Nebraskans favor conservative candidates, progressive ballot initiatives, professor says

Nebraskans reelected all five of their Congressional Republican incumbents and helped send Donald Trump back to the White House last week.

At the top of the ticket, Nebraska shifted slightly to the right in this year’s election, reflecting a nationwide trend.

As of Monday this week, President-Elect Donald Trump was ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris by about 21%.

In 2020, Trump defeated President Joe Biden in the state by around 19%.

Kevin Smith, a political science professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said wins for ballot measures legalizing medical marijuana, mandating paid sick leave and repealing a law funding private school scholarships reflect a more progressive electorate.

“People will vote for progressive causes in Nebraska, even if they won't necessarily vote for progressive candidates,” he said.

In the officially nonpartisan state legislature, Republicans barely maintained a supermajority with Democrats potentially flipping a Republican-majority district in Grand Island.

Smith said the lack of party names by candidates can result in more split tickets with partisan candidates for federal offices.

“You go into the voting booth, and with the state legislature, there's no R or D by the name to guide you," he said. "And I think what's driving a lot of votes there is name recognition and sort of like knowledge of the candidate, rather than their partisan affiliation.”

Smith said despite independent candidate Dan Osborn’s loss, his single-digit percent margin with Republican Sen. Deb Fischer indicates that Nebraskans who typically vote for Republicans have some interest in voting for independents.

"Even though Fischer won that race, I mean, Trump outpaced her by a healthy margin, there were clearly a lot of people that were willing to take a look at an independent candidate," he said.

Smith also said Congressman Don Bacon’s reelection win reflects the way incumbency and job performance matter to voters.

Tuesday, Nov. 12 is the last day Nebraskans can present a voter ID to their county election office to cure their ballot if they did not have an ID on Election Day.

The deadline for county election offices to certify election results is Nov. 25.