Profile: Nebraska Sen.-elect Deb Fischer

• Won GOP nomination in an upset
• Born in Lincoln, Neb.
• Elected to state legislature in 2004

Rancher Deb Fischer plans to thin the herd when she arrives in Washington, D.C., as Nebraska's first female senator since 1954.

During her campaign against former Democratic senator Bob Kerrey, Fischer, 61, promised to reduce the size and scope of the federal government, including eliminating "ineffective agencies, such as the Federal Highway Administration." She also told Nebraskans she would repeal the Affordable Care Act, the Dodd-Frank Act and the No Child Left Behind Act, while reducing taxes and balancing the federal budget.

Fischer, a relatively little-known state senator, won her party's nomination in a May upset over state Attorney General Jon Bruning and state Treasurer Don Stenberg. While the two presumed favorites battled each other, Fischer ran as a hardworking wife, mother and rancher from rural Nebraska who represented a fresh alternative to the "career politicians."

Fischer was born in Lincoln as Deborah Sobel, where she was raised by her mother, a school teacher, and her father, an engineer. She went to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, but left to move with her new husband, Bruce, to his cattle ranch near Valentine after they married in 1972. There, they raised their three sons, Adam, Morgan and Luke.

Fischer returned to complete her bachelor's degree in education in 1988. She got her first taste of politics in local and state education groups with her election to the Valentine Rural High School Board of Education, and ultimately became president of the Nebraska Association of School Boards.

In 2004, Fischer was elected to the first of two terms in Nebraska's unicameral Legislature.

According to The New York Times, Fischer was one of the more conservative members of Nebraska's Republican-dominated Legislature, and her Democratic colleagues said she was not known for her bipartisanship.