Two announce run for 44th District

Mark Christensen holds his daughter, Brooklyn. [Click to enlarge]

IMPERIAL -- Mark Christensen has announced his candidacy for the 44th Legislative District. This is a seat currently held by Tom Baker who, due to term limits, will not be running for re-election in 2006. 

Mark Christensen, 43, was born in Holdrege and raised on a family farm near Edison. He graduated from Arapahoe High School and received his degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln in 1984.

After college, Mark returned to the Arapahoe/ Edison area, where he continues to farm today.

In 2000, he began working for AgWest Commodities in Alma, as a licensed commodity broker. Mark and his family currently live in Imperial where he owns and operates one of AgWest's five branch offices.

Mark recognizes that water is an important issue for the area and is employed by WaterClaim. WaterClaim is a non-profit organization providing research and information regarding water. Mark is also on the board of directors with Nebraskans First, which works to protect the interests of Nebraska irrigators.

Mark and his wife, Kathy, have six children and are active members of the Wesleyan Church in Imperial. 

A pro-life Republican, Christensen is well known across the district and plans to run a well-financed campaign, he said.

Over the next few months, he expects to receive commitments for $70,000 toward his election.

He believes most of the money will come from local individuals who believe it is important to have a local person supported by local people.

Bill Weaver is a livelong Beaver City resident, farmer and substitute teacher

BEAVER CITY -- A lifelong resident of Beaver City is the first to file for the legislative seat now held by Sen. Tom Baker of Trenton.

Bill Weaver

Bill Weaver, 53, said he has been toying with the idea of running for the Legislature for several years.

"This year, I decided it's time to make a move," he said.

Weaver said one thing he hopes to accomplish once he's elected is to help build up business in Southwest Nebraska and get more money into the economy.

Weaver said Nebraska is much like a train.

"I don't care how big and strong the locomotives are that are pulling the train, if all the cars have their brakes on, the locomotive isn't going to move the train."

And that is the situation Southwest Nebraska is in at this time.

"We have a lot of businesses and services gathered in the east, we need to start looking at building the economy of the whole state."

Weaver said Nebraska is known as one of the hardest states in which to start a business. If that's true, he said, the state needs to relax regulations to encourage growth.

Weaver, a farmer himself, said the state also needs to do something to encourage growth in agriculture.

"Furnas County has lost four large farmers alone," he said. "They simply can't make it on what they've been bringing in. We can't have that. We have to do something to help them continue."

Weaver and his wife Candace have two children, Stacia Weaver and Aaron and his wife Melissa and two grandchildren.

He is a graduate of Beaver City High School and graduated from Kearney State College with a masters degree in education. He has farmed for 36 years and works as a substitute teacher.

He served on the Beaver City School Board for 16 years and the ESU 11 Board for eight years. He worked four years for the FSA and then worked as a part-time filed reporter.

He serves on the Furnas County Livestock Board of Directors, secretary of the Beaver City Rural fire district, treasurer of the First United Methodist Church in Beaver City and is president of the Southern Valley Scholarship Foundation.

He is past president of the Beaver City Lions Club and a certified lay speaker.

He also served on Tom Osborne's first Ag Advisory Council and has prepared budgets for the Beaver City Rural Fire District, the Furnas County Ag Society and the Village of Hendley.