Kamala Harris wins the 'blue dot' — Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District

The "Blue Dot Energy" in Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District carried Kamala Harris to a victory in the district on Tuesday night.

Harris and Republican candidate Donald Trump battled for the district's single electoral vote during the short campaign, bringing unlikely attention to the Omaha area in an otherwise deep-red state. The Associated Press called the district for Harris at 11:08 p.m.

As of 11:20 p.m. Tuesday, Harris held an eight-point lead over Trump — Harris with 53.6% to Trump's 45.2% — with approximately 85% of the vote counted, according to the Associated Press.

Trump, as expected, won the state's 3rd Congressional District. The 1st Congressional District, a reliably Republican district in Lincoln and surrounding areas, had not been called at 11:20 p.m.

Nebraska's unique approach to allocating Electoral College votes catapulted the state into the national spotlight. Nebraska has a total of five electoral votes: Two are awarded to the candidate with the most votes statewide, and the other three are awarded to the winner in each of the state's three congressional districts. The only other state to split electoral votes by congressional district is Maine.

The 2nd Congressional District — consisting largely of the Omaha metro area — has emerged as a battleground in recent elections. The district delivered its electoral vote to former President Barack Obama by narrow margins in 2008 before flipping to support Republican candidate Mitt Romney in 2012. And after awarding its vote to Trump in 2016, Democratic President Joe Biden won the district by 6 percentage points in 2020.

Out of Obama's 2008 victory emerged the idea of the "blue dot," portraying the Omaha area as a sort of Democratic refuge in the otherwise ruby-red state.

During this election, the symbol took on a life of its own. A local couple distributed thousands of yard signs adorned with a simple blue circle – to which Republicans promptly responded by erecting signs bearing a red dot with an orange toupee, or an outline of a red Nebraska. Tim Walz, Harris' running mate, visited the district twice during the short campaign, as did a host of Democratic surrogates.

"One dot makes the difference," Walz told a crowd of supporters at a Papillion amphitheater in mid-October.

Republicans — including Trump himself — also took notice of the "blue dot," drawing Republican surrogates to the district in recent weeks. Former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made an appearance in Omaha last month alongside Tulsi Gabbard, who ran against Trump in the Republican primary.

In September, state lawmakers were courted by U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham in a last-minute attempt to adopt a winner-take-all model for awarding Electoral College votes. The shift was also supported by Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen and the state's entire congressional delegation, but there was not enough support to call a special session to make the change.

"I LOVE OMAHA, and won it in 2016," Trump posted on Truth Social after the winner-take-all shift failed. "Looks like I'll have to do it again!!!"

Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District encompasses Douglas and Saunders Counties, as well as parts of western Sarpy County. November data from the Nebraska Secretary of State's Office showed a total of 159,831 Republicans and 145,590 Democrats registered to vote in the district, with an additional 104,503 nonpartisan voters.

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