Nebraska

NEBRASKA

5 Electoral Votes

Population
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Nebraska Secretary of State)

Total Population, July 1, 2008 est.	1,783,432
Total Registration, Oct. 28, 2008 primary	1,157,034

Rep. 558,465 (48.27%)
Dem. 392,943 (33.96%) Neb. 8,625 (0.74%) Grn. 1,041 Nonpartisan 195,507 (16.90%) Lib. 453
Nebraska has: 93 counties.
Largest counties: Douglas, Lancaster, Sarpy. >
Largest cities: Omaha, Lincoln. >

Government
Governor: Dave Heineman (R) sworn in Jan. 21, 2005; elected to a full term Nov. 2006.
State Legislature: Nebraska Legislature Unicameral: 49 Senators
Local: Communities, Counties NACO Counties
U.S. House: 3R - 1. J.Fortenberry (R) | 2. L.Terry (R) | 3. A.Smith (R).
U.S. Senate: Chuck Hagel (R) retiring in 2008, Ben Nelson (D) re-elected in 2006.

2008 update
U.S. Senate: In the race to succeed Sen. Chuck Hagel (R), former Secretary of Agriculture and governor Mike Johanns (R) defeated ranch hand, Yale graduate, and 2006 congressional candidate Scott Kleeb (D) by 455,854 votes (57.52%) to 317,456 votes (40.06%) and 19,201 (2.42%) for the Libertarian and Green candidates.
U.S. House: In the 2nd CD, which Obama carried by 3,370 votes, Rep. Lee Terry (R) defeated Jim Esch (D) by 142,473 votes to 131,901. The U.S. House delegation remains all Republican. MORE

The Cornhusker State

State of Nebraska
Secretary of State

NE Democratic Party
NE Republican Party
NE Libertarian Party
NE Green Party
Nebraska Party (Const.)

Omaha World-Herald
News Media
Newspapers
TV, Radio

Politics1-NE

General Election -- Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Voting Eligible Population*: 1,278,980.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 62.6%.

Total voting: 811,923 -- includes 634,977 at polls, 2,584 military and overseas, 174,219 ev/absentee, and 143 new/former residents.

Total Registration: 1,157,034.
Registration: Mail-in registrations must be postmarked by Oct. 17, 2008. In-person registration at county election offices ends at 6 p.m. Oct 24.
Early Voting: Starting Sept. 29, 2008.

Official Results >
+McCain/Palin (Rep.)	452,979	(56.56)
Obama-Biden (Dem.)	333,319	(41.60)
Baldwin/Castle (Neb.)	2,972	(0.37)
McKinney/Clemente (Grn.)	1,028	(0.13)
Barr/Root (Lib.)	2,740	(0.34)
Nader/Gonzalez (Pet.)	5,406	(0.67)
w/in	2,837	(0.35)
Total........801,281

Ballot [PDF]

2008 Overview
Nebraska distributes electoral votes by congressional district rather than the winner-take-all system used by most states. The Obama campaign actively campaigned in the 2nd CD (Omaha area--all of Douglas County and part of Sarpy County) and picked up one electoral vote, gaining 138,809 votes (49.97%) to 135,439 (48.75%) for McCain. In the 1st CD McCain won by 148,179 votes to 121,411 for Obama and in the 3rd CD McCain won 169,361 votes to 73,099 for Obama. Statewide, McCain's plurality was 119,660 votes (14.96 percentage points).
Obama/Allies | McCain/Allies | Nader

Democrats: Caucuses -- Saturday, February 9, 2008
Republicans: Presidential Preference Primary -- Tuesday, May 13, 2008*

Registration: Rep. 550,581 (49.27%) Dem. 372,864 (33.37%) Neb. 8,814 (0.79%) Grn. 795 Nonpartisan 184,437 (16.50%) ...Total 1,117,491

Democrats
31 Delegates (24 Pledged and 7 Unpledged) and 4 alternates.
0.77% of the 4,049 Delegate Votes.

Clinton | Obama

Caucus Results - Unofficial

CD1

CD2

CD3

Total

Clinton
5,288

34.3%

3,709

23.2%

3,448
47.3%
12,445

32.2%

+Obama
10,041

65.1%

12,252

76.8%

3,833
52.5% 26,126
67.5%

Uncommitted
85

0.6%

0
14
0.2%

99

0.3%

Total 15,414

15,961

7,295
38,670

National Convention Delegates

District At-Large Pledged PLEO Total

Clinton 5 2 1 8

Obama 11 3 2 16

Republicans
33 Delegates: 3 RNC; 21 at-large; 9 CD (3 x 3 CDs).
1.39% of the 2,380 Delegates.

*For Republicans the primary was non-binding and delegates were allocated according to county conventions held from June 1 to June 10, 2008.

former: Huckabee | Romney

Sen. Chuck Hagel (R) was seen as a possible 2008 presidential candidate, running as either a Republican or an Independent, but on Sept. 10, 2007 he announced that he would neither seek re-election to the Senate nor run for president in 2008. >

Setting the Date
On Sept. 5, 2007 the Nebraska Democratic Party decided to hold a caucus on Feb. 9, 2008 to determine its delegate allocation rather than using the May primary. For Republicans the primary was non-binding and delegates were allocated according to county conventions held from June 1 to June 10, 2008. All told 260,150 voted in the May 13 primary. In the presidential vote: McCain 118,876, Paul 17,772, Total 136,648. Obama 46,670, Clinton 43,973, Gravel 3,886 (ballot).

Note: Nebraska Democrats applied to the DNC, at the meeting of the Rules and Bylaws Committee on April 20, 2006, to start their delegate selection process in the pre-window period, before February 5; however the DNC selected Nevada and South Carolina.

General Election -- Tuesday, November 2, 2004

Voting Eligible Population*: 1,236,522.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 62.9%.

Total voting: 792,906 -- includes 681,998 at polls, 2,964 military and overseas, 107,740 ev/absentee, and 204 new/former residents.

Total Registration: 1,160,199.

+Bush/Cheney (Rep.)

512,814

(65.91)

Kerry/Edwards (Dem.)
254,328

(32.69)

Badnarik/Campagna (Lib.) 2,041 (0.26)

Peroutka/Baldwin (Neb.) 1,314
(0.17)

Cobb/LaMarche (Grn.)
978

(0.13)

Calero/Hawkins (Pet.)
82

(0.01)

Nader/Camejo (Pet.)
5,698

(0.73)

write in
931

(0.12)

Total........778,106

2004 Overview
No doubt about the outcome here as Bush swept to a plurality of 258,486 votes (33.22 percentage points). The Kerry campaign did have a director in the state and did manage to carry one county, Thurston County, by 1,212 votes to 1,154 votes. (Thurston County borders Iowa and is a bit south of Sioux City; it has a large Native American population).

General Election -- Tuesday, November 7, 2000

Voting Eligible Population*: 1,224,178.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 56.9%.

Total voting: 707,223 -- includes 625,557 at polls, 851 military and overseas, 80,452 absentee, and 363 new/former residents.

Total Registration: 1,085,217.

+Bush/Cheney (Rep.)
433,862

(62.25)

Gore/Lieberman (Dem.)
231,780

(33.25)

Browne/Olivier (Lib.)
2,245

(0.32)

Hagelin/Goldhaber (NLP)
478

(0.07)

Nader/LaDuke (Grn.)
24,540

(3.52)

Buchanan/Foster (Petition)
3,646

(0.52)

Phillips/Frazier (Petition)
468

(0.07)

Total........697,019

2000 Overview
Solidly Republican Nebraska went solidly for Bush with a plurality of 202,082 votes (29.00 percentage points). Bush carried all 93 counties. Democrats did retain the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Bob Kerrey (D) as former Gov. Ben Nelson (D) defeated Don Stenberg (R) by 51.0% to 48.8%.

1992 and 1996 General Elections

1992

Bush (Rep.)...........344,346	(46.58)
Clinton (Dem.)........217,344	(29.40)
Perot (Ind.).............174,687	(23.63)
Others (3).................2,906	(0.39)
Total........739,283

1996

Dole (Rep.).............363,467	(53.66)
Clinton (Dem.)........236,761	(34.95)
Perot (Ref.)..............71,278	(10.52)
Others (3)..................5,909	(0.87)
Total........677,415

2004 page >
2000 page >