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Republican incumbent Adrian Smith is on his way to retaining his seat in Nebraska’s 3rd Congressional District after a win in Tuesday’s primary.
Smith comfortably beat his challenger, David Huebner of North Platte.
Smith will be looking to start his 11th term in Congress should he win the general election in November. The Scottsbluff native who now lives in Gering has been serving Nebraska’s 3rd District since 2007.
He’s been a stalwart Republican throughout his nearly 20 years in Congress. Recently, he’s aligned himself with President Donald Trump, cosigning and coauthoring the President’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill.”
Huebner, a rancher and former U.S. Border Patrol agent, was running his first campaign for office. He said he got into the race because he felt that Smith wasn’t conservative enough and was out of touch with the district’s voters.
Smith will face four opponents in the general election later this year: independents Mark Cohen and Macey Budke; lone Democrat Becky Kelly Stille; and David J. Else, running as a member of the Legal Marijuana Now party.
Nebraska’s 3rd District is one of the largest and most rural in the United States. It consists of 80 of Nebraska’s 93 counties, or about 70,000 square miles, and about 650,000 people.
The Associated Press called the race in favor of the incumbent at 9:22 p.m. Central time.
In an election night interview with Nebraska Public Media, Smith said his message has been consistent throughout his tenure: listen to the district’s voters.
“I’ve been running on my record of listening to Nebraskans,” Smith said. “I want to make sure they have an effective voice in Washington. They know my conservative record of really addressing waste and rooting that out whenever we can.”
The margin was slightly closer for the incumbent Tuesday; he earned nearly 75% of the vote in 2024 and 76% in 2022.