |
| Campaign Phone Numbers | (308) 457-3605
(308) 440-2489 | (308) 324-5575 work |
| Campaign Email Address | dickpierce@dickpierce.info | wightman4legislature@cozadtel.net |
| Campaign Web Site Address | www.DickPierce.info | |
| Current Occupation | farmer/rancher--Buff Co Bd of Supervisors | Attorney |
| Party Affiliation | Republican | |
| Experience and Associations | Buff. Co. Bd. of Supervisors; So. Central Behavioural Services Bd. of Directors; Community Action Partnership of Mid-Nebraska Bd. of Directors; Two Rivers Public Health Dept. Bd of Directors; Platte River Cooperative Agreement Land Committee; Governor's Greenbelt Advisory Committee; Sumner American Legion; United Church of Sumner; Buffalo Co. Area Economic Development Council; Statewide Turning Point Public Health Steering Committee; Regional Ag-land Valuation Board; Chairman-Buff. Co. Planning and Zoning Committee; | Lexington City Council (20 years)
Lexington Mayor (twice)
President of the Dawson Area Development (DAD) Board
Lexington Foundation Board
Dawson County Historical Society Board
School teacher for 1 year
President of the Dawson Area Development (DAD) Board
Director of the Lexington Community Foundation
Board of Director of Lexington Economic Development
Methodist Church
Mason
Shriner |
| Financial: where the money comes from | Contributions from District Constituents; Ne Cattleman's PAC; | |
| Education | High School-Sumner-Eddyville-Miller School; University of Nebraska-Lincoln-two year ag degree; Texas A&M TEPAP(The Executive Program for Ag Producers); Nebraska LEAD VIII; Nebraska Cattlemen Leadership Program-1991; Central Community College-Real Estate Sales/Management Associate License; Defense Language Institute, Monterey, CA-Russian Language Specialist; | Sumner High School
Kearney State College
University of Nebraska - 1963 law degree |
| Organization Endorsements | | |
Abortion | Dick Pierce | John Wightman |
| Do you believe life begins at conception? | Yes | Yes |
| Would you support legislation to require parental notification prior to an abortion? | Yes | No opinion |
| Would you permit an abortion if the life of the mother was at risk? | Yes | Yes |
| Would you permit an abortion in the case of rape? | No | Yes |
Death Penalty | Dick Pierce | John Wightman |
| Do you support the death penalty? | Yes | Yes |
| Do you think the death penalty discourages crime? | Yes | No opinion |
Drugs | Dick Pierce | John Wightman |
| Should marijuana use be legalized? | No | No |
| Should a doctor be able to prescribe marijuana for pain control? | No | No |
| Would you support legislation to subsidize prescription drugs for low income people? | Yes | No opinion |
Taxes | Dick Pierce | John Wightman |
| Should Nebraska collect sales taxes on purchases made over the Internet? | Yes | Yes |
| Should Nebraska collect taxes on voice calls made from a computer to a telephone via the Internet? | No opinion | Yes |
| Do you support legislation to limit taxes collected by local government agencies such as counties, cities, schools, and NRDs? | Yes | No opinion |
| The greatest growth in State spending has been for Health and Human Services. Will you limit the spending on this department, even if it means reduced services to needy people? |  Show extended answer  Hide extended answer
Maybe we need to look into how the money is being spent now so it is used more wisely.
| No opinion |
| Is it better to raise taxes or reduce services? | Show extended answer Hide extended answer
We can't have our cake and eat it too. If we want more services we have to pay for them.
| No opinion |
Guns | Dick Pierce | John Wightman |
| Would you support legislation to permit a person to carry a concealed weapon on their person? | Yes | No opinion |
| Should a person with a criminal record be permitted to possess a gun? | Show extended answer Hide extended answer
It depends of the type of criminal record that they have.
| No opinion |
| Should every gun be registered with the State or Federal government? | Yes | No opinion |
Religion | Dick Pierce | John Wightman |
| Would you support legislation to require alternative theories to evolution be taught in schools? | Show extended answer Hide extended answer
A child's education will not be complete unless all sides of the issue are presented.
| No opinion |
| Would you support legislation to permit tax dollars to be used in religion-based schools? | No | No opinion |
Education | Dick Pierce | John Wightman |
| Would you support legislation to provide schools with a consistent amount of State funding from year to year? | Yes | No opinion |
| Do you support the testing of children to measure school performance? | Show extended answer Hide extended answer
Testing of children to measure school performance is not necessarily fair but it is really the only thing that we have now.
| No opinion |
| Do you support the testing of teachers to assure competence? | Yes | No |
| Would you support legislation to require standardized reporting of school finances and performance to permit the comparison of schools? | Yes | No opinion |
| Do you support a uniform spending per student in every school district? | Show extended answer Hide extended answer
Some school districts are going to have different costs than others, i.e. schools in the Sandhills vs. Omaha.
| No opinion |
| Should a school be permitted to make condoms available to students? | No | No opinion |
| Should a school be permitted to spank a student? | Show extended answer Hide extended answer
Corporal punishment in its day was effective and useful. Perhaps those days are gone.
| No opinion |
| Should a school be permitted to permanently expel a student? | Yes | No opinion |
| Would you support legislation to cause the consolidation of high cost schools? | Show extended answer Hide extended answer
Let the local districts decide for themselves.
| No opinion |
| Would you support legislation to block the Omaha school system from annexing surrounding school districts? | Show extended answer Hide extended answer
If the surrounding districts voluntarily consolidate with Omaha it would be okay. If the decision was Omaha's to annex, it's wrong.
| |
| Would you support legislation to require schools to teach basic subjects to children in their native language? | No | No opinion |
| Would you support legislation to assure a laptop computer to every high school student? | Show extended answer Hide extended answer
Do we need legislation to do this? It's a good idea, but not to legislate for.
| No opinion |
Environment | Dick Pierce | John Wightman |
| Do you believe global warming is happening? | No opinion | No opinion |
| Would you support legislation to encourage nuclear power plants to be built in Nebraska? | Yes | No opinion |
| Would you support legislation to impose greater controls on animal confinement farms? | No | No opinion |
Gays | Dick Pierce | John Wightman |
| Would you support legislation to permit civil unions for gays in Nebraska? | No | Yes |
| Would you support legislation to permit gay partners to receive insurance coverage similar to married couples? | No | Yes |
Economy | Dick Pierce | John Wightman |
| Do you support giving tax breaks to encourage private business development? | Yes | No opinion |
| Do you support tax dollars being used to finance a venture capital fund to encourage new businesses in rural Nebraska? | No | No opinion |
| Do you support continued financial incentives to encourage additional ethanol development? | Yes | No opinion |
Health Care | Dick Pierce | John Wightman |
| Would you support legislation to provide financial incentives to doctors and nurses to locate in rural Nebraska? | Show extended answer Hide extended answer
The community that wants the doctors and nurses to locate in their community should step up and offer the incentives.
| No opinion |
| Should the State of Nebraska make insurance available to those who cannot obtain insurance because of pre-existing conditions? | Show extended answer Hide extended answer
Let the insurance companies do this.
| No opinion |
| Would you support legislation to restrict malpractice lawsuits? | No opinion | No opinion |
Immigration | Dick Pierce | John Wightman |
| Do you support additional funding for more illegal immigration control? | Yes | No opinion |
| Do you support designating English as the official language of the State of Nebraska? | Yes | No opinion |
| Do you support legislation requiring ballots to be available in Spanish? | Show extended answer Hide extended answer
It's a good gesture but what about the other minorities living in some of our communities.
| No opinion |
Legal | Dick Pierce | John Wightman |
| Would you support legislation to require the loser in a lawsuit to pay the winner's legal fees? | No opinion | No opinion |
Privacy | Dick Pierce | John Wightman |
| Would you support legislation to make public the name and amount of any individual receiving public assistance? | No | No opinion |
| Would you support legislation prohibiting companies from releasing a customer's contact information without express permission of the customer? | Yes | No opinion |
Gambling | Dick Pierce | John Wightman |
| Would you support legislation to permit casino gambling in Nebraska? | No | No |
| Would you support legislation to prohibit charity gambling in Nebraska? | No opinion | No opinion |
Other info | Dick Pierce | John Wightman |
| Which legislative committees do you most want to be on? | Agriculture; Education; Govn, Military & Veteran Affairs; Health & Human Services; Natural Resources; | |
| Candidate Statement | My broad base of experience will serve the people of my District well. Ten years on the Buffalo County Board, four years on the SEM School Board and my 30 plus years in farming and ranching provide that broad base. I feel that a strong voice for the rural population of the state and a strong voice for agriculture needs to be heard at the state capital. So many things go into that voice but at the forefront is economic development. If our rural economy is strong our state's economy will be strong. If we have strong, viable rural communities our tax bases will be broadened thus making our local schools better. Our counties will be able to operate more effectively which will improve services and infrastructure. These things are what we need to keep our younger generation in the state and to attract people to move into our state. | |
| Nebraska Citizen's comments on this candidate | Candidate has raised nor spent more then $5,000 |
Campaign Statements |