[2][3][4] In May 2004, a large tornado destroyed the village of Hallam and then struck the Norris campus, causing $35 million in damage to the school.
[5][6] Baker took charge of reconstruction efforts, declaring "In an extreme crisis such as this, authoritarian leadership is not only OK, it is most appropriate.
"[7] By expediting contracting and construction, and through the use of portable classrooms, the school was able to re-open for the fall semester shortly after Labor Day.
Incumbent Norm Wallman, a member of the Democratic Party, was barred by Nebraska's term-limits law from running for a third consecutive term.
Bob Tiemann, the owner of a Beatrice construction firm,[17] had sought the District 30 seat twice before.
Baker declared "I don't breathe partisan fire",[22] and stated that the Nebraska legislature was "officially nonpartisan, and I think it ought to stay that way".
[15] Tiemann stated that the district needed to elect a businessman who knew how to budget, and that a Gage County resident would better represent the district; Baker asserted that he had learned to manage on a limited budget as a school superintendent, and that he would be one of the few legislators who understood Nebraska's state-aid-to-schools formula.
[15] On specific issues, Baker supported the proposed expansion of Medicaid in Nebraska under the provisions of the 2010 Affordable Care Act; Tiemann was inclined to oppose the expansion, lest the federal government renege on its pledge to reimburse states for the increased costs.
[15] Baker supported retaining a state law offering in-state tuition rates to persons who were residing illegally in the United States after being brought into the country as children, and who were granted an exemption from deportation under the Barack Obama administration's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program; Tiemann opposed this tuition policy.
[24][25] When the general election was held in November 2014, Baker received 6565 of the 11,712 votes cast, or 56.1% of the total.
[27] Among the "most significant"[28] actions taken by the Legislature in its 2015 session were three bills that passed over vetoes by governor Pete Ricketts.
LB580 would have created an independent commission of citizens to draw new district maps following censuses; supporters described it as an attempt to de-politicize the redistricting process, while Ricketts maintained that the bill delegated the legislature's constitutional duty of redistricting to "an unelected and unaccountable board".
The bill was withdrawn without an attempt to override the veto; the state auditor agreed to work with the governor on a new version for the next year's session.