U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts was sworn in as Nebraska’s U.S. Senator on January 23, 2023.
EARLY
LIFE
Born in Nebraska City and raised in Omaha, Senator Pete Ricketts is the son of an entrepreneur and a school teacher. Pete and his wife, Susanne Shore, have been married for 27 years and live in Omaha. They have three children: Roscoe, Margot, and Eleanor.
Pete graduated from Westside High School before attending the University of Chicago where he earned his bachelor’s degree in biology and an M.B.A. in marketing and finance.
GROWING NEBRASKA
After graduate school, Pete returned to Omaha and worked for Union Pacific before working as a customer services representative in his family’s business, a company that would eventually become known as Ameritrade. He went on to hold leadership roles in the company including Senior Vice President of Strategy and Business Development, Senior Vice President of Product Development, Senior Vice President of Marketing, President, and Chief Operating Officer (COO).
Pete also founded Drakon, LLC, which supports Nebraska entrepreneurs and startup companies, and was a past board member of TD Ameritrade’s Board of Directors and the Chicago Cubs baseball team.
PUBLIC SERVICE
Pete was sworn in as Nebraska’s 40th Governor on January 8, 2015 and reelected to a second term in November 2018. As governor, Pete dramatically improved services to Nebraskans, and worked with the Legislature to deliver over $12.7 billion in tax relief, including over $10 billion in property tax relief, by 2027. Additionally, he fully eliminated state taxes on veterans’ retirement income starting in 2022 and on Social Security benefits by 2025. Pete cut the growth of state spending by more half and held state budgets to an average of 2.8% growth annually. He created new workforce development programming and cut unnecessary red tape to bolster Nebraska’s business-friendly climate. Additionally, he expanded international markets for Nebraska’s farmers and ranchers. Thanks in part to the Governor’s leadership, Nebraska won the Governor’s Cup for the most economic development projects per capita three years in a row from 2016 to 2018. He was also appointed to serve on the Council of Governors and the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations by President Donald J. Trump.
Pete has also taken on leadership roles in local and state associations and organizations. He serves on the board of the Mid-America Council of the Boy Scouts, as a director of the Nebraska Game and Parks Foundation, a member of the Board of Advisors of Opportunity Education Foundation, a member of the Archbishop’s Committee for Development, a member of the Knights of Columbus, and a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre. Pete and his family attend St. Margaret Mary’s church.