In the Nebraska primary election on Tuesday, voters will pick their candidates for what is expected to be one of the most competitive House races in the country — and for a Senate race that could be close if the Democratic wave is big enough.
Nebraska primary election: live results for Senate and House races
Deb Fischer, Jane Raybould, Brad Ashford, and more are on the ballot in the 2018 Nebraska primary election.
Dylan Scott covers health for Vox, guiding readers through the emerging opportunities and challenges in improving our health. He has reported on health policy for more than 10 years, writing for Governing magazine, Talking Points Memo, and STAT before joining Vox in 2017.
Polls close at 9 pm ET/8 pm CT/7 pm MT. Live results are below.
Nebraska Senate Democratic primary: Jane Raybould wants to take on Sen. Deb Fischer
Jane Raybould, Lincoln City Council member and former candidate for lieutenant governor, is raising by far the most money, though there are several other Democrats on the ballot on Tuesday. If she wins the Democratic nomination, she would run against incumbent Sen. Deb Fischer, first elected in 2012 and a “mainstream Republican” through and through.
Fischer will almost certainly win. Her campaign found her leading Raybould by 17 points a few months back. But if 2018 starts to get really weird, we’ll have to check back in with the Cornhuskers. The Cook Political Report did rate Nebraska as merely Likely R, and if you’re looking for a wild card, Nebraska is one of those states that could be hurt by President Trump’s escalating trade war. Raybould is promising to be “an independent voice” while slamming the incumbent as a “Washington Republican.”
Nebraska Second Congressional District Democratic primary: Brad Ashford versus Kara Eastman, with vulnerable Republican Don Bacon waiting
Former Rep. Brad Ashford is looking to reclaim the congressional seat he won in 2014 and lost in 2016. The moderate ex-Republican has the official DCCC Red to Blue imprimatur. But he does have a real primary race: Kara Eastman, president of a local nonprofit, is also running. She has a more progressive platform, backing Medicare-for-all. The winner will face incumbent Rep. Don Bacon. He beat Ashford in 2016 by a single percentage point.
This district, which includes Omaha and the surrounding area, is much swingier than the rest of Nebraska. Barack Obama won it in 2008. Ashford got elected in 2014. Donald Trump won here by just 2 percentage points in 2016. Cook and the other major election prognosticators think this is a toss-up race in 2018.
Ashford would come with obvious advantages if he wins the Democratic primary (he won here before, after all), but Democrats are likely to contest this race no matter what. It could be a key pickup in their bid to flip 24 seats and take back the House.
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