Election replaces one-third of Nebraska Legislature, ousts two incumbent lawmakers
LINCOLN — Voters tossed out two incumbent lawmakers and elected 16 brand-new ones while making little change in the Nebraska Legislature's political makeup, according to unofficial election results Wednesday.
With vote counting largely wrapped up, Republicans and Democrats appeared to have flipped two seats each in the 49-member body. Those outcomes could change but appear unlikely to do so as election officials tally the remaining provisional and early ballots.
That would leave the GOP with 33 seats, as they have now, the number needed to end filibusters and pass contentious measures such as switching back to a winner-take-all system for awarding electoral votes. Democrats would have at least 14 seats and at least one would be held by a nonpartisan lawmaker.
Republican Gov. Jim Pillen hailed the results, saying he looked forward to working with the new lawmakers in the 2025 legislative session.
"Here in Nebraska, the people have chosen to maintain a strong conservative majority in our Legislature," he said. "I am excited to partner with senators to continue the work of creating a strong future for our kids, cutting taxes, standing up for the agriculture producers who are the backbone of our state and defending our values."
The Nebraska Democratic Party, meanwhile, congratulated the winning Democratic candidates, saying they would represent the party in the Nebraska Legislature and affect the state for years to come.
"We are proud of the candidates that both won and those that did not make it over the finish line," said Jane Kleeb, the party's executive director.
The Nebraska Legislature is nonpartisan, meaning that candidates appear on the ballot without a party designation and lawmakers serve without regard to party membership. In addition, political parties are not part of the legislative structure.
However, party membership serves as a proxy for political views and legislative votes often split down party lines. Other times, votes break along urban-rural lines or see moderates of both parties join forces.
Close races
As of Wednesday afternoon, the number of Democrats who won remained uncertain. In northeast Omaha's District 13, the race pitting Ashlei Spivey, a Democrat, against Nick Batter, a nonpartisan candidate, remained too close to call. Spivey held a mere 41-vote lead, with up to 335 early and provisional ballots yet to be counted, according to the Douglas County Election Commission.
Democrats in two other races, meanwhile, were leading but being cautious about declaring victory. In the Bellevue-based District 3, Victor Rountree said the results "look to be in our favor" but wanted to hold off on calling himself the winner against Felix Ungerman, a Republican.
In Grand Island's District 35, Dan Quick was similarly hesitant about saying he had beaten incumbent Sen. Ray Aguilar, a Republican seeking reelection. Quick, who had been defeated for reelection four years ago by Aguilar, said people have been congratulating him on a win, but he is waiting for the provisional ballots to be counted.
If Quick holds on to win, as expected, that means Democrats would pick up the Grand Island seat and the District 5 seat in South Omaha, where Margo Juarez defeated Gilbert Ayala, a Republican. The District 5 seat is now held by State Sen. Mike McDonnell, a term-limited Democrat who switched parties earlier this year.
Republicans, meanwhile, picked up Sarpy County's District 49 seat with Republican Bob Andersen's victory over Sen. Jen Day, a Democrat seeking reelection. The GOP had targeted Day, who represents a district where a majority of voters are Republican.
The party also picked up the Fremont-based District 15, now held by Sen. Lynne Walz, a term-limited Democrat. Both candidates to replace her are Republicans.
Many of the Republican victories also represented successes for U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts and Lincoln business owners Tom and Shawn Peed, who made major donations to many GOP candidates. Ten of 16 candidates backed by Ricketts and 10 of the 17 backed by the Peeds won their races. Of those, five Ricketts-backed winners and three Peed-backed winners were competing with fellow Republicans.
New faces
Barring changes in race outcomes, the election would result in one-third of the Legislature — or 16 of 49 members — being new. The longest-serving member would be Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln, who was term-limited out once and is wrapping up the second year of her current term.
Speaker of the Legislature John Arch of La Vista said that kind of turnover is inevitable with term limits. An amendment added to the State Constitution in 2000 bars lawmakers from serving more than two consecutive terms before sitting out for at least four years.
Arch said the new group of senators appear to represent the diversity of Nebraska, which he said is needed to help solve the state's problems. The Legislature needs people with a broad spectrum of experience who are willing to learn and bring a problem-solving approach to lawmaking.
"I'm encouraged by the quality of the candidates," he said.
