Nebraska, Secretary of State

Nebraska held an election for secretary of state on November 6, 2018. The candidate filing deadline was March 1, 2018.

SETTING THE STAGE
Heading into the 2018 election, the sitting secretary of state was John A. Gale (R), who was first appointed to the position in 2000 following the resignation of Scott Moore. Gale was elected to a full term in 2002 and was re-elected in 2006, 2010, and 2014. Gale announced on March 20, 2017, that he would not seek a fifth full term in 2018.
At the time of the 2018 election, Nebraska was a Republican trifecta. It first gained this status when former Gov. Mike Johanns (R) took office in 1999. At the time of the 2018 election, Nebraska was a Republican triplex.
Nebraska was won by the Republican candidate in each of the past five presidential elections leading up to the 2018 election. The widest margin of victory was George W. Bush's 33 percent margin in 2004 while the narrowest was John McCain's 15 percent margin in 2008.

State election history

This section provides an overview of federal and state elections in Nebraska from 2000 to 2016. All data comes from the Nebraska Secretary of State.

Historical elections

Presidential elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the presidential election in Nebraska every year from 2000 to 2016.

Election results (President of the United States), Nebraska 2000-2016

Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Donald Trump	58.7%	Hillary Clinton	33.7%	25.0%
2012	Mitt Romney	59.8%	Barack Obama	38.0%	21.8%
2008	John McCain	56.5%	Barack Obama	41.6%	14.9%
2004	George W. Bush	65.9%	John Kerry	32.7%	33.2%
2000	George W. Bush	62.2%	Al Gore	33.3%	28.9%

U.S. Senate elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of U.S. Senate races in Nebraska from 2000 to 2016. Every state has two Senate seats, and each seat goes up for election every six years. The terms of the seats are staggered so that roughly one-third of the seats are up every two years.

Election results (U.S. Senator), Nebraska 2000-2016

Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2014	Ben Sasse	64.3%	Dave Domina	31.5%	32.8%
2012	Deb Fischer	57.8%	Bob Kerrey	42.2%	15.6%
2008	Mike Johanns	57.5%	Scott Kleeb	40.1%	17.4%
2006	Ben Nelson	63.9%	Pete Ricketts	36.1%	27.8%
2002	Chuck Hagel	82.3%	Charlie Matulka	14.6%	67.7%
2000	Ben Nelson	51.1%	Don Stenberg	48.9%	2.2%

Gubernatorial elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the four gubernatorial elections held between 2000 and 2016. Gubernatorial elections are held every four years in Nebraska.

Election results (Governor), Nebraska 2000-2016

Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2014	Pete Ricketts	57.2%	Chuck Hassebrook	39.2%	18.0%
2010	Dave Heineman	73.9%	Mike Meister	26.1%	47.8%
2006	Dave Heineman	73.4%	David Hahn	24.5%	48.9%
2002	Mike Johanns	68.7%	Stormy Dean	27.5%	41.2%

Congressional delegation, 2000-2016

This chart shows the number of Democrats and Republicans who were elected to represent Nebraska in the U.S. House from 2000 to 2016. Elections for U.S. House seats are held every two years.

Congressional delegation, Nebraska 2000-2016

Year	Republicans	Republicans (%)	Democrats	Democrats (%)	Balance of power
2016	3	100%	0	0%	R+3
2014	2	66.7%	1	33.3%	R+1
2012	3	100%	0	0%	R+3
2010	3	100%	0	0%	R+3
2008	3	100%	0	0%	R+3
2006	3	100%	0	0%	R+3
2004	3	100%	0	0%	R+3
2002	3	100%	0	0%	R+3
2002	3	100%	0	0%	R+3

Trifectas, 1992-2017

A state government trifecta occurs when one party controls the state legislature and the governor's office.

Nebraska Party Control: 1992-2020
Seven years of Democratic trifectas • Twenty-two years of Republican trifectas

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Governor	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
Senate	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Demographics

Demographic data for Nebraska

	Nebraska	U.S.
Total population:	1,893,765	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	76,824	3,531,905
Gender
Female:	50.3%	50.8%
Race and ethnicity**
White:	88.1%	73.6%
Black/African American:	4.7%	12.6%
Asian:	2%	5.1%
Native American:	0.9%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0.1%	0.2%
Two or more:	2.2%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	10%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	90.7%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	29.3%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$52,997	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	14.6%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Nebraska.

As of July 2017, Nebraska had a population of approximately 1,920,000 people, with its three largest cities being Omaha (pop. est. 450,000), Lincoln (pop. est. 280,000), and Bellevue (pop. est. 54,000).