Nebraska, U.S. House, District 3

All U.S. congressional districts, including the 3rd Congressional District of Nebraska, held elections in 2018.

Heading into the election the incumbent was Adrian Smith (R), who was first elected in 2006.

Nebraska's 3rd Congressional District is located in the western portion of the state and includes Adams, Antelope, Arthur, Banner, Blaine, Boone, Box Butte, Boyd, Brown, Buffalo, Cedar, chase, Cherry, Cheyenne, Clay, Custer, Dakota, Dawes, Dawson, Deuel, Dundy, Fillmore, Franklin, Frontier, Furnas, Gage, Garden, Garfield, Gosper, Grant, Greeley, Hall, Hamilton, Harlan, Hayes, Hitchcock, Holt, Hooker, Howard, Jefferson, Johnson, Kearney, Keith, Keya Paha, Kimball, Knox, Lincoln, Logan, Loup, McPherson, Morrill, Nance, Nemaha, Nuckolls, Pawnee, Perkins, Phelps, Pierce, Red Willow, Richardson, Rock, Saline, Scotts Bluff, Sheridan, Sherman, Sioux, Thayer, Thomas, Valley, Wayne, Webster, Wheeler, and York counties. Parts of Dixon and Merrick counties also lie within the district.

Campaign contributions

The chart below contains data from financial reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission.

Name	Party	Receipts*	Disbursements**	Cash on hand	Date
Adrian Smith	Republican Party	$1,223,356	$1,612,145	$787,578	As of December 31, 2018
Paul Theobald	Democratic Party	$80,014	$73,490	$6,524	As of December 31, 2018
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2018. * According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." ** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.

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: 1992-2019
Seven years of Democratic trifectas • 21 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
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
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).