With 100 percent of precincts reporting, President Trump will win the state of Nebraska overall, but will not receive one electoral vote because he trailed Biden in the state’s second congressional district. Biden won the second district, 52 percent to 45 percent, even though Trump held a rally in Omaha in late October.
It’s not like the second district is a Democratic stronghold. A decent number of voters split their ticket; in the district congressional race, Republican Donald Bacon beat Democrat Kara Eastman, 50.8 percent to 46.1 percent. The Omaha News-Herald noted, “As Election Day approached, Bacon was considered the most vulnerable GOP incumbent in the country.”
Trump has long had a tumultuous relationship with Nebraska senator Ben Sasse. Perhaps Trump should have emulated Sasse instead of publicly feuding with him if he wanted to ensure he won all of the state’s electoral votes.
Before last night, the largest U.S. Senate vote-getter ever in Nebraska was Mike Johanns with 455,854 votes in 2008. The largest federal vote-getter in Nebraska for any office was President George W. Bush with 512,814 votes in 2004.
Sasse smashed the old record with 568,102 votes*. Trump was no slouch himself, winning 541,435 votes statewide. But Trump could have used about 11,000 more votes in that congressional district.
*When I wrote this post, Sasse was at 562,224.