Which Nebraska races are getting national attention on Election Day?

These elections Nebraska it has been in the national spotlight several times, including for competitive national races and its odd electoral voting system.

From the efforts of national Republicans and former Pres Donald Trump to change the distribution of the state’s electoral votes in April and September in vice president Kamala Harris and other Democrats gathering energy in an otherwise deep red state, Nebraska cemented itself in the national political conversation this election.

Beyond the presidential racevoters in the Cornhusker State will also decide three US House races. two US Senate seats and six ballot measures, from abortion access to medical marijuana legalization. Here are the races to watch in Nebraska as the election draws to a close.

Nebraska’s 2nd District Electoral Vote

As the polls close on Tuesday, eyes will be on Nebraska’s 2nd District, as it could help give any candidate a boost in the event of a close Electoral College result.

Maine and Nebraska are the only states with a split vote system where electoral votes are allocated to the winner in individual constituencies. For example, in Nebraska, two out of five electoral votes are awarded to the candidate who wins the most votes nationally. The other three go to the winners of each of the 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 Democratic twice, including former President Barack Obama in 2008 and President Joe Biden in 2020, coining the term “blue dot” .

If Harris won the Rust Belt states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, while Trump captured the Sun Belt states of Arizona, Nevada, Georgia and North Carolina, the Nebraska vote would determine whether Harris won 270-268 or whether the race is over with 269. -269 tie.

And if the Electoral College is tied, the House of Representatives picks the winner, with each state delegation getting a single vote — a scenario that would likely favor Trump.

Since joining the race, Harris has polled ahead of Trump in the district, leading him by 12 points in a New York Times/Siena College poll released last week. Surrogates from both campaigns, including the governor of Minnesota. Tim WalzGentlemen Second Doug Emhoff, Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. they visited the district to support both candidates.

A foldable House chair

Another race receiving national attention in the Cornhusker State is the 2nd District congressional election, where Republican Rep. Don Bacon is defending his seat against Democratic challenger State Sen. Tony Vargas. Bacon is one of the few House Republicans who are vulnerable in this election. His seat is one Democrats hope to flip their way to control of the House.

Bacon first beat Vargas in 2022 by nearly 3 points, but in recent months, polls have been in Vargas’ favor and the race has gone from a “weak Republican” rating earlier this year to a “weak Democrat” this fall. according to the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. Both candidates have raised millions in campaign funding and hope a presidential election year will boost voter turnout for either candidate.

For both Vargas and Bacon, the campaign in the deep purple district has focused on kitchen-table issues, including the economy, immigration and public safety, rather than spending time highlighting wedge issues. It was a race to the middle for both, who launched their own cross-party endorsements in the final months of the election.

In September, Bacon announced an endorsement from Ann Ashford, the wife of former Democratic Rep. Brad Ashford, who lost his seat to Bacon in 2016. Just over a month later, Vargas submitted his own slate of Republican voters who supported him. .

A surprise of the Senate

One of the most surprising races in the 2024 election emerged in Nebraska this fall, when former union leader and independent candidate Dan Osborne he closely followed Republican Sen. Deb Fischer in several polls.

In a state where Republican victories are almost always a given, Nebraska is now one of the top Senate races to watch in the Nov. 5 election, as its outcome could determine which party controls the upper house of Congress.

A recent one New York Times/Siena College Poll puts Osborn just two percentage points behind Fischer, 46 percent to 48 percent, with 5 percent of likely Nebraska voters either undecided or refusing to answer. Other political watchdogs, including the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, updated the contest to “leaning” versus “solid” Republican.

Osborn, a veteran of the U.S. Navy and Nebraska Army National Guard, was a little-known candidate in the state just a few months ago, but now poses a credible threat to Fischer’s re-election. Wanting to remain truly independent, Osborn said he would not caucus with either party in the Senate if elected and did not reveal which presidential candidate he would vote for.

Fischer, a former farmer and Nebraska state senator, is running for a third term. She campaigned minimally for most of the election year, but came out strongly against Osborn in September when his popularity appeared on the radar. Since then, national Republicans have poured millions into the race to discredit Osborn as “too left-wing” for Nebraska.

Dueling abortion-related ballot measures

Abortion is on the ballot in states across the country, but Nebraska is the only place with dueling measures on the issue.

One of the measures sponsored by Protect Our Rights, a pro-abortion rights coalition including local affiliate Planned Parenthood, would establish a “fundamental right” to abortion until the fetus is viable, usually 24 weeks, and to protect the life of the mother or health after that.

The other initiative known as Protect Women and Children, backed by an anti-abortion doctors’ group, would ban abortion after the first trimester, with exceptions for medical emergencies, rape or incest — similar to the state’s existing ones. 12-week abortion law.

Millions of dollars have been poured into the race by both local and national organizations, including substantial funding from Nebraska Sen. Pete Ricketts, who supports the Protect Women and Children measure.