Senator Jana Hughes

Senator Jana (Luebbe) Hughes grew up on a family farm near Goehner, Nebraska, where she learned the value of hard work and self-reliance. A 1989 graduate of Seward High School, Hughes attended Texas A&M University where she majored in Industrial Engineering. Upon graduation, Hughes worked as a consulting engineer for Kurt Salmon Associates in Atlanta, GA before returning to Nebraska. In 1996 she married her husband, John Hughes. They have three children – Lena, Anna and Hank.  

In 2018 Hughes was elected to the Seward School Board and in 2021 she received her certification as a substitute teacher for Seward Public Schools.  Hughes was elected to the Nebraska Legislature for District 24 in 2022 and serves on the Natural Resources Committee, is the Vice Chair of the Education Committee and Chair of the Building and Maintenance Committee, as well as a member of the Midwestern Higher Education Compact and the Education Commission of the States. 

In the three years Hughes has been at the Legislature, she has introduced bills on many subjects, including the donation of prescription drugs, regulating and taxing vape products, recycling, school funding and broadband. Education related legislation remain a top priority, which led her to becoming the Vice Chair of the Education Committee.