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John Arch
2019 - Present
2027
6
John Arch (Republican Party) is a member of the Nebraska State Senate, representing District 14. He assumed office on January 9, 2019. His current term ends on January 6, 2027.
Members of Nebraska's unicameral legislature unanimously elected Arch speaker in 2023.[1]
Arch was born in Iowa.[2] Arch graduated from Grace University, in Nebraska, in 1977 with a bachelor's degree in history and philosophy.[3] He then graduated from Western Conservative Baptist Seminary (later renamed Western Seminary) in Oregon, with a master's in clinical/counseling psychology in 1980.[4] Arch earned an MBA from the University of Nebraska Omaha in 1987.[2]
Before entering politics, Arch was the vice president for marketing and business development at the Saint Joseph Center for Mental Health in Omaha.[5] Arch then worked for Boys Town, a healthcare and family services nonprofit in Omaha for the next 27 years.[6][4] Arch was the administrator of the Boys Town National Research Hospital from 1993 to 2011. From 2011 to 2018, he served as the hospital's director.[4]
Arch ran for Nebraska State Senate District 14 in 2018, defeating Jeff Parris 56-44%. He defeated Cori Villegas 62-37% in 2022.[7] In 2022, Arch campaigned on limiting budget growth to 1.7% each year, $1.5 billion in property tax relief, opposing government COVID-19 mandates, and opposing mandating Critical race theory (CRT) in K-12 public schools.[5] Arch was a member of the following committees: Health and Human Services, General Affairs, and Urban Affairs. He served as chairman of the Health and Human Services Committee for the 2021-2022 legislative session.[5]
Committee assignments
Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.
2021-2022
Arch was assigned to the following committees:
2019-2020
Arch was assigned to the following committees:
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2022
See also: Nebraska State Senate elections, 2022
General election
General election for Nebraska State Senate District 14
Incumbent John Arch defeated Cori Villegas in the general election for Nebraska State Senate District 14 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | John Arch (Nonpartisan) | 62.7 | 7,606 |
 | Cori Villegas (Nonpartisan) | 37.3 | 4,524 | |
| Total votes: 12,130 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Nebraska State Senate District 14
Incumbent John Arch and Cori Villegas defeated Rob Plugge in the primary for Nebraska State Senate District 14 on May 10, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | John Arch (Nonpartisan) | 57.7 | 3,367 |
| ✔ | | Cori Villegas (Nonpartisan) | 25.3 | 1,474 |
| Rob Plugge (Nonpartisan) | 17.0 | 990 | ||
| Total votes: 5,831 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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2018
- See also: Nebraska State Senate elections, 2018
General election
General election for Nebraska State Senate District 14
John Arch defeated Jeff Parris in the general election for Nebraska State Senate District 14 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | John Arch (Nonpartisan) | 55.8 | 7,625 |
 | Jeff Parris (Nonpartisan) | 44.2 | 6,035 | |
| Total votes: 13,660 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Nebraska State Senate District 14
John Arch and Jeff Parris advanced from the primary for Nebraska State Senate District 14 on May 15, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | John Arch (Nonpartisan) | 60.0 | 3,462 |
| ✔ | | Jeff Parris (Nonpartisan) | 40.0 | 2,306 |
| Total votes: 5,768 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
John Arch did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Nebraska scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2024
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show]. |
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In 2024, the Nebraska State Legislature was in session from January 3 to April 18. A special session took place from July 25, 2024 to August 14, 2024.
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2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
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In 2023, the Nebraska State Legislature was in session from January 4 to June 1.
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2022
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show]. |
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In 2022, the Nebraska State Legislature was in session from January 5 to April 20.
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2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
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In 2021, the Nebraska State Legislature was in session from January 6 to May 27.
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2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
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In 2020, the Nebraska State Legislature was in session from January 8 to August 13.
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2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the Nebraska Unicameral Legislature was in its 107th Legislature, 1st session from January 9 through May 31.
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2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
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In 2018, the Nebraska Unicameral Legislature was in its 106th Legislature, 2nd session from January 3 to April 18.
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Noteworthy events
Letter calling for change to Nebraska's electoral vote allocation method (2024)
- See also: Presidential election in Nebraska, 2024
Heading into the 2024 presidential election, several noteworthy officeholders expressed support for changing Nebraska's method of electoral vote allocation to a winner-take-all system. In 2024, Nebraska allocated two of its electoral votes based on the statewide presidential election results, and the other three based on election results in each congressional district. Nebraska was one of two states, along with Maine, that did not allocate its electoral votes with a winner-take-all system.
On September 18, 2024, U.S. Sens. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), and U.S. Reps. Mike Flood (R-Neb.), Don Bacon (R-Neb.), and Adrian Smith (R-Neb.) signed a letter calling on Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen (R) and Nebraska State Senate Speaker John Arch (R) to change Nebraska's electoral vote allocation system to winner-take-all. The letter said, "Senators and Governors are elected by the state as a whole because they represent all of the people of Nebraska equally, and the state should speak with a united voice in presidential elections as well."[8] Both Gov. Pillen and Senate Speaker Arch had previously expressed support for such legislation.[9] As of September 20, 2024, Pillen had not called the legislature into a special session to address the proposal.
On September 23, 2024, Nebraska State Sen. Mike McDonnell (R), whose support was needed to pass the bill, announced he would not support it. In a statement, McDonnell said, "I have taken time to listen carefully to Nebraskans and national leaders on both sides of the issue. After deep consideration, it is clear to me that right now, 43 days from Election Day, is not the moment to make this change."[10]
The Nebraska State Legislature proposed a bill that sought to change the state's method of allocating electoral votes to a winner-take-all system earlier in the year. The bill did not pass in the state legislature during the 2024 regular session, failing to clear a procedural vote in April 2024. Eight legislators voted in favor of introducing the legislation.[9]
See also
2022 Elections
External links
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Candidate Nebraska State Senate District 14 |
Officeholder Nebraska State Senate District 14 |
Footnotes
- ↑ NTV, "Sen. John Arch elected as new Speaker of Legislature," January 4, 2023
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Nebraska Legislature, "Sen. John Arch," accessed June 4, 2025
- ↑ LegiStorm, "Grace University," accessed June 4, 2025
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Boys Town, "Meet Our Experts," accessed June 4, 2025
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 John Arch 2022 campaign website, "About," accessed June 4, 2025
- ↑ Council of State Governments, "Profile: John Arch, speaker of the Nebraska Unicameral Legislature," accessed June 4, 2025
- ↑ Nebraska Examiner, "Republicans may have gained a filibuster-proof majority in Nebraska Legislature," November 9, 2022
- ↑ X, "Mike Flood on September 18, 2024," accessed September 20, 2024
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 The Hill, "Nebraska lawmakers overwhelmingly reject Trump-backed ‘winner-take-all’ electoral system," April 4, 2024
- ↑ Nebraska Examiner, "State Sen. Mike McDonnell deflates GOP hopes for Nebraska winner-take-all in 2024," September 23, 2024
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Nebraska State Senate District 14 2019-Present |
Succeeded by - |
