He served two terms, from 2007 to 2015, in the Nebraska Legislature, representing a district in the central part of the state.

After teaching high school for one year in Dannebrog, he attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Law, receiving a J.D.

He was one of two candidates, both Republicans, in the nonpartisan race; the other was Dick Pierce, a farmer and rancher from Miller, then a member of the Buffalo County Board of Supervisors.

[4][10] Wightman suffered health problems during his tenure in the Legislature, including several knee replacements, one of which was followed by a persistent infection that forced him to miss part of the 2011 legislative session.

Under Nebraska's term-limits law, Wightman was ineligible to run for a third consecutive term in 2014.