2024 United States Senate special election in Nebraska

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2024 United States Senate special election in Nebraska
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  Sen. Pete Ricketts official portrait, 118th Congress (cropped).jpg Preston Love Jr., 2020.jpg
Nominee Pete Ricketts Preston Love Jr.
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote585,103349,902
Percentage62.58%37.42%
2024 United States Senate special election in Nebraska results map by county.svg
2024 United States Senate special election in Nebraska results by congressional district.svg
Ricketts:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90%
Love Jr.:     50–60%
U.S. senator before election

Pete Ricketts [a]
Republican

Elected U.S. senator

Pete Ricketts
Republican

The 2024 United States Senate special election in Nebraska was held on November 5, 2024, to elect the Class 2 member of the United States Senate from Nebraska, to complete the term of Ben Sasse, who resigned on January 8, 2023, to become the president of the University of Florida. [1] On January 12, 2023, Governor Jim Pillen appointed Republican former governor Pete Ricketts to fill the seat until the election. [2] Ricketts won the special election, defeating Democratic nominee Preston Love Jr. with about 63% of the vote. This was the first time since 1954 where both of Nebraska's U.S. Senate seats were concurrently up for election. Primary elections took place on May 14, 2024. [3]

Contents

Ricketts outperformed other Republicans who faced contested statewide elections in this cycle.

Appointment

Republican Pete Ricketts, former governor of Nebraska (2015–2023) and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2006, was appointed on January 12, 2023. [2]

Applied to be appointed

In total, 111 individuals submitted applications for Sasse's seat, and nine candidates were interviewed by Pillen. [4] Applicants included:

Republican primary

Candidates

Endorsements

John Glen Weaver
Political parties

Fundraising

Campaign finance reports as of April 24, 2024
CandidateRaisedSpentCash on hand
Pete Ricketts (R)$3,507,567$2,076,443$1,431,125
John Glen Weaver (R)$52,789$36,280$16,509
Source: Federal Election Commission [16]

Results

Results by county: .mw-parser-output .legend{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .legend-color{display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;text-align:center;border:1px solid black;background-color:transparent;color:black}.mw-parser-output .legend-text{} Ricketts 60-70% 70-80% 80-90% >90% 2024 United States Senate special Republican primary election in Nebraska results map by county.svg
Results by county:
  Ricketts
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
  •   80–90%
  •   >90%
Republican primary results [17]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Pete Ricketts (inc.) 173,118 78.16%
Republican John Glen Weaver32,52914.69%
Republican Mac Stevens13,6696.17%
Total votes219,316 100.00%

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Declined

Endorsements

Preston Love Jr.
State legislators

Party officials

Labor unions

Fundraising

Campaign finance reports as of April 24, 2024
CandidateRaisedSpentCash on hand
Preston Love Jr. (D)$127,850$119,254$8,595
Source: Federal Election Commission [16]

Results

Democratic primary results [17]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Preston Love Jr. 85,114 100.00%
Total votes85,114 100.00%

General election

Predictions

SourceRankingAs of
The Cook Political Report [22] Solid RNovember 9, 2023
Inside Elections [23] Solid RNovember 9, 2023
Sabato's Crystal Ball [24] Safe RNovember 9, 2023
Decision Desk HQ/The Hill [25] Safe RJune 8, 2024
Elections Daily [26] Safe RMay 4, 2023
CNalysis [27] Solid RNovember 21, 2023
Split Ticket [28] Safe ROctober 23, 2024
538 [29] Solid ROctober 23, 2024

Fundraising

Campaign finance reports as of June 30, 2024
CandidateRaisedSpentCash on hand
Pete Ricketts (R)$4,294,715$2,586,199$1,708,516
Preston Love Jr. (D)$164,288 [b] $157,747$6,542
Source: Federal Election Commission [16]

Polling

Poll sourceDate(s)
administered		Sample
size [c] 		Margin
of error		Pete
Ricketts (R)		Preston
Love Jr. (D)		Undecided
Economist/YouGov [30] October 21–28, 20241,202 (LV)± 3.5%54%36%7%
NYT/Siena College [31] October 23–26, 20241,194 (LV)± 3.2%56%38%6%
1,194 (RV)± 3.1%56%37%7%
SurveyUSA [32] [A] October 9–12, 2024563 (LV)± 4.7%53%37%9%
SurveyUSA [33] [A] September 20–23, 2024558 (LV)± 4.8%53%35%12%
SurveyUSA [34] [B] August 23–27, 20241,293 (RV)± 3.6%50%33%16%

Results

2024 United States Senate special election in Nebraska [35]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Republican Pete Ricketts (inc.) 585,103 62.58% −0.16%
Democratic Preston Love Jr. 349,90237.42%+12.99%
Majority235,20125.16%−13.15%
Total votes935,005 100.0%
Republican hold
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

By congressional district

Ricketts won all 3 congressional districts. [36]

DistrictRickettsLove Jr.Representative
1st 59%41% Mike Flood
2nd 50.2%49.8% Don Bacon
3rd 79%21% Adrian Smith

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ In January 2023, Ricketts was appointed by Governor Jim Pillen to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Senator Ben Sasse, who had become the president of University of Florida.
  2. ↑ $58,832 of this total was self-funded by Love Jr.
  3. ↑ Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear

Partisan clients

  1. 1 2 Poll sponsored by the campaign of Dan Osborn, an independent candidate for Nebraska's other Senate seat
  2. ↑ Poll sponsored by Split Ticket

References

  1. 1 2 Hammel, Paul (December 5, 2022). "Ben Sasse makes it official, will resign U.S. Senate seat Jan. 8". Nebraska Examiner. Retrieved December 6, 2022.
  2. 1 2 Bradner, Eric (January 12, 2023). "Nebraska Gov. Pillen appoints Pete Ricketts to Sasse's Senate seat". CNN .
  3. ↑ "2024 State Primary Election Dates". www.ncsl.org. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 Stoddard, Martha; Bamer, Erin (January 12, 2023). "Pillen appoints former Gov. Pete Ricketts to U.S. Senate". Omaha World-Herald . Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  5. ↑ Hammel, Paul (December 12, 2022). "Democrat Ann Ashford is among applicants to fill vacancy in U.S. Senate". Nebraska Examiner . Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Sanderford, Aaron (January 10, 2023). "Ricketts, Lindstrom, Dinsdale, Slone, Ashford among Nebraska U.S. Senate applicants". Nebraska Examiner . Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  7. ↑ Mastre, Brian (December 15, 2022). "Nebraska Senate candidates feeling optimistic as Pillen mulls appointment". WOWT . Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  8. ↑ KRVN News (December 7, 2022). "West-central Nebraska journalist applies for U.S. Senate seat". KRVN . Retrieved December 30, 2022.
  9. ↑ Everett, Burgess (January 12, 2023). "Ricketts tapped to fill Nebraska's open Senate seat". Politico . Retrieved January 12, 2023.
  10. ↑ "Nebraska Statewide Candidate List". Nebraska Secretary of State. January 5, 2024.
  11. ↑ "Lt. Col. (ret.) John Glen Weaver running for Nebraska's open Class II U.S. Senate seat". Nebraska Television Network . February 6, 2023. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
  12. ↑ Emilee (July 19, 2023). "Americans for Prosperity Action Announces First Wave of Endorsements in 2024 U.S. Senate Races". Americans for Prosperity Action. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
  13. ↑ NRA-PVF. "NRA-PVF | Grades | Nebraska". NRA-PVF. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  14. ↑ "Ricketts Endorsed by Nebraska Farm Bureau". KRVN . February 17, 2024. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
  15. ↑ Sanderford, Aaron (January 27, 2024). "Nebraska GOP fight with delegation spills over into its endorsements". Nebraska Examiner . Retrieved January 28, 2024.
  16. 1 2 3 "2024 Election United States Senate - Nebraska". fec.gov. Federal Election Commission . Retrieved August 5, 2024.
  17. 1 2 Evnen, Robert B. (2024). The Nebraska Board of State Canvassers, Official Report, Primary Election, May 14, 2024 (PDF).
  18. ↑ Sanderford, Aaron (January 11, 2023). "Democrat Preston Love, a North Omaha advocate, to run for U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts' seat". Nebraska Examiner . Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  19. ↑ Sanderford, Aaron (July 14, 2023). "Democrat Paul Theobald decides not to challenge Sen. Pete Ricketts; Republican Herbster still mulling his options". Nebraska Examiner . Retrieved July 15, 2023.
  20. 1 2 Beck, Margery A. (January 17, 2024). "Nebraska Democrats back Omaha activist Preston Love Jr. to challenge Ricketts for US Senate seat". Midland Daily News . Retrieved January 17, 2024.
  21. ↑ "Our Recommended Candidates". Education Votes. Retrieved May 13, 2024.
  22. ↑ "2024 Senate Race ratings". The Cook Political Report . Retrieved January 25, 2023.
  23. ↑ "Senate Ratings". Inside Elections. January 6, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  24. ↑ "2024 Senate". Sabato's Crystal Ball. January 24, 2023. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
  25. ↑ "2024 Senate prediction map". elections2024.thehill.com/. The Hill. June 8, 2024. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
  26. ↑ "Election Ratings". Elections Daily . August 1, 2023. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  27. ↑ "'24 Senate Forecast". CNalysis . Retrieved November 21, 2023.
  28. ↑ "2024 Senate Forecast". Split Ticket. Retrieved October 23, 2024.
  29. ↑ "2024 Election Forecast". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved October 23, 2024.
  30. ↑ Economist/YouGov
  31. ↑ NYT/Siena College
  32. ↑ SurveyUSA
  33. ↑ SurveyUSA
  34. ↑ SurveyUSA
  35. ↑ Evnen, Robert B. (2024). The Nebraska Board of State Canvassers, Official Report, General Election, November 5, 2024 (PDF).
  36. ↑ "2024 Nebraska Election Results by Congressional District".

Official campaign websites

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