Louise Bailey

**Louise Jennifer Bailey** (née **Peterman**) is an American politician serving as a United States Senator from the state of Nebraska since 2135.

Bailey is a Democrat and defeated incumbent Republican Senator Alex Marandina to win her seat in the Senate. Before her Senate career, Bailey served as Governor of Nebraska, resigning after being elected U.S. Senator. She also served as the United States Representative from Nebraska's 1st congressional district which encompasses the city of Omaha, and she served in the Nebraska State Legislature.

Before her political career, Bailey was a high school English teacher in Lincoln and Omaha Public Schools.

## Early Life and Education

**Louise Jennifer Peterman** was born on May 4, 2091, in Omaha, Nebraska. Both of Peterman's parents were dentists. When she was young, she obtained a love for learning and decided from a young age that she wanted to be a teacher. After graduating from high school, Peterman attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where she majored in English and Education.

## Personal Life and Early Career

### Husband and Children

In 2113, Peterman married her high school sweetheart, Sam Bailey, who is an author. They have three children: Melanie, who was born in 2115, Jackson, and Hayden, who were both born in 2118. Melanie is a lawyer, and both Jackson and Hayden are both running cross country at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.

### Career

Peterman obtained her first job teaching English at Lincoln Northeast High School, where she student taught. After a year at Lincoln Northeast, Peterman married Bailey and moved back to Omaha to continue her teaching career. During her third year of teaching, Bailey had her first child. A year later, Bailey was a finalist for Nebraska Teacher of the Year. Unfortunately, after the 2118-19 school year, Bailey was fired for missing too many days at work. Her twin sons had been diagnosed with asthma at 6 months old, and she had to take multiple days off, and leave early to take care of them.

## Nebraska State Legislature (2121-2125)

### Campaign

Longtime State Senator Waylon Kelly announced that he would not seek re-election in 2120. Soon after, Maximillian Cline, a Republican, had announced his candidacy for the seat. Cline was the one that fired Bailey from her teaching job. Although she had never thought of running for office before, Bailey announced her candidacy for State Senate about a week after Cline announced his bid. She said the reason why she's running was so no one would get fired from a good job because they're a parent with young children or take care of people with health issues. Many were surprised to see a Democratic candidate in a district that had been represented by a Republican for over 30 years. However, as the campaign progressed, people in the district began to connect with Bailey and her values. Many were still expecting Cline to win until the race gained national attention. Former President Guadalupe Sanchez announced her endorsement of Bailey three weeks before the election. Sanchez was well-liked in the state of Nebraska, especially in Omaha. Bailey defeated Cline by 7 points.

### Tenure

   Bailey was sworn in as a Nebraska State Senator on January, 2121. She was assigned to the Education and Health and Human Committees. She immediately became friends with State Senators Elizabeth Giles-Harris and Rebecca Colleen,who were both progressives that flipped republican seats in the 2120 election. Bailey said that her main focuses in the legislative session was to give paid emergency leave to teachers and to make healthcare free for low income families. During her tenure, she also supported bills lowering taxes for the middle class, increasing the education and public health budgets, banning assault weapons, and ranked choice voting. She was very critical of Republican Governor Quincey Boor, who would not sign Democratic sponsored bills that passed through the legislature. Senator Bailey was also a member of both the Women's Caucus and the Educators caucus during her four years in the legislature. Bailey was seen as a potential candidate for Governor in 2122 and in 2126, but she declined. She had her eyes on a different office.