2020 United States Senate election in Nebraska
The 2020 United States Senate election in Nebraska was held on November 3, 2020, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Nebraska, concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
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Sasse: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% Janicek: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% No votes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Elections in Nebraska |
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Government |
Incumbent Republican Senator Ben Sasse was challenged by Democratic nominee Chris Janicek, who was disavowed by his party after numerous scandals; by write-in candidate Preston Love Jr., who received the support of the state Democratic Party; and by Libertarian nominee Gene Siadek.
Sasse was reelected to a second term in office with 62.7% of the vote and a 38.3% margin. He outperformed President Donald Trump by almost 27,000 votes, or 8.9%, compared to the concurrent presidential election, the largest overperformance by any Republican Senate candidate in the country that year. In contrast, Janicek was the worst performing Democratic Senate candidate in the country compared to Joe Biden, underperforming him by 13.1%. This was attributed to a sexual misconduct scandal affecting Janicek and split-ticket voting in Omaha suburbs.[1][2]
Republican primary
Eliminated in primary
- Matt Innis, businessman and former chair of the Lancaster County Republican Party[4][5]
Declined
- Charles Herbster, farmer[6]
- Pete Ricketts, Governor of Nebraska[7]
Endorsements
- Organizations
Polling
Poll source | Date(s) administered |
Sample size[lower-alpha 1] |
Margin of error |
Matt Innis |
Ben Sasse |
Undecided |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
We Ask America | February 19–20, 2020 | 400 (LV) | ± 4.9% | 17% | 65% | 18% |
Results
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Ben Sasse (incumbent) | 215,207 | 75.21% | |
Republican | Matt Innis | 70,921 | 24.79% | |
Total votes | 284,212 | 100.00% |
Democratic primary
Nominee
On June 16, 2020, Janicek lost the support of the Nebraska Democratic Party after allegations of sending sexually explicit text messages about a female campaign staff member and allegedly using racist slurs to insult a guest at a party 20 years ago surfaced.[11][12][13] Nonetheless, Janicek refused to drop out of the race and his name remained on the ballot in the general election. In September the state Democratic party supported Preston Love Jr. via a write-in candidacy.[14][15]
Eliminated in primary
Declined
- Chris Beutler, former mayor of Lincoln[22]
Results
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Chris Janicek | 46,247 | 30.69% | |
Democratic | Angie Philips | 35,929 | 23.84% | |
Democratic | Alisha Shelton | 34,284 | 22.75% | |
Democratic | Andy Stock | 17,156 | 11.38% | |
Democratic | Larry Marvin | 6,868 | 4.56% | |
Democratic | Daniel Wik | 5,765 | 3.83% | |
Democratic | Dennis Macek | 4,453 | 2.95% | |
Total votes | 150,702 | 100.00% |
Other candidates
Nominee
- Gene Siadek, former chairman of the Libertarian Party of Nebraska[16]
Withdrawn
- Eric Dilliard[23]
Results
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Libertarian | Gene Siadek | 2,517 | 100.00% | |
Total votes | 2,517 | 100.00% |
Declared
- Preston Love Jr., first vice president of the Omaha NAACP chapter and second associate chairman of the Nebraska Democratic Party, endorsed by the party after the allegations against Janicek.[24][15]
Withdrawn
- Brad Ashford, former Democratic Congressman from NE-02[25][26][27]
General election
Predictions
Source | Ranking | As of |
---|---|---|
The Cook Political Report[28] | Safe R | October 29, 2020 |
Inside Elections[29] | Safe R | October 28, 2020 |
Sabato's Crystal Ball[30] | Safe R | November 2, 2020 |
Daily Kos[31] | Safe R | October 30, 2020 |
Politico[32] | Safe R | November 2, 2020 |
RCP[33] | Safe R | October 23, 2020 |
DDHQ[34] | Safe R | November 3, 2020 |
538[35] | Safe R | November 2, 2020 |
Economist[36] | Safe R | November 2, 2020 |
Polling
Poll source | Date(s) administered |
Sample size[lower-alpha 1] |
Margin of error |
Ben Sasse (R) |
Chris Janicek (D) |
Gene Siadek (L) |
Undecided |
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Cygnal | October 19–21, 2020 | 625 (LV) | ± 3.9% | 47% | 18% | 6% | 29% |
Poll source | Date(s) administered |
Sample size[lower-alpha 1] |
Margin of error |
Generic Republican |
Generic Democrat |
Undecided |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cygnal | October 19–21, 2020 | 625 (LV) | ± 3.9% | 53% | 38% | 9% |
Results
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
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Republican | Ben Sasse (incumbent) | 583,507 | 62.74% | -1.60% | |
Democratic | Chris Janicek | 227,191 | 24.43% | -7.05% | |
Democratic | Preston Love Jr. (write-in) | 58,411 | 6.28% | N/A | |
Libertarian | Gene Siadek | 55,115 | 5.93% | N/A | |
Write-in | 5,788 | 0.62% | +0.54% | ||
Total votes | 930,012 | 100.0% | |||
Republican hold | |||||
By county | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Notes
- Key:
A – all adults
RV – registered voters
LV – likely voters
V – unclear
References
- Rakich, Nathaniel (December 2, 2020). "There Wasn't That Much Split-Ticket Voting In 2020". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
- Beaumont, Thomas (February 12, 2021). "Nebraska Sen. Sasse bets political future on opposing Trump". Associated Press. Retrieved February 13, 2021.
- Akin, Stephanie (August 5, 2019). "Ben Sasse, one of the Senate's last remaining Republican Trump critics, to seek reelection". Roll Call. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
- Walton, Don (July 21, 2019). "Don Walton: Hateful politics, the moonshot, another ag blow". Lincoln Journal Star. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
- Walton, Don (August 2, 2019). "Matt Innis will oppose Sasse in 2020 GOP primary". Lincoln Journal Star.
- Cohen, Zach C. (April 1, 2019). "How Sasse Is Prepping for 2020—in Nebraska". National Journal. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
- Isenstadt, Alex (July 9, 2018). "Sasse tempts Trump's wrath by refusing to bow". Politico. Retrieved November 14, 2018.
- "Ben Sasse (NE-SEN)". Club for Growth. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
- "Primary Election Official Results" (PDF). Nebraska Secretary of State. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
- Sherrod, Brian (September 18, 2019). "Chris Janicek runs for U.S. Senate 2020 seat representing Nebraska". NBC Nebraska Scottsbluff. Archived from the original on September 20, 2019. Retrieved September 19, 2019.
- Astor, Maggie. "Nebraska Democrat Urged to Quit Senate Race Over Sexual Texts to Aide". The New York Times. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
- Astor, Maggie. "Nebraska Senate Candidate Used Racist Slur at a Party, Guests Recall". The New York Times. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
- Nebraska, Democratic Party. "Nebraska Democratic Party demands that Chris Janicek drop out of Senate race after sexual harassment complaint". nebraskademocrats.org. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
- Sanderford, Aaron (September 1, 2020). "Chris Janicek won't quit Senate race; Democrats eye write-in candidate". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved October 6, 2020.
- Sanderford, Aaron (September 10, 2020). "Preston Love Jr. announces write-in candidacy against Sen. Ben Sasse". Omaha World-Herald. Archived from the original on September 18, 2020. Retrieved October 6, 2020.
- "Nebraska Secretary of State Statewide Candidate List as of 12/11/2019 8:49:50 AM" (PDF). Nebraska Secretary of State.
- Walton, Don. "Don Walton: Mike Flood, Lady Liberty and Sonny Perdue". JournalStar.com. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
- Morton, Joseph (July 15, 2019). "Will Sen. Ben Sasse seek another term? Signs point to yes". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
- "Alisha Shelton for Senate | Official Site". Retrieved December 2, 2019.
- Hicks, Nancy. "Andrew Stock files for Lancaster County treasurer on Democratic ticket". JournalStar.com. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
- Star, DON WALTON Lincoln Journal. "Don Walton: Mike Flood, Lady Liberty and Sonny Perdue". Hastings Tribune. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
- Jordan, Joe (November 13, 2018). "Democrat Names for 2020 Starting to Surface". Sandhills Express. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
- "13 changes to the candidate list". The Green Papers. December 6, 2019. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
- Dvorak, Gina (September 10, 2020). "Nebraska Democrats announce Preston Love Jr. as write-in candidate for Senate". 6News. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
- "Brad Ashford to Launch Write-In Bid for US Senate". KETV TV. August 24, 2020. Retrieved October 6, 2020.
- Wasikowski, Jake (August 25, 2020). "Fmr. Rep. Ashford feels he can beat U.S. Senator Sasse as write-in candidate". 3 News Now. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
- "Brad Ashford reverses course, says he will not run for U.S. Senate". KETV. August 27, 2020. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
- "2020 Senate Race Ratings for October 29, 2020". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
- "2020 Senate Ratings". Senate Ratings. The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
- "2020 Senate race ratings". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
- "2020 Senate Race Ratings". Daily Kos Elections. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
- "2020 Election Forecast". Politico. November 19, 2019.
- "Battle for the Senate 2020". RCP. October 23, 2020.
- "2020 Senate Elections Model". Decision Desk HQ. September 2, 2020. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
- Silver, Nate (September 18, 2020). "Forecasting the race for the Senate". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
- "Forecasting the US elections". The Economist. November 2, 2020. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
- "General Election Official Results" (PDF). Nebraska Secretary of State. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
External links
- Government Documents Round Table of the American Library Association, "Nebraska", Voting & Elections Toolkits
- "Nebraska: Election Tools, Deadlines, Dates, Rules, and Links", Vote.org, Oakland, CA
- "League of Women Voters of Nebraska". (State affiliate of the U.S. League of Women Voters)
- Nebraska at Ballotpedia
- Official campaign websites
- Ben Sasse (R) for Senate Archived March 13, 2021, at the Wayback Machine
- Chris Janicek (D) for Senate
- Gene Siadek (L) for Senate Archived November 3, 2020, at the Wayback Machine
- Preston Love Jr. (D) for Senate Archived November 1, 2020, at the Wayback Machine