Jon Lynn Christensen is a former member of the United States House of Representatives

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

.

Christensen graduated from St. Paul High School, earned his undergraduate degree from Midland Lutheran College

Midland Lutheran College

Midland University, formerly Midland Lutheran College, is a private liberal arts college, located in Fremont, Nebraska, USA, and is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America...

, and his Juris Doctor

Juris Doctor

Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...

 from South Texas College of Law

South Texas College of Law

South Texas College of Law is a private American Bar Association accredited law school and is a member of the Association of American Law Schools...

 in Houston

Houston, Texas

Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...

. He was admitted to the bar in Nebraska

Nebraska

Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....

 in 1992.

Christensen was vice president of COMREP, Inc. He was the marketing director for Connecticut Mutual Insurance Company. For his last several years prior to serving in Congress, he was an insurance executive and helped form the Aquila Group, Inc.

Christensen was elected as a Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 to the 104th

104th United States Congress

The One Hundred Fourth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1995 to January 3, 1997, during the third and...

 and 105th United States Congress

105th United States Congress

The One Hundred Fifth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1997 to January 3, 1999, during the fifth and...

es serving from January 3, 1995 to January 3, 1999. In 1998, he ran for Governor of Nebraska

Governor of Nebraska

The Governor of Nebraska holds the "supreme executive power" of the State of Nebraska as provided by the fourth article of the Nebraska Constitution. The current Governor is Dave Heineman, a Republican, who assumed office on January 20, 2005 upon the resignation of Mike Johanns . He won a full...

 but was defeated in a landslide to Mike Johanns

Mike Johanns

Michael Owen "Mike" Johanns is an American Republican politician who has been the junior United States Senator from Nebraska since 2009. Previously he was the 38th Governor of Nebraska from 1999 to 2005 and was U.S. Secretary of Agriculture from 2005 to 2007, becoming the fourth Nebraskan to hold...

.

He has been married twice. His current marriage is to the former Miss America

Miss America

The Miss America pageant is a long-standing competition which awards scholarships to young women from the 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands...

, Tara Dawn Holland

Tara Dawn Holland

Tara Dawn Holland is an American beauty pageant contestant, who was Miss America 1997.Holland was born in Overland Park, Kansas. After six years as a local literacy advocate and tutor, she took her cause to the national spotlight when she was crowned Miss America 1997...

, who he married on November 21, 1998; they have two daughters. He met her on February 14, 1997, while Miss Holland was visiting Omaha, Nebraska

Omaha, Nebraska

Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...

as part of George Bush's promotion of literacy, "Literacy in America, Power of One."

Rep. Christensen was married to Meredith Stewart Maxfield, but they divorced in 1996.