Five takeaways from Nebraska's 2024 general election results and what's next
LINCOLN — In a national landscape that largely favored Republicans, Nebraska's 2024 general election results were a bit more complex.
Though the results are still unofficial, the overall numbers released by the secretary of state's website Wednesday morning showed the 2nd District's "Blue Dot" went for the Democratic presidential candidate for the second presidential election in a row, even as Donald Trump and Republicans consistently won nearly all the rest of the state.
Nebraskans also favored keeping the state's current 12-week abortion ban in place over expanding access, and voted to legalize medical marijuana and mandate employers provide paid sick leave to workers.
Here are five takeaways from Nebraska's 2024 election results:
The 'Blue Dot' lives on, for now
For the second presidential election in a row, Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District in Omaha favored the Democratic presidential nominee, awarding one of the state's five electoral votes to Vice President Kamala Harris, while the remaining four votes went to president-elect Donald Trump.
It's the third time such a split has happened since Nebraska's adopted its current system in 1992. Harris received 51.2% of the 2nd District's votes, while Trump received 47.4%, according to the latest results.
The "Blue Dot" was a source of angst among Republicans earlier this year, with some lawmakers, including Gov. Jim Pillen, pushing for a shift back to a winner-take-all system. Nebraska is one of two states to split its electoral votes.
Republicans were concerned that the single electoral vote in Nebraska could cost Trump the election. Pillen indicated that he would call a special session if Republicans gathered the 33 votes necessary in the Legislature to pass a winner-take-all proposal.
Multiple Republican holdouts prevented a special session to change the system this year. Ultimately, Trump didn't need the 2nd District's Electoral College vote to win but the fate of Nebraska's election system remains in question going into the 2025 legislative session.
U.S. Senate seats stay Republican as Fischer defeats Osborn
In a surprisingly tight Senate race, Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer defeated independent challenger Dan Osborn. Fischer prevailed with 53.8% of the vote, while Osborn earned 46.1%.
Osborn held a narrow lead as early voting results came in Tuesday night, but Fischer ultimately overtook him around 10:20 p.m. The Associated Press called the race for Fischer just after 11 p.m.
Some polling suggested the race was neck-and-neck, with Cook Political Report declaring it the most surprising Senate race of 2024. But other polls maintained that Fischer was still the favorite.
"To my fellow Nebraskans: I am grateful for your trust, and I am humbled by your faith in me. I will never betray that faith, and I will never break that trust," Fischer said at a jubilant Republicans' election night party in Bellevue.
U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts, who had been appointed to his seat, glided to victory, winning more than 63% of the votes in his bid to complete an unexpired two-year term. He will soon launch a new campaign for a six-year term.
In a different congressional race between U.S. Rep. Don Bacon and Democrat challenger State Sen. Tony Vargas, the results were still too close to call Wednesday at 10:00 a.m., though Bacon held a slight lead.
In incomplete returns in Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District posted Wednesday morning, Bacon was holding a lead of more than 8,000 votes out of nearly 300,000 counted, roughly 51.4 % to 48.6%, with thousands of votes left to be counted.
No matter what the final results, the closeness of the race likely means that the 2nd District will continue to be considered a swing district in the next election.
Nebraskans approve 12-week abortion ban
Voters followed the Nebraska Legislature's lead and favored solidifying the state's current 12-week abortion ban.
Voters approved Initiative 434, which would add a ban on abortions after the first trimester into the Nebraska Constitution. Voters rejected Initiative 439, which would have enshrined the right to abortion.
"It is a great day for unborn babies in Nebraska," Pillen said in a statement released Wednesday morning.
The new constitutional amendment allows the Legislature to add more restrictions on abortion and likely will bring the issue back to the Legislature in the 2025 session.
Initiative 434, known as the Protect Women and Children campaign, was approved 55.3% to 44.7% as of Wednesday morning. Initiative 439, known as the Protect Our Rights campaign, which would have expanded abortion access up to "fetal viability," was rejected 48.7% to 51.3%.
Nebraskans approve medical marijuana, sick leave, reject scholarship measure
On other ballot issues, Nebraska voters approved more progressive measures than the Legislature had moved.
Voters overwhelmingly OKed two initiatives that would legalize medical marijuana. Initiatives 437 and 438 prevailed by wide margins according to Wednesday morning's results, but pending litigation leaves the fate of the measures up in the air.
Support for Initiative 437, which decriminalizes marijuana prescribed by a medical professional, received 70.7% of the vote. Initiative 438, which establishes a regulatory commission and removes penalties for the prescription and sale of marijuana, received 66.9% of the vote.
In a civil trial that ended Monday, former State Sen. John Kuehn and Secretary of State Bob Evnen — who joined the lawsuit in a cross-claim — requested that the court deem the initiatives legally insufficient.
Judge Susan Strong, who presided over the trial, denied a request on Friday from Kuehn's representatives to stop the tabulation of ballots. The trial ended on Monday, but a decision isn't likely to come until later this month, sometime before the election is certified on Dec. 2.
Nebraska voters also widely favored Initiative 436, requires employers to provide paid sick leave to workers. Paid sick leave measures have had little success in the Legislature so backers asked voters to approve the move instead.
Voters also partially repealed Legislative Bill 1402 by passing Initiative 435. The bill, which the Legislature approved this year, would have which given $10 million per year to support private school scholarships. About 57% of voters approved the repeal, according to Wednesday morning results.
World-Herald staff writers Dan Crisler and Henry Cordes contributed to this report.
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