Elected as Nebraska’s 31st Attorney General in 2002, Jon Bruning has dedicated his career to defending the defining principles of the United States Constitution. Re-elected without opposition in 2006 and 2010, he continues to push against federal expansion by leading multi-state legal challenges of unconstitutional congressional actions and federal agency regulations.

Known as the “peoples’ lawyer”, he aggressively fights to protect Nebraska‘s agricultural and industrial interests by opposing the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s job-killing greenhouse gas emission regulations. He has led the battle to defend Nebraska’s state sovereignty and maintain a positive environment for innovation and entrepreneurship.

As president of the National Association of Attorneys General (2009-10), Bruning’s commitment to limited government motivated him to take a leadership role in the fight against the unconstitutional 2010 federal health care law known as Obamacare. Undaunted by this federal grab at power, Bruning continues to help lead the 26-state coalition to fight for the individual liberties guaranteed every American under the U.S. Constitution. Throughout this landmark suit, Bruning has been a consistent voice highlighting not only the unconstitutional congressional overreach of the law, but advocating for Nebraska’s future through the message of sound fiscal prudence. Whether through the courts or Congress, Bruning looks forward to the repeal of this law that could ultimately cost Nebraskans nearly $500 million.

A three-term Nebraska Attorney General, Bruning’s commitment to fiscally-conservative principles is exemplified through action. To improve accessibility for Nebraska consumers while working to reduce overall costs, Bruning increased the use of highly-trained, unpaid volunteers in the Attorney General’s Office consumer division. Since he took office in 2003, the consumer division has increased recoveries from just under $500,000 to nearly $1 million annually. Under his guidance, more than $7.6 million has been recovered for Nebraska consumers.

Bruning is committed to serve Nebraskans by safeguarding limited resources and working within spending limits. To help recover precious resources squandered by criminal fraud, Bruning asked the Nebraska Legislature to create and partially fund the Attorney General’s Office Medicaid Fraud Unit. Since its creation in 2004, the Unit has recovered more than $33 million for taxpayers with the state’s investment of less than $1 million. The success of the Unit is a testament to Bruning’s commitment to do more with less and has fulfilled his promise that the Unit would be self-funded by 2007. It was and remains so today.

Bruning received both his undergraduate and law degrees with distinction from the University of Nebraska. He and his wife of 16 years, Deonne, live in Lincoln, with their two children, Lauren and Jack.

Bruning serves on the Nebraska Board of Pardons with Governor Heineman and Secretary of State John Gale.