Senator Anna Wishart Contact information

Anna Wishart, born on January 2, 1985, is an American politician who has been serving in the Nebraska Legislature from the 27th district since 2017. She is a member of the Democratic Party.

Personal Life: Anna was born and raised in Lincoln, Nebraska, in the same district that she now represents, which covers the majority of southwest Lincoln. She is an alumna of Middlebury College in Vermont where she graduated with a degree in Film Studies in 2007. Currently, she works as the Director of Partnerships at Beyond School Bells, a non-profit organization that works to create after-school and summer programming for Nebraska youths. She is married to former Lincoln Police officer Joe Coleman, whom she met while attending Lincoln Southeast High School. Coleman now works for Lincoln Public Schools and they are registered foster parents through CEDARS Homes for Children. Anna has also worked at Nebraska Foster and Adoptive Parent Association on their board.

Early Political Activity: After college, Anna moved back to Nebraska and in 2011 was elected to the Lincoln Airport Authority where she served as chair of the board for 5 years. She is also a former legislative aid to state Senator Rick Kolowski of Omaha. She is a registered Democrat but supports the nonpartisan Unicameral Legislature in Nebraska.

State Legislature: Anna was first elected to office in 2016 and won reelection in 2020, with her current term set to end January 7, 2025. In the legislature, Anna serves on the Appropriations Committee and the Tribal-Relations Committee. In 2018, she joined Adam Morfeld to create a committee to gather signatures for a petition to hold a ballot initiative referendum to legalize medical marijuana in Nebraska.

Key Issues: Medical marijuana is one of the key issues that Anna focuses on. She leads and supports the initiative to legalize medical marijuana in Nebraska, and is open to future legalization of recreational marijuana in the state as well. On the topic of abortion, Anna has stated that she struggles with the idea of abortion, but believes that it should be the woman’s decision to make about her own body. She cites this in part because of her involvement as a foster parent. She is in favor of legislation that will protect LGBT workers from being discriminated against in the workplace, saying “I don’t think anybody should be fired based solely on who they love”.