Ben Sasse is a Republican member of the United States Senate, representing Nebraska. Sasse would become regarded as one of the most prominent faces of the Republican party's moderate wing. Including supporting the impeachment and conviction of Donald Trump.
Sasse also has a background in academia. Including as president of Midland University in Fremont, Nebraska, located in the Omaha region. And it seems that he's poised to leave the political realm behind in favor of a return to academics.
Expected to become the next president of the University of Florida
Ben Sasse has announced his intention to resign his U.S. Senate seat. He's likely to become the University of Florida's new president, indicates Yahoo. The hire is not yet official. But Sasse is the lone finalist chosen by the university's selection committee.
Barring something rather unexpected, the university is expected to formally offer Sasse the job in mid-November. Which is around when he would also probably officially leave his post in the Senate.
Sasse was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2014, easily winning both the Republican primary and the general election. He was re-elected in 2020, once again dominating in both the primary and general election phases.
He holds a membership on the Senate committees for Finance, Intelligence, the Budge and the Judiciary. For the Judiciary, Sasse is the ranking member of its Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law.
Before becoming a candidate for office himself, Sasse was chief of staff for U.S. Representative Jeff Fortenberry. He also served in the George W.
Bush administration in the Homeland Security and Health and Human Services departments. Including as assistant secretary of health and human services for planning and evaluation. Sasse held a number of positions with the University of Texas at Austin along the way before joining Midland.
Ben Sasse is a native of Plainview in northern Nebraska.
He later graduated from high school in Fremont, where he was his class' valedictorian. After studying abroad at the University of Oxford, he received a degree in government from Harvard University. Followed by a master's degree in liberal studies from St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland. Along with two more master's degree and a doctorate in history from Yale University.
A successor would be appointed by the governor of Nebraska
If Sasse does indeed step down from the Senate, much attention would be paid to Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts. It would fall to him to appoint a successor to replace Sasse. At least until a special election would be held in 2024. According to Politico, it's possible that Ricketts could appoint himself to the seat.
Ricketts is on his way out as governor, with his tenure scheduled to end early next year. He was term-limited from running for re-election this year.
Other names are also apparently in play to become the appointee. Including Don Bacon and Mike Flood, both of whom are members of the United States House of Representatives. Bacon was first elected in 2016 and is a retired brigadier general in the United States Air Force. Flood joined Congress earlier this year, winning a special election after Jeff Fortenberry resigned. Previously, he was speaker of the Nebraska Legislature.
