Edward Zorinsky

EdwardZorinsky (November 11, 1928 – March 6, 1987) was an American politician. A Democrat, he served as a U.S. Senator from Nebraska from 1976 until his death from a heart attack in Omaha in 1987. He was the first Jew elected to statewide office in Nebraska, and was previously the mayor of Omaha, elected as a Republican.

Born and raised in Omaha, Zorinsky's parents were Sonia (née Feldman) and Hymie Zorinsky, both Russian-Jewish immigrants. He attended Saunders and Rosehill elementary schools and graduated from Central High School in 1945. Zorinsky attended the University of Minnesota (1945–1946) and Creighton University (1946–1948) before completing his studies at the University of Nebraska, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry and zoology in 1949.

For twenty-three years, Zorinsky worked in the wholesale tobacco and candy business. He also served in the U.S. Army Reserve from 1949 to 1962. He enrolled at Harvard University in 1966 to pursue his graduate work, and later served as a member of the Nebraska Judicial Qualifications Commission (1968–1971) and of the Board of Directors for Omaha Public Power District (1969–1973). From 1973 to 1976, he served as Mayor of Omaha. He earned a great deal of popularity due to his response to a blizzard and a series of tornadoes that hit Omaha in 1975.

In 1976, Zorinsky, a hitherto lifelong Republican, decided to run for the U.S. Senate after 22-year incumbent Roman Hruska decided not to seek re-election. However, when it became apparent he would not win the Republican nomination, he switched parties and became a Democrat. He defeated Hess Dyas, a former state party chairman, for the Democratic nomination. In the general election, he defeated U.S. Representative John Y. McCollister by a margin of 53%–47%. With his victory, he became the first Democratic Senator elected from Nebraska since 1934 and the first Jew ever to win a statewide election in Nebraska.

Days before the end of his term, Hruska resigned from the Senate on December 27, 1976, and Governor J. James Exon appointed Zorinsky to the seat he had won in November. He was re-elected to a second term in 1982, receiving over 66% of the vote. As a Senator, Zorinsky was a moderate to conservative Democrat, voting with Republicans on some significant issues. He was courted by the Republicans to rejoin their party in 1982. He hinted that he might indeed change parties in 1986, but ultimately never made the switch. Zorinsky served as chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere Affairs, in which position he advocated for financial and military assistance to the new Sandinista National Liberation Front regime in Nicaragua in 1979.

Zorinsky died after suffering a heart attack at the 1987 Omaha Press Club gridiron show, shortly after performing a song and dance routine. After his death, one of the largest man-made lakes in Nebraska was named after him: Ed Zorinsky Lake and the surrounding Zorinsky Lake Park are located in the city of Omaha. The Edward Zorinsky Federal Building in Omaha is also named in his honor.