2020 Nebraska Legislature election

The 2020 Nebraska State Legislature elections took place as part of the biennial United States elections. Nebraska voters elected state senators^[b] in the 25 odd-numbered seats of the 49^[c] legislative districts in the Nebraska Unicameral. State senators serve four-year terms in the unicameral Nebraska Legislature.

2020 Nebraska Legislature election

← 2018 November 3, 2020 Officially nonpartisan 2022 →
25 of the 49 seats in the Nebraska Legislature 25[a] seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party Third party   Rep Dem Leader Jim Scheer (term-limited) None Ernie Chambers (term-limited) Party Republican Democratic Independent Leader since January 4, 2017 Leader's seat 19th district Seats before 30 18 1 Seats won 32 17 0 Seat change 2 1 1 Popular vote 245,639 166,676 Percentage 58.98% 40.02%
Results by gains and holds Results by winning party vote share      Democratic gain      Republican gain      Democratic hold      Republican hold      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      >90%      50–60%      60–70%     70–80%      >90%
Speaker before election Jim Scheer Republican Elected Speaker Mike Hilgers Republican

A top two primary election on May 12, 2020 determined which candidates appear on the November 3 general election ballot.^[2][3] Each candidate technically runs as a non-partisan (i.e., no party preference). The Nebraska State Legislature's website offers a statewide map of the 49 legislative districts here and maps for each individual district can be found on the website.^[4]

Following the 2018 elections, the Republicans maintained effective control of the Nebraska State Legislature with 30 seats. The Democrats increased their numbers from 16 to 18.

Republicans flipped three seats from Democrats; Democrats flipped one seat from Republicans and one from nonpartisan Ernie Chambers.^[5]

Open seats that changed parties

Democratic seats won by Republicans

1. District 31: Won by Rich Pahls.
2. District 45: Won by Rita Sanders.

Nonpartisan seats won by Democrats

1. District 11: Won by Terrell McKinney.

Incumbents defeated

In general elections

Democrats

1. District 35: Dan Quick (elected in 2016) lost to Raymond Aguilar.

Republicans

1. District 49: Andrew LaGrone (appointed in 2019) lost to Jen Day.

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[6]	Safe R	October 21, 2020

Close races

District	Winner	Party	Margin
3	Carol Blood	Democratic	0.8%
49	Jen Day	Democratic (flip)	1.0%
31	Rich Pahls	Republican (flip)	5.4%
29	Eliot Bostar	Democratic	6.2%
35	Raymond Aguilar	Republican (flip)	7.2%
45	Rita Sanders	Republican (flip)	7.6%
9	John Cavanaugh	Democratic	8.2%
21	Mike Hilgers	Republican	9.92%

Detailed results

• Note: All elections are technically non-partisan in the State Legislature; therefore, parties listed here are from candidates' websites and official party endorsement lists. Candidates all appear on the ballot as nonpartisan.
  • Candidates endorsed by the Republican Party:^[7]
  • Candidates endorsed by the Democratic Party:^[8]

District 1

Nebraska's 1st Legislative District Election, 2020

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Julie Slama (incumbent)	6,553	60.5
	Republican	Janet Palmtag	2,244	20.7
	Republican	Dennis Schaardt	1,954	18.0
Total votes				100.0
General election
	Republican	Julie Slama (incumbent)	12,033	68.1
	Republican	Janet Palmtag	5,627	31.9
Total votes				100.0
	Republican hold

District 3

Nebraska's 3rd Legislative District Election, 2020

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Carol Blood (incumbent)	4,851	57.1
	Republican	Rick Holdcroft	3,646	42.9
Total votes				100.0
General election
	Democratic	Carol Blood (incumbent)	9,196	50.4
	Republican	Rick Holdcroft	9,036	49.6
Total votes				100.0
	Democratic hold

District 5

Nebraska's 5th Legislative District Election, 2020

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Mike McDonnell (incumbent)	3,578	70.0
	Republican	Gilbert Ayala	1,536	30.0
Total votes				100.0
General election
	Democratic	Mike McDonnell (incumbent)	6,947	63.2
	Republican	Gilbert Ayala	4,053	36.8
Total votes				100.0
	Democratic hold

District 7

Nebraska's 7th Legislative District Election, 2020

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Tony Vargas (incumbent)	3,281	81.8
	Republican	Jorge Sotolongo	731	18.1
Total votes				100.0
General election
	Democratic	Tony Vargas (incumbent)	7,386	77.9
	Republican	Jorge Sotolongo	2,098	22.1
Total votes				100.0
	Democratic hold

District 9

Sara Howard (incumbent) was term-limited.

Nebraska's 9th Legislative District Election, 2020

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John Cavanaugh	3,911	46.0
	Democratic	Marque Snow	3,435	40.4
	Democratic	Mark Vondrasek	1,152	13.6
Total votes				100.0
General election
	Democratic	John Cavanaugh	8,461	54.1
	Democratic	Marque Snow	7,170	45.9
Total votes				100.0
	Democratic hold

District 11

Ernie Chambers (incumbent) was term-limited.

Nebraska's 11th Legislative District Election, 2020

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Fred Conley	1,444	35.1
	Democratic	Terrell McKinney	767	18.7
	Democratic	Dennis Womack	611	14.9
	Democratic	Teela Mickles	503	12.2
	Democratic	Gwen Easter	346	8.4
	Democratic	Cornelius Williams	300	7.3
	Republican	John Sciara	139	3.4
Total votes				100.0
General election
	Democratic	Terrell McKinney	6,359	63.8
	Democratic	Fred Conley	3,601	36.2
Total votes				100.0
	Democratic gain from Independent Democrat

District 13

Nebraska's 13th Legislative District Election, 2020

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Justin Wayne (incumbent)	6,477	100.0
Total votes				100.0
General election
	Democratic	Justin Wayne (incumbent)	11,771	100.0
Total votes				100.0
	Democratic hold

District 15

Results by precinct:

  Walz

•   50–60%
•   60–70%

  Rogers

•   50–60%
•   60–70%

Nebraska's 15th Legislative District Election, 2020

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Lynne Walz (incumbent)	6,197	68.7
	Republican	David Rogers	2,817	31.3
Total votes				100.0
General election
	Democratic	Lynne Walz (incumbent)	9,186	59.6
	Republican	David Rogers	6,223	40.4
Total votes				100.0
	Democratic hold

District 17

Nebraska's 17th Legislative District Election, 2020

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Joni Albrecht (incumbent)	3,963	72.7
	Democratic	Sheryl Lindau	1,489	27.3
Total votes				100.0
General election
	Republican	Joni Albrecht (incumbent)	8,310	68.0
	Democratic	Sheryl Lindau	3,907	32.0
Total votes				100.0
	Republican hold

District 19

Jim Scheer (incumbent) was term-limited.

Nebraska's 19th Legislative District Election, 2020

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mike Flood	8,346	100.0
Total votes				100.0
General election
	Republican	Mike Flood	15,519	100.0
Total votes				100.0
	Republican hold

District 21

Nebraska's 21st Legislative District Election, 2020

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mike Hilgers (incumbent)	5,150	59.1
	Democratic	Brodey Weber	2,379	27.3
	Democratic	Joseph Couch	1,184	13.6
Total votes				100.0
General election
	Republican	Mike Hilgers (incumbent)	10,157	54.96
	Democratic	Brodey Weber	8,325	45.04
Total votes				100.0
	Republican hold

District 23

Nebraska's 23rd Legislative District Election, 2020

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bruce Bostelman (incumbent)	5,703	62.4
	Democratic	Helen Raikes	3,430	37.6
Total votes				100.0
General election
	Republican	Bruce Bostelman (incumbent)	11,337	62.1
	Democratic	Helen Raikes	6,905	37.9
Total votes				100.0
	Republican hold

District 25

Nebraska's 25th Legislative District Election, 2020

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Suzanne Geist (incumbent)	10,407	71.5
	Democratic	Stephany Pleasant	4,151	28.5
Total votes				100.0
General election
	Republican	Suzanne Geist (incumbent)	16,443	66.7
	Democratic	Stephany Pleasant	8,207	33.3
Total votes				100.0
	Republican hold

District 27

Nebraska's 27th Legislative District Election, 2020

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Anna Wishart (incumbent)	5,803	71.3
	Republican	Brenda Bickford	2,340	28.7
Total votes				100.0
General election
	Democratic	Anna Wishart (incumbent)	10,173	64.4
	Republican	Brenda Bickford	5,612	35.6
Total votes				100.0
	Democratic hold

District 29

Results by precinct:

  Bostar

•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%

  Campbell

•   50–60%
•   60–70%

Kate Bolz (incumbent) was term-limited.

Nebraska's 29th Legislative District Election, 2020

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jacob Campbell	3,886	32.4
	Democratic	Eliot Bostar	3,236	27.0
	Democratic	Jennifer Carter	2,702	22.5
	Democratic	Neal Clayburn	1,023	8.5
	Republican	Lisa Lee	881	7.3
	Nonpartisan	Michael Connely	263	2.2
Total votes				100.0
General election
	Democratic	Eliot Bostar	11,167	53.1
	Republican	Jacob Campbell	9,869	46.9
Total votes				100.0
	Democratic hold

District 31

Rick Kolowski (incumbent) retired.

Nebraska's 31st Legislative District Election, 2020

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Rich Pahls	4,156	37.9
	Democratic	Tim Royers	3,925	35.8
	Democratic	Melanie Williams	1,487	13.6
	Republican	Mark Gruenewald	1,069	9.7
	Democratic	Alexander Martin	337	3.1
Total votes				100.0
General election
	Republican	Rich Pahls	10,727	52.8
	Democratic	Tim Royers	9,608	47.2
Total votes				100.0
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 33

Nebraska's 33rd Legislative District Election, 2020

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Steve Halloran (incumbent)	6,653	100.0
Total votes				100.0
General election
	Republican	Steve Halloran	12,893	100.0
Total votes				100.0
	Republican hold

District 35

Nebraska's 35th Legislative District Election, 2020

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Dan Quick (incumbent)	4,009	62.5
	Republican	Raymond Aguilar	2,401	37.5
Total votes				100.0
General election
	Republican	Raymond Aguilar	6,683	53.6
	Democratic	Dan Quick (incumbent)	5,777	46.4
Total votes				100.0
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 37

Nebraska's 37th Legislative District Election, 2020

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Lowe (incumbent)	6,286	77.1
	Libertarian	Mercadies Damratowski	1,865	22.9
Total votes				100.0
General election
	Republican	John Lowe (incumbent)	12,903	75.7
	Libertarian	Mercadies Damratowski	4,134	24.3
Total votes				100.0
	Republican hold

District 39

Nebraska's 39th Legislative District Election, 2020

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Lou Ann Linehan (incumbent)	8,355	61.7
	Independent Democrat	Allison Heimes	5,176	38.3
Total votes				100.0
General election
	Republican	Lou Ann Linehan (incumbent)	15,367	56.0
	Independent Democrat	Allison Heimes	12,087	44.0
Total votes				100.0
	Republican hold

District 41

Nebraska's 41st Legislative District Election, 2020

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Tom Briese (incumbent)	8,355	100.0
Total votes				100.0
General election
	Republican	Tom Briese (incumbent)	15,855	100.0
Total votes				100.0
	Republican hold

District 43

Nebraska's 43rd Legislative District Election, 2020

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Tom Brewer (incumbent)	8,043	61.2
	Republican	Tanya Storer	5,100	38.8
Total votes				100.0
General election
	Republican	Tom Brewer (incumbent)	10,688	57.9
	Republican	Tanya Storer	7,760	42.1
Total votes				100.0
	Republican hold

District 45

Sue Crawford (incumbent) was term-limited.

Nebraska's 45th Legislative District Election, 2020

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Susan Hester	4,158	51.0
	Republican	Rita Sanders	3,999	49.0
Total votes				100.0
General election
	Republican	Rita Sanders	9,224	53.8
	Democratic	Susan Hester	7,919	46.2
Total votes				100.0
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 47

Nebraska's 47th Legislative District Election, 2020

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Steve Erdman (incumbent)	4,158	100.0
Total votes				100.0
General election
	Republican	Steve Erdman (incumbent)	14,964	100.0
Total votes				100.0
	Republican hold

District 49

Results by precinct:

  Day

•   50–60%
•   60–70%

  LaGrone

•   50–60%

John Murante (elected in 2016) resigned when elected Treasurer of Nebraska in 2018. Governor Pete Ricketts appointed Andrew LaGrone to fill the vacancy.^[9]

Nebraska's 49th Legislative District Election, 2020

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jen Day	5,414	53.1
	Republican	Andrew LaGrone (incumbent)	4,787	46.9
Total votes				100.0
General election
	Democratic	Jen Day	12,524	50.5
	Republican	Andrew LaGrone (incumbent)	12,258	49.5
Total votes				100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

Notes

1. In Nebraska, a two-thirds vote of all members is required to overcome a filibuster. Thus, 33 votes are required to hold a filibuster-proof majority.^[1]
2. Although Nebraska's legislature is unicameral, the officeholders are called Senators.
3. The even-numbered districts were elected in 2018 and will be up for election again in 2022.