2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Nebraska

The 2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Nebraska were held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012, and elected the three U.S. representatives from the state of Nebraska. The elections coincided with the elections of other federal and state offices, including a quadrennial presidential election and an election to the U.S. Senate. Primary elections were held on May 15, 2012.^[1]

2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Nebraska

← 2010 November 6, 2012 (2012-11-06) 2014 →
All 3 Nebraska seats to the United States House of Representatives
Majority party Minority party   Party Republican Democratic Last election 3 0 Seats won 3 0 Seat change Popular vote 496,276 276,239 Percentage 64.24% 35.75% Swing 3.31% 7.43%
District results County results Republican   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90%   90–100% Democratic   50–60%

Redistricting

A redistricting plan was passed by the Nebraska Legislature on May 24, 2011,^[2] after a five-hour Democratic-led filibuster was defeated.^[3][4] The plan signed into law by Republican Governor Dave Heineman.^[5]

District 1

Republican Jeff Fortenberry, who has represented Nebraska's 1st congressional district since 2005, did not run for the U.S. Senate, and is running for re-election.^[6]

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Jeff Fortenberry, incumbent U.S. Representative

Eliminated in primary

• Dennis Parker, former professional musician and candidate for the 3rd district in 2010,^[7]
• Jessica Turek, writer and drummer^[8]

Primary results

Republican primary results^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jeff Fortenberry (incumbent)	55,658	86.4
	Republican	Jessica Turek	5,255	8.2
	Republican	Dennis Parker	3,511	5.4
Total votes			64,424	100.0

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Korey Reiman, attorney^[10]

Withdrawn

• Robert Way, Army combat medic^[10][11]

Primary results

Democratic primary results^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Korey Reiman	14,804	62.9
	Democratic	Robert Way (withdrawn)	8,728	37.1
Total votes			23,532	100.0

General election

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Jeff Fortenberry (R)	Korey Reiman (D)	Undecided
Wiese Research Associates[12]	October 23–25, 2012	200 (RV)	±6.9%	65%	24%	11%
Wiese Research Associates[13]	September 17–20, 2012	169 (LV)	±5.4%	69%	24%	7%

Results

Nebraska's 1st congressional district, 2012^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jeff Fortenberry (incumbent)	174,889	68.3
	Democratic	Korey L. Reiman	81,206	31.7
Total votes			256,095	100.0
	Republican hold

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[15]	Safe R	November 5, 2012
Rothenberg[16]	Safe R	November 2, 2012
Roll Call[17]	Safe R	November 4, 2012
Sabato's Crystal Ball[18]	Safe R	November 5, 2012
NY Times[19]	Safe R	November 4, 2012
RCP[20]	Safe R	November 4, 2012
The Hill[21]	Safe R	November 4, 2012

District 2

Republican Lee Terry, who has represented Nebraska's 2nd congressional district since 1999, did not run for the U.S. Senate, and ran for re-election.^[6]

David Wasserman of The Cook Political Report rates the race as "Likely Republican."^[22]

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Lee Terry, incumbent U.S. Representative

Eliminated in primary

• Paul Anderson, employee of BNSF Railway^[23]
• Glenn Freeman, former chairman of the Douglas County Republican Party^[24]
• Jack Heidel, the chairman of the mathematics department at the University of Nebraska at Omaha;^[25]
• Brett Lindstrom, a financial adviser and former Nebraska Cornhuskers quarterback^[26]

Primary results

Republican primary results^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Lee Terry (incumbent)	27,998	59.5
	Republican	Brett Lindstrom	10,753	22.8
	Republican	Jack Heidel	5,406	11.5
	Republican	Glenn Freeman	1,885	4.0
	Republican	Paul Anderson	1,051	2.2
Total votes			47,093	100.0

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• John Ewing Jr., Douglas County Treasurer^[27]

Eliminated in primary

• Gwen Howard, state senator^[28]

Declined

• Howard Warren Buffett, director of the U.S. Department of Defense's agriculture development program in Iraq and Afghanistan and the grandson of investor and philanthropist Warren Buffett^[29]

Primary results

Democratic primary results^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John Ewing	17,954	62.0
	Democratic	Gwen Howard	11,009	38.0
Total votes			28,963	100.0

General election

Campaign

After his primary victory, Ewing promptly took a break from fundraising before starting up again at the end of June.By the end of the fundraising quarter had only raised $300,000 to Terry's $1.3 million. The Omaha World-Herald would later describe this is "perhaps the race's defining moment" and one that prevented Ewing from gaining much traction in the general election.^[30]

Terry's campaign also made mistakes, most notably releasing an ad that inaccurately quoted a nonprofit advocacy group.^[31]

Endorsements

Lee Terry (R)

Organizations

• National Federation of Independent Business^[32]

John Ewing (D)

Newspapers

• Omaha World-Herald^[33]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Lee Terry (R)	John Ewing (D)	Undecided
Wiese Research Associates[34]	October 23–25, 2012	352 (LV)	±5.2%	47%	42%	11%
DCCC (D)[35]	October 14, 2012	525 (LV)	±4.3%	48%	44%	7%
Wiese Research Associates[36]	September 17–20, 2012	331 (LV)	±5.4%	52%	39%	10%

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[37]	Likely R	November 5, 2012
Rothenberg[16]	Safe R	November 2, 2012
Roll Call[17]	Safe R	November 4, 2012
Sabato's Crystal Ball[18]	Safe R	November 5, 2012
NY Times[19]	Safe R	November 4, 2012
RCP[20]	Lean R	November 4, 2012
The Hill[21]	Likely R	November 4, 2012

Results

Despite receiving very little help from national Democrats, Ewing outperformed Obama and lost to Terry by just 4,197 votes.

Nebraska's 2nd congressional district, 2012^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Lee Terry (incumbent)	133,964	50.8
	Democratic	John Ewing Jr.	129,767	49.2
Total votes			263,731	100.0
	Republican hold

District 3

Republican Adrian Smith, who has represented Nebraska's 3rd congressional district since 2007, is running for re-election.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Adrian Smith, incumbent U.S. Representative

Eliminated in primary

• Bob Lingenfelter, farmer and former NFL offensive lineman^[8]

Primary results

Republican primary results^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Adrian Smith (incumbent)	62,645	81.4
	Republican	Bob Lingenfelter	14,297	18.6
Total votes			76,942	100.0

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Mark Sullivan, farmer^[10]

Primary results

Democratic primary results^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Mark Sullivan	17,500	100.0
Total votes			17,500	100.0

General election

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Adrian Smith (R)	Mark Sullivan (D)	Undecided
Wiese Research Associates[38]	October 23–25, 2012	200 (RV)	±6.9%	64%	24%	12%
Wiese Research Associates[39]	September 17–20, 2012	156 (LV)	±5.4%	70%	19%	11%

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[15]	Safe R	November 5, 2012
Rothenberg[16]	Safe R	November 2, 2012
Roll Call[17]	Safe R	November 4, 2012
Sabato's Crystal Ball[18]	Safe R	November 5, 2012
NY Times[19]	Safe R	November 4, 2012
RCP[20]	Safe R	November 4, 2012
The Hill[21]	Safe R	November 4, 2012

Results

Nebraska's 3rd congressional district, 2012^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Adrian Smith (incumbent)	187,423	74.2
	Democratic	Mark Sullivan	65,266	25.8
Total votes			252,689	100.0
	Republican hold