OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Former Nebraska Republican Party chairman and former Omaha City Council member Chuck Sigerson died Sunday after a decade-long battle with complications from a heart attack and stroke, his family said. He was 75.
Sigerson led the Nebraska GOP from 1995 until 2001, a period that saw Republicans establish dominance among the top elected positions in the state. It included the election of Chuck Hagel in 1996 to replace Democrat Jim Exon as U.S. senator and of Mike Johanns as governor in 1998 to replace Democrat Ben Nelson.
In 2001, Sigerson won election to the Omaha City Council and was elected to two more terms before a heart attack and stroke in 2010 forced him to retire.
Sigerson's political career wasn't without scandal. He was one of two local officials accused in 2003 of inappropriately touching a teenage girl as she wore a mascot costume at a Red Robin restaurant in Omaha. A jury deadlocked on a disturbing the peace charge filed against Sigerson, and prosecutors did not refile it.
Sigerson is survived by his wife, Elizabeth Sigerson; son, Andrew Sigerson; daughter, Anthea Swanson; six grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Visitation will be held Thursday evening and a memorial service will take place Friday at Christ Community Church in Omaha. He will be buried at Omaha National Cemetery.