Chris Peterson (Influencer)

Chris Peterson
Basic facts
Organization:	CP Strategies LLC LS2 Group
Role:	Founder and President Nebraska Team Leader
Location:	Lincoln, Neb.
Education:	University of Nebraska-Lincoln (B.S., business administration)

Chris Peterson is founder and president of, and registered lobbyist for, CP Strategies LLC, a Lincoln, Neb.-based public affairs and political consulting firm. He founded CP Strategies LLC in 2012. He is also Nebraska team leader for LS2 Group, a public affairs firm headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa. He has worked with LS2 Group since 2013. Peterson was political director and executive director of the Republican Party of Nebraska and served as a campaign and staff aide to Republican Mike Johanns.

Career

In 1994, Peterson was political director for the Republican Party of Nebraska. From 1995 to 1997, he was a legislative assistant to Nebraska State Senator David Maurstad (R) where he served as "the primary policy and constituent services staff person." He was campaign manager in 1998 for Maurstad's successful bid to become Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska. He proceeded to work as a campaign aide on then-Mayor of Lincoln, Neb., Mike Johanns' (R) winning campaign for Governor of Nebraska in 1998.

From 1999 to 2003, Peterson was communications director and deputy chief of staff for Governor Mike Johanns (R). As communications director, he "managed media relations, wrote speeches and served as chief spokesman. He was a senior advisor to the governor, involved in legislative and budget strategy and crisis management." From 2003 to 2004, he was executive director of the Republican Party of Nebraska. From 2004 to 2007, he served as director of government relations for Union Pacific railroad.

In a 2004 piece in the Lincoln Journal Star, Scott Bauer said of Peterson: "He was instrumental in Johanns being considered for the U.S. agriculture secretary position. Peterson said he had called Johanns to see if he would be interested, and when Johanns told him it would be his dream job, Peterson let the White House know." Mike Johanns (R) was Governor of Nebraska prior to his nomination as Secretary of Agriculture. From October 2007 through 2008, Peterson was campaign manager for Johanns' (R) successful bid for United States Senate.

Peterson transitioned to private sector work beginning in January 2009 with firms such as BrightStar Education Group and Education Service Partners. In 2012, Peterson founded CP Strategies LLC, a Lincoln, Neb.-based public affairs and political consulting firm. In 2013, Peterson joined Des Moines, Iowa-based public affairs firm LS2 Group as team leader in Nebraska.

Death Penalty in Nebraska

Chris Peterson is the spokesman for Nebraskans for the Death Penalty, a group which aims to convince voters to keep the death penalty in Nebraska. Nebraska legislators repealed Nebraska's death penalty in 2015 by overriding Governor Pete Ricketts' veto of LB268. Secretary of State of Nebraska John Gale (R) announced in October 2015 that a petition drive secured enough signatures to put a referendum on the 2016 ballot that would enjoin LB 268 from taking effect.

In 2012, Peterson was named to the list of Top 500 Influencers in American Politics by Campaigns & Elections Magazine.

2016 Republican National Convention

See also: Republican National Convention, 2016

Peterson was an at-large delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention from Nebraska. All 36 delegates from Nebraska were bound by state party rules to support Donald Trump at the convention. As of July 13, 2016, Trump had approximately 1,542 delegates. The winner of the Republican nomination needed the support of 1,237 delegates. Trump formally won the nomination on July 19, 2016.

Delegate rules

See also: RNC delegate guidelines from Nebraska, 2016 and Republican delegates from Nebraska, 2016

Delegates from Nebraska to the Republican National Convention were elected at a state convention in May 2016. Donald Trump won all 36 Nebraska delegates in the state primary election on May 10, 2016. Delegates from Nebraska were bound for the first two ballots at the national convention unless the candidate to whom they were pledged released them or received less than 35 percent of the vote on the first ballot.

Nebraska primary results

See also: Presidential election in Nebraska, 2016

Nebraska Republican Primary, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes	Delegates
Donald Trump	61.5%	122,327	36
Ted Cruz	18.4%	36,703	0
John Kasich	11.4%	22,709	0
Marco Rubio	3.6%	7,233	0
Ben Carson	5%	10,016	0
Totals		198,988	36
Source: The New York Times and Nebraska Secretary of State

Delegate allocation

See also: 2016 presidential nominations: calendar and delegate rules’’

Nebraska had 36 delegates at the 2016 Republican National Convention. Of this total, nine were district-level delegates (three for each of the state's three congressional districts). Nebraska's district delegates were allocated on a winner-take-all basis; the plurality winner of the statewide primary vote received all of the state's district delegates.

Of the remaining 27 delegates, 24 served at large. Nebraska's at-large delegates were allocated on a winner-take-all basis; the plurality winner of the statewide primary vote received all of the state's at-large delegates. In addition, three national party leaders (identified on the chart below as RNC delegates) served as bound delegates to the Republican National Convention. The RNC delegates were required to pledge their support to the winner of the state's primary.

See also

• Republican Party of Nebraska
• Mike Johanns
• Nebraska Death Penalty Repeal, Referendum 426 (2016)