2024 election roundup: Congressional races, ballot initiatives, and the ‘Blue Dot’
Everything you need to know ahead of the Nov. 5 election in Nebraska.
A too-close-to-call U.S. House contest, the fight for one electoral vote in the race for president, a surprisingly strong U.S. Senate bid by a maverick independent, and competing abortion ballot measures headline the Nov. 5 election in Nebraska. Here’s what you need to know before you vote.
2nd Congressional District House race
In the Omaha area’s 2nd Congressional District race, Democratic state Sen. Tony Vargas is again trying to unseat Republican Rep. Don Bacon.
Vargas came within less than three percentage points of beating Bacon in 2022.
The University of Virginia’s Center for Politics recently rated the Vargas-Bacon race a toss-up. A poll in late August by Split Ticket and SurveyUSA showed Vargas leading Bacon 46% to 40%.
Vargas has championed reproductive rights, stronger public schools, more access to quality health care, and gun safety. He has been endorsed by anti-gun violence organizations Brady and Giffords.
Vargas has hammered Bacon for continually siding on issues with former President Donald Trump while claiming to be a “centrist.”
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee reported: “Bacon came under scrutiny again for continuing to mislead Nebraskans about his extreme anti-abortion record. Just weeks ago, he was caught quietly scrubbing his out-of-touch, dangerous agenda from his website.”
In an April 15 social media post, Bacon touted an endorsement from the National Rifle Association, which opposes gun safety regulations. In 2019 and 2021, Bacon voted against requiring background checks for all gun purchasers.
The ‘Blue Dot’
The Omaha-area’s 2nd Congressional District is again in play for Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris’ bid to win the 270 electoral votes needed to defeat Trump and claim the presidency.
Nebraska Republicans have abandoned an effort to hold a special legislative session to change the state’s method of awarding Electoral College votes before the Nov. 5 election.
Nebraska and Maine are the only states that split their electoral votes. In Nebraska, two of the five electoral votes for president are awarded based on the statewide vote; the other three are assigned based on the winner of the election in each of the state’s congressional districts.
Democrats have called the 2nd District a “blue dot” since Vice President Joe Biden won it in 2020.
The Republican Party holds a slim 38%-35% voter registration advantage over Democrats in the 2nd Congressional District, while some 25% of the district’s voters are registered independents.
Nebraska recorded its first electoral vote split in 2008, when Barack Obama won the 2nd District in his successful bid for the White House.
A poll in late August by Split Ticket and SurveyUSA showed Harris leading Trump 47% to 42% in the district. A Sept. 25 poll by Remington Research Group showed Harris up 50% to 42%.
Osborn-Fischer Senate race
Independent labor union leader Dan Osborn is surprising election experts with a strong push to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer.
A poll released Sept. 24 by SurveyUSA showed Osborn with a 45% to 44% lead.
The record shows Osborn and Fischer are far apart on most issues, although she does not have an issues section on her campaign website.
Fischer was first elected in 2012 and has a long record of working to undermine abortion rights. In the Senate and during her earlier tenure in the Nebraska Legislature, she has consistently opposed abortion and backed efforts to ban the procedure.
In its annual congressional scorecards, Reproductive Freedom for All consistently rated Fischer a zero, indicating total opposition to reproductive rights.
Osborn’s campaign website notes his opposition to a federal abortion ban: “While I respect the moral convictions of all Nebraskans, I believe in limited government and I do not believe the federal government is capable of resolving this issue. Under extreme federal bans, abortion will still happen. We need to focus on the root cause: on reducing unwanted pregnancies.”
Fischer voted for President Donald Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which slashed tax rates for the wealthiest Americans and large corporations.
Fischer opposed raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour and voted against the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which is aimed at reducing gun violence by disarming domestic abusers and expanding background checks for gun purchasers under age 21.
According to his campaign website, Osborn also backs public education, tax cuts for small businesses and middle-income earners, cannabis legalization, labor rights, and an increase in the federal minimum wage.
The site notes his support for “reasonable gun safety measures, including gun safety education in our schools.”
Abortion measures
For the first time, Nebraska will have competing measures — both dealing with abortion — on the ballot.
The Protect Our Rights ballot initiative, Measure 439, was put forth by a coalition of five abortion rights organizations and would amend the state constitution to “provide all persons the fundamental right to abortion without interference from the state or its political subdivisions until fetal viability,” generally considered to be around 24 weeks’ gestation.
The other abortion measure, called Protect Women and Children or Measure 434, would cement Nebraska’s current 12-week abortion ban in the state constitution.
Nebraska is one of 10 states with abortion questions on the ballot this year, according to the independent health policy group KFF.
If both of Nebraska’s abortion ballot measures pass, the measure that receives the most “for” votes will be enacted, according to Secretary of State Bob Evnen.
Other ballot questions
Private Education Scholarship Partial Referendum, Measure 435
Partially repeal Nebraska’s law allowing tax dollars to pay for private school tuition vouchers
Paid Sick Leave, Measure 436
Require businesses to provide full-time workers paid sick days
Nebraska Medical Cannabis Patient Protection, Measure 437
Allow the use of medical cannabis
Nebraska Medical Cannabis Regulation, Measure 438
