Sen. Dunixi Guereca Is Turning South Omaha’s Story Into State Policy
For Nebraska state Sen. Dunixi Guereca, public service begins with a familiar immigrant story: parents who came to the United States hoping their children could build something bigger.
Guereca, born in Torrance, California, in 1988, is the son of Mexican immigrants from Jalisco. His family story also stretches to Zarautz in Spain’s Basque region, where his paternal grandfather was from. Those identities and the working-class values he grew up with have followed him from California to Nebraska and, eventually, onto the floor of the Nebraska Legislature.
His route to Nebraska was anything but predictable.
After a high school friend who was the quarterback at his Los Angeles high school joined the University of Nebraska at Kearney football team, Guerca decided to check out the school for himself. He later studied political science at both UNK and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. What began as a college move became a lasting connection to Nebraska and its people. In a 2025 interview with the Legislature’s Unicameral Update, Guereca recalled realizing that the hopes he heard from working families here sounded remarkably similar to those of his own father: work hard, provide for a family, and give the next generation a better opportunity.
That idea became a through line in his career.
Before running for office, Guereca worked as a Service Employees International Union (SEIU) organizer and with the Boy Scouts of America. In 2022, he returned to Nebraska to become executive director of Stand for Schools, a nonprofit advocating for public education. There, he became a familiar presence at the State Capitol, testifying on education policy before eventually deciding to seek a seat of his own.
In 2024, voters elected Guereca to represent Legislative District 7, which includes downtown, South Omaha, and parts of southeast Omaha. The district is one of Nebraska’s most distinctly Latino communities. Census-based legislative data show Hispanic residents make up about 52% of the population.
Since taking office in January 2025, Guereca has begun translating community concerns into legislation.
During his first session, provisions he sponsored were proposed to become law, to add military and veteran status to Nebraska’s antidiscrimination protections (LB 694), remove a notarization requirement for duplicate vehicle titles (LB 225), and allow courts to consider whether a defendant is a survivor of sex trafficking, domestic violence, or abuse during sentencing (LB 159).
His work continued in 2026: lawmakers voted 48-0-1 to pass Guereca’s LB 913, with one senator present but not voting, requiring the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services to appoint a dementia services coordinator to help families navigate Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.
He also won a 41-7 legislative vote for a bill providing six weeks of paid parental leave to eligible state employees who give birth or adopt (LB 878). Gov. Jim Pillen vetoed the measure, and Guereca’s override attempt fell short, but the proposal showed his willingness to push family and workplace policy into the statewide conversation.
For a senator still early in his first term, Guereca’s legacy is very much being written.
But there is something fitting about a son of immigrants representing a district where more than half the population is Hispanic. His story is another reminder that representation is not simply about who occupies a seat. It is about what experiences, families, and communities finally have a voice when that person sits down.
