Pete Ricketts is the junior United States Senator from Nebraska, having served in the Senate since 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he was born in Nebraska City, Nebraska, in 1964 and is a graduate of the University of Chicago, where he earned both an undergraduate degree and an MBA. He is the son of Joe Ricketts, founder of TD Ameritrade, and has been involved in the family's ownership of the Chicago Cubs. He served as Governor of Nebraska from 2015 to 2023 before being appointed to fill the Senate seat vacated by Ben Sasse; he subsequently won election to a full term in 2024.
As governor, Ricketts was known for his fiscal conservatism, opposition to tax increases, and efforts to modernize state government. In the Senate, he serves on the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee and the Senate Banking Committee, among others. He has been a strong advocate for agricultural trade and a critic of federal regulations he argues burden Nebraska's farm and ranching economy.