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:''This is about the U.S. Senator; for the U.S. Marine known for rescuing World Trade Center survivors, see Dave Karnes.''
'David Kemp Karnes' (born December 12, 1948) was a United States Senator from Nebraska. He is President and Chief Executive Officer of The Fairmont Group Incorporated, a merchant banking/consulting company with offices in Omaha and Washington. Mr. Karnes also serves in an “of counsel” capacity to the national law firm of Kutak Rock and practices out of the firm’s Omaha and Washington offices. He joined the firm in 1989 following his tenure as a United States Senator. He is currently involved in numerous civic, educational and charitable organizations in Nebraska and nationally.
Karnes was born in Omaha, Nebraska. He attended the University of Nebraska in Lincoln for his undergraduate education graduating in 1971. As an undergrad he joined Beta Theta Pi fraternity, serving one term as chapter president. He remained in Lincoln to attend law school. In 1981, Mr. Karnes was selected and served as a White House Fellow. Following his tenure at the White House, Karnes became executive assistant to Under Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in 1982 under President Ronald Reagan and subsequently served as special counsel for the Federal Home Loan Bank Board in 1983 he became chairman of Federal Home Loan Bank of Topeka Board of Directors serving in that capacity from 1983-1987 during that time he also served as general counsel for an agribusiness and merchandising firm.

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U.S. Senate

Other Notes of Interest

Personal

U.S. Senate

On March 11, 1987, Gov. Kay A. Orr appointed him as a Republican to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy in the Senate term ending January 3, 1989, caused by the death of Edward Zorinsky.
While in the Senate, Senator Karnes served on the Banking Committee, including its Securities and Consumer Credit subcommittees, as well as the Agriculture Committee and Small Business Committees. Karnes’s areas of principal activity include federal, state and international relations, corporate law, real estate and financial institutions. His governmental and business experience involves many areas of Kutak Rock’s finance and structured transaction practices, as well as a very broad range of clients and special issues. He also is one of the principals of the firm’s technology, venture capital, and emerging companies national practice group. He has served in senior executive positions in federal executive, regulatory and legislative bodies and has broad expertise and familiarity with state and federal agency operations, including the White House, HUD, and the Federal Home Loan Bank Board. At the state level, Karnes served as the attorney in charge of the firm’s engagement as special tax counsel to the Nebraska Legislature as it revised the state’s personal property tax system and, more recently, served as counsel to the State in the development and implementation of Nebraska’s award winning Section 529 College Savings Plan. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the $35 billion Federal Home Loan Bank of Topeka, a principal secured credit source for saving and loans, savings banks, commercial banks, credit unions and insurance companies in Nebraska, Colorado, Oklahoma and Kansas.
Running in his own right in 1988, Karnes successfully captured the Republican nomination but lost to former Gov. Bob Kerrey, a Democrat, in the general election. Kerrey took 57 percent to Karnes's 42 percent.

Other Notes of Interest

Mr. Karnes has also served on the Boards of, or acts as an advisor to, publicly traded U.S. companies, including Fannie Mae and Data Transmission Network Corporation and RJT Securities, Inc. . Currently he serves as a Director of several private companies including: Frontier Bank, FSB of Park City, Utah, El Paseo Bank of Palm Desert, California, Orion Healthcare Corporation (healthcare technology), Waitt Media, Inc. (broadcasting, commercial advertising and entertainment), Tri Med Research, Inc. (medical technology), Farnam Group, Inc. (multifamily real estate development), Regency Court, L.L.C. (retail real estate), Big Red Companies, Inc. (gaming and technology). Recent additional affiliations include the Advisory Board of Financial Institutions Partners II ($100 million financial services hedge fund), and the University of Nebraska Technology Park, L.L.C. (Director and Executive Committee), eOne Group, Inc. (web development and systems integration) (Director) and Solutionary, Inc. (data, internet and systems security) (Director). Mr. Karnes has served as a member of the United States Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiations. This committee is appointed by the President and is composed of chief executive officers of 40 of America’s largest corporations as well as presidents of key agriculture and labor organizations. The Committee, established by Congress in 1974, is the principal trade advisory group representing America’s private sector to the President and Congress on all trade issues such as the Uruguay Round of the GATT, the World Trade Organization and the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Personal

He was married to Dr. Elizabeth Karnes (deceased) and has four daughters Korey, Kalen, Kara and Laurel.