'Blue dot' holds, Fischer keeps seat, competitive House seat too close to call in Nebraska
In a big election year for Nebraskans, with closely watched Senate and House races, a swing presidential district, and abortion and medical marijuana legalization on the ballot, many races were called late into the night.
Here's a look at the results from some of the biggest races and updates in ones that were still too close to call Tuesday night.
Nebraska's 2nd District
Vice President Kamala Harris won the battle for Nebraska's one electoral point from its 2nd Congressional District, which surround Omaha. Democrats dubbed it the "blue dot" after the area has been secured by presidential candidates from the party twice in the past.
As of Tuesday night, Harris led Trump by about 7 points with 87% of votes counted.
Since joining the race, Harris has been polling ahead of Trump in the district, leading him by 12 points in a New York Times/ Siena College poll released last week. Members and surrogates from both campaigns, including Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, second gentlemen Doug Emhoff, Trump's running mate, Sen. JD Vance and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have visited the district to shore up support for both candidates.
Maine and Nebraska are the only states with a split vote system in which electoral votes are allocated to the winner in individual districts. For example, in Nebraska, two of the five electoral votes are awarded to the candidate who wins the most votes statewide. The other three go to the winners of each of the state’s three congressional districts.
Although the Cornhusker State is deep red, the 2nd Congressional District, which surrounds Omaha and its suburbs, has gone to Democrats twice, including former President Barack Obama in 2008 and President Joe Biden in 2020.
Senate
In the surprisingly close race for one of Nebraska's U.S. Senate seats, Republican Sen. Deb Fischer narrowly won re-election against independent candidate Dan Osborn Tuesday night.
The race between Fischer and Osborn tightened in September, drawing local and national attention to an election which was seen as a potential upset to a reliably Republican seat.
Fischer, who will serve a third term in the Senate, painted Osborn as a Democrat in the final months of the campaign, arguing he was "too left-leaning" for Nebraska.
"What we're seeing here is a template that Democrats want to use," Fischer said of Osborn's race on Tuesday afternoon. "If you can find somebody who has no record, who's basically an unknown and put $25 million there for them to attack an incumbent Republican senator, they think they can win statewide."
2nd Congressional District U.S. House
In the U.S. House race for Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District, Republican incumbent Rep. Don Bacon and Democratic state Sen. Tony Vargas are still neck-and-neck as the vote continued to be counted Tuesday night.
As of Tuesday night, Vargas led Bacon by less than a point with 90% of the vote in. Because Douglas County in the 2nd District doesn't open and count vote-by-mail ballots until Friday, it could take a few days for the race to be called depending how close it ends up.
Bacon first beat Vargas in 2022 by nearly 3 points, but in recent months, polling has swung in favor of Vargas and the race has shifted from a "lean Republican" rating earlier this year to a "lean Democrat" this fall, according to the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. Both candidates have raked in millions in campaign funding and hope that a presidential election year will boost voter turnout for either candidate.
Dueling abortion ballot measures
Like the 2nd District House race, the face-off between the dueling abortion ballot measures is also razor thin. For either to succeed, both measures have to surpass 50% of the vote. The measure with the most raw votes will pass.
One of the measures sponsored by Protect Our Rights, a coalition supporting pro-abortion rights, including the local Planned Parenthood affiliate, would establish a "fundamental right" to abortion up to fetal viability, typically 24 weeks, and to protect the mother's life or health after that.
The other initiative known as Protect Women and Children, backed by a group of anti-abortion-rights doctors, would ban abortion after the first trimester, with exceptions for medical emergencies, rape or incest - similar to the state's existing 12-week abortion law.