Harris carries Nebraska’s ‘blue dot’ while Trump wins statewide • Rhode Island Current

OMAHA, Neb. — Former President Donald Trump won Nebraska. But for the second straight election, he lost one of the state’s five Electoral College votes from the Omaha area.

Vice President Kamala Harris beat Trump soundly Tuesday in Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District, 54%-45% as of 11:30 p.m. Central. The district includes all of Douglas and Saunders Counties and parts of suburban Sarpy County.

That matters in this largely red state because Nebraska and Maine award a single electoral vote to the winner of the presidential popular vote in each congressional district.

Both states also provide two electoral votes to the statewide winner, votes toward the 270 needed to win. That left the presidential tally from Nebraska at Trump 4, Harris 1.

But as many political observers told Nebraskans throughout the campaign, that single vote could prove pivotal as results come in from other states, particularly if the race is close.

Democrats and Republicans split the past four presidential elections in the 2nd District, with Democrats winning the district in 2020 and 2008 and Republicans winning it in 2016 and 2012.

Nebraska Democratic Party Chair Jane Kleeb said Nebraskans had sent a message that “when it comes to our freedoms, our families, and our future, we are not going to sit by and let others define us.”

“Voters in the Blue Dot spoke loud and clear to choose a brighter, more hopeful future, and we are proud to be a small but mighty piece of sending Kamala Harris and our Nebraska native Tim Walz to the White House,” Kleeb said.

Harris broke the logjam this year with a relentless pace of spending and staff time in the district that the Trump campaign did not match. Harris and her allies outspent Trump and his supporters on ads by millions.

The Harris campaign funded a dozen campaign staffers in the district, versus roughly four for Trump. By contrast, Trump spent more here in 2016, when he won the 2nd District over Hillary Clinton. He also spent more here in 2020 when he lost it to President Joe Biden.

Harris sent more campaign surrogates to the district than Trump and sent her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, to Nebraska to host two major rallies. Walz’s wife, Gwen Walz, also hosted a rally here.

Trump’s running mate, Ohio U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, visited the 2nd District for a fundraiser and a brief stop-in with grassroots Republicans at a sports bar.

Trump’s largest campaign rally in the 2nd District involved former third-party presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii. They filled a hotel ballroom with Trump supporters.

Trump’s team spent much of the spring and summer urging Nebraska lawmakers to change state law and award all of its electoral votes to the statewide winner, so-called “winner-take-all.”

Gov. Jim Pillen was prepared to call a special legislative session to do so but could not secure the needed 33 votes to overcome a promised filibuster.

Republicans outnumber Democrats nearly 2 to 1 statewide in Nebraska. Nonpartisans and third-party registrants make up about a fourth of the state’s registered electorate.

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