Fischer, Deb, 1951-

Debra Strobel Fischer (born March 1, 1951) is an American politician serving as the senior United States Senator from Nebraska since 2013. She was elected to the Senate in 2012 and reelected in 2018. Fischer served two terms in the Nebraska Legislature, representing a rural district in the Sandhills, from 2005 to 2013. She is a member of the Republican Party and the first woman elected to a full term as a U.S. senator from Nebraska.

Fischer was born Debra Strobel in 1951, in Lincoln, Nebraska. In 1972, she married Bruce Fischer, from Valentine, whom she met at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. She and her husband raised three sons on the Fischer family cattle ranch south of Valentine. In 1987, she returned to the university and completed her B.S. degree in education.

In 2004, Fischer ran for the Nebraska Legislature from the 43rd legislative district. In the nonpartisan primary, she came in second in a field of seven. In the general election, she narrowly defeated the first place finisher by a margin of 50.4%–49.6%. In 2008, she won re-election unopposed. As Nebraska's term-limits law precluded her running for re-election in 2012. In January 2012, after incumbent Democratic Senator Ben Nelson announced his retirement, Fischer officially announced she would run for the U.S. Senate. After winning the Republican primary with 40% of the vote, Fischer went on to defeat former Governor and Senator Bob Kerrey by a 16-point margin, swamping him in the state's rural areas. Fischer was re-elected by a nearly 20-point margin in 2018.