Zorinsky, Edward, 1928-1987

Edward Zorinsky (November 11, 1928 – March 6, 1987) was an American businessman and politician. He notably served as the Republican mayor of Omaha, Nebraska from 1973 to 1976 and as a Democrat representing Nebraska in the U.S. Senate from 1976 until his death. Zorinsky was the first Jewish person elected to statewide office in Nebraska.

Born in Omaha, Nebraska, he attended the public schools there before pursuing a college education at the University of Minnesota, Creighton University, and the University of Nebraska, earning a B.S. at the latter. 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 from 1968 to 1971 and on the Board of Directors for the Omaha Public Power District from 1969 to 1973. From 1973 to 1976, he served as Mayor of Omaha. Zorinsky 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 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 that he would not win the Republican nomination, he switched parties and ran as a conservative Democrat, winning the Democratic nomination and general election. 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. Zorinsky threatened to 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. He was interred in Beth El Cemetery in Ralston, Nebraska.