Democratic candidate wins the final uncalled seat in Nebraska Legislature
Democrat Victor Rountree defeated Republican Felix Ungerman by 169 votes in the 3rd District.
In the final uncalled race of the 2024 election, Democratic candidate Victor Rountree defeated Republican Felix Ungerman for the 3rd District seat in Nebraska’s unicameral legislature. He will succeed Democratic state Sen. Carol Blood, who was unable to run again due to term limits.
The margin of victory was 7,494-7,325, a difference of 169 votes.
Rountree, a Bellevue pastor and Air Force veteran, ran on lowering the cost of consumer goods and health care, supporting public education, and fixing the state’s system of property tax evaluations. He was endorsed as a “reproductive freedom champion” by Planned Parenthood Advocates of Nebraska and received the backing of the Nebraska State Education Association, a union representing 26,000 public school teachers and other education professionals.
Ungerman, also an Air Force veteran and the deputy chief of staff to Republican U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, campaigned on tax cuts, gun rights, and legal protections for fetuses. He backed public funding for private and religious education.
“Victor Rountree brings an incredible background of experience to the legislature, including his military service,” Nebraska Democratic Party chair Jane Kleeb said in a Nov. 20 statement. “This was a hard-fought victory that is possible because Victor knocked doors and stayed focused on issues like lowering costs for working families and supporting veterans.”
Rountree won the district by 1.1% even though it went for President-elect Donald Trump by 6%, according to the Nebraska Examiner.
Nebraska’s Legislature has 49 members. Senators for the 25 odd-numbered districts were elected in the Nov. 5 election, and the 24 even-numbered districts will be determined in the 2026 election. For the two year session starting in 2025, Republicans will hold a 33-seat majority in the technically nonpartisan chamber — the threshold needed to end a legislative filibuster. Democrats will hold 15 seats; progressive-leaning Sen. Megan Hunt is the lone independent in the Legislature.
Nebraskans also voted on ballot initiatives on Election Day.
By a 57%-43% majority, Nebraska voters repealed a $10 million program passed by the Legislature earlier this year that would have provided public scholarships to pay for private schools for K-12 students.
An initiative enshrining a ban on abortion after 12 week’s gestation in the state’s constitution passed 55%-45%
