Wikipedia

2014 United States House of Representatives elections in Nebraska

See also: 2014 Nebraska elections

The 2014 U.S. House of Representatives elections in Nebraska were held on Tuesday, November 4, 2014, to elect 3 members of the U.S. House of Representatives from the state of Nebraska, one from each of the state's three congressional districts. The elections coincided with the elections of other federal and state offices, including the governor of Nebraska and a United States senator. Primary elections to determine candidates in the general election were held on Tuesday, May 13, 2014. The members elected at this election will serve in the 114th Congress.

2014 United States House of Representatives elections in Nebraska
← 2012 November 4, 2014 (2014-11-04) 2016 →
All 3 Nebraska seats to the United States House of Representatives
  Majority party Minority party
 
Party Republican Democratic
Last election 3 0
Seats won 2 1
Seat change Decrease 1 Increase 1
Popular vote 340,816 185,234
Percentage 63.64% 34.59%
Swing Decrease 0.60% Decrease 1.16%

Overview

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Results of the 2014 United States House of Representatives elections in Nebraska by district:[1]

District Republican Democratic Others Total Result
Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes %
District 1 123,219 68.82% 55,838 31.18% 0 0.00% 179,057 100% Republican hold
District 2 78,157 45.57% 83,872 48.90% 9,480 5.53% 171,509 100% Democratic gain
District 3 139,440 75.39% 45,524 24.61% 0 0.00% 184,964 100% Republican hold
Total 340,816 63.64% 185,234 34.59% 9,480 1.77% 535,530 100%

District 1

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2014 Nebraska's 1st congressional district election
 
← 2012
2016 →
     
Nominee Jeff Fortenberry Dennis Crawford
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 123,219 55,838
Percentage 68.8% 31.2%
 
County Results
Fortenberry:      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
U.S. Representative before election

Jeff Fortenberry
Republican

Elected U.S. Representative

Jeff Fortenberry
Republican

See also: Nebraska's 1st congressional district

The 1st district encompasses most of the eastern quarter of the state and almost completely envelops the 2nd district. It includes the state capital, Lincoln, as well as the cities of Fremont, Columbus, Norfolk, Beatrice and South Sioux City. Incumbent Republican Jeff Fortenberry, who has represented the district since 2005, ran for re-election. He was re-elected with 68% of the vote in 2012 and the district had a PVI of R+10.

Republican primary

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Fortenberry considered running for the United States Senate seat being vacated by Republican Mike Johanns, but ultimately announced that he would not do so and would instead seek re-election.[2]

Candidates

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Nominee
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Eliminated in primary
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  • Dennis Parker
  • Jessica Turek[3]

Results

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Republican primary results[4]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Jeff Fortenberry (incumbent) 63,448 86.0
Republican Jessica L. Turek 5,892 8.0
Republican Dennis L. Parker 4,390 6.0
Total votes 73,730 100.0

Democratic primary

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Candidates

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Nominee
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Results

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Democratic primary results[4]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Dennis P. Crawford 24,031 100.0

General election

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Results

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Nebraska's 1st congressional district, 2014[6]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Jeff Fortenberry (incumbent) 123,219 68.8
Democratic Dennis Crawford 55,838 31.2
Total votes 179,057 100.0
Republican hold

District 2

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2014 Nebraska's 2nd congressional district election
 
← 2012
2016 →
       
Nominee Brad Ashford Lee Terry Steven Laird
Party Democratic Republican Libertarian
Popular vote 83,872 78,157 9,021
Percentage 48.9% 45.6% 5.2%
 
County Results
Ashford:      50–60%
Terry:      50–60%
U.S. Representative before election

Lee Terry
Republican

Elected U.S. Representative

Brad Ashford
Democratic

See also: Nebraska's 2nd congressional district

The 2nd district is based in the Omaha–Council Bluffs metropolitan area and includes all of Douglas County and the urbanized areas of Sarpy County. Incumbent Republican Lee Terry, who had represented the district since 1999, ran for re-election. He was re-elected in 2012 with 51% of the vote in the district that had a PVI of R+4.

Republican primary

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Terry faced a competitive primary challenge from businessman Dan Frei, who ran to his right. Despite outspending Frei by around 20-to-1, Terry only won the primary by 2,686 votes, or just under 6%. After his defeat, Frei refused to endorse Terry and he and his supporters openly floated the idea of running an independent or write-in campaign against Terry in the general election. Frei himself was ineligible to do so, having lost the primary election, but former state senator Chip Maxwell was mentioned as a possible candidate.[7]

Candidates

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Nominee
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Eliminated in primary
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Declined
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Polling

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Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size 		Margin of
error 		Lee
Terry 		Dan
Frei 		Undecided
Frei Internal Poll[12] April 7–8, 2014 599 – 47% 36% 17%

Results

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Republican primary results[4]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Lee Terry (incumbent) 25,025 52.8
Republican Dan Frei 22,339 47.2
Total votes 47,364 100.0

Democratic primary

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After controversial comments made by Terry in October 2013, Omaha City Council President Pete Festersen, a Democrat, decided to run against Terry.[13] However, Festersen announced on December 9, 2013, that he was ending his campaign because of the difficulty in balancing the campaign with his family and city council responsibilities.[14] Democratic state senator Brad Ashford announced his candidacy in February 2014.

Candidates

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Nominee
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Eliminated in primary
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  • Mark Aupperle[3]
Withdrawn
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Declined
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Results

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Democratic primary results[4]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Brad Ashford 16,233 81.3
Democratic Mark Aupperle 3,739 18.7
Total votes 19,972 100.0

Libertarian primary

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Candidates

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Nominee
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Eliminated in primary
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  • Andy Shambaugh[3]

Results

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Libertarian primary results[4]
Party Candidate Votes %
Libertarian Steven Laird 76 60.3
Libertarian Andy Shambaugh 50 39.7
Total votes 126 100.0

Independents

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Candidates

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Withdrawn
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General election

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Campaign

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On May 21, 2014, Maxwell announced that he would run as an independent. A former Republican state senator, his party registration is presently nonpartisan. He has said that if he wins, he will rejoin the Republican Party and serve as a Republican in the House.[21] He dismissed as "hysterical" the idea that his candidacy could be a "spoiler" that conservatives are using to defeat Terry by "any means necessary", whether by Maxwell winning or by him and Terry splitting the Republican vote, thus allowing Democratic nominee Brad Ashford to win, meaning that there would be an open Republican primary for the seat in 2016.[23]

Despite collecting enough signatures to make the ballot, Maxwell withdrew from the race on July 24, saying that he had been "begged" by "high-profile" Republicans not to run and didn't want to create a "permanent rift" in the district's Republican Party. He did however say that he plans to run against Terry in the Republican primary in 2016 and noted that "I think this thing's a toss-up, even with me out of it."[22]

Polling

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Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size 		Margin of
error 		Lee
Terry (R) 		Brad
Ashford (D) 		Steven
Laird (L) 		Undecided
NFM Research[24] October 21–25, 2014 365 ± 5.1% 41% 46% 6% 7%
DCCC (D)[25] August 14, 2014 432 ± 4.7% 45% 46% — 9%
Global Strategy Group (D-Ashford)[26] May 29 – June 1, 2014 400 ± 4.9% 41% 41% 4% 14%
Hypothetical polling
Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size 		Margin of
error 		Lee
Terry (R) 		Pete
Festersen (D) 		Undecided
DCCC[27] October 2013 523 ± 4.3% 42% 44% 14%

Results

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Ashford won the race by a 3.3% margin, making Terry one of only two sitting Republicans to be defeated by a Democrat in 2014 (the other being Steve Southerland in Florida's 2nd).

Nebraska's 2nd congressional district, 2014[6]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Brad Ashford 83,872 48.9
Republican Lee Terry (incumbent) 78,157 45.6
Libertarian Steven Laird 9,021 5.2
Write-in 459 0.3
Total votes 171,509 100.0
Democratic gain from Republican

District 3

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2014 Nebraska's 3rd congressional district election
 
← 2012
2016 →
     
Nominee Adrian Smith Mark Sullivan
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 139,440 45,524
Percentage 75.4% 24.6%
 
County results
Smith:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%
U.S. Representative before election

Adrian Smith
Republican

Elected U.S. Representative

Adrian Smith
Republican

See also: Nebraska's 3rd congressional district

The 3rd district encompasses the western three-fourths of the state; it is one of the largest non-at-large Congressional districts in the country, covering nearly 65,000 square miles (170,000 km2), two time zones and 68.5 counties. It is mostly sparsely populated but includes the cities of Grand Island, Kearney, Hastings, North Platte and Scottsbluff. Incumbent Republican Adrian Smith, who had represented the district since 2007, ran for re-election. He was re-elected with 74% of the vote in 2012 and the district has a PVI of R+23.

Republican primary

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Smith considered running for the United States Senate in 2014,[28] but declined to do so.[29]

Candidates

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Nominee
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Eliminated in primary
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Results

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Republican primary results[4]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Adrian Smith (incumbent) 66,881 68.2
Republican Tom Brewer 31,215 31.8
Total votes 98,096 100.0

Democratic primary

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Candidates

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Nominee
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  • Mark Sullivan, farmer and nominee for this seat in 2012[31]

Results

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Democratic primary results[4]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Mark Sullivan 19,910 100.0

General election

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Results

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Nebraska's 3rd congressional district, 2014[6]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Adrian Smith (incumbent) 139,440 75.4
Democratic Mark Sullivan 45,524 24.6
Total votes 184,964 100.0
Republican hold

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Haas, Karen L. (March 9, 2015). "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 4, 2014". Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives. Retrieved October 28, 2019.
  2. ^ Trygstad, Kyle (May 29, 2013). "Fortenberry not Running for Senate". Roll Call. Retrieved May 30, 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d "Statewide Candidate List" (PDF). Nebraska SOS. March 4, 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 28, 2014. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "Nebraska Secretary of State - Election Night Results - November 4th, 2014". Archived from the original on January 4, 2015. Retrieved May 11, 2016.
  5. ^ Stoddard, Martha (October 14, 2013). "Democratic attorney Dennis Crawford to challenge Jeff Fortenberry for House seat". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
  6. ^ a b c "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on January 8, 2015. Retrieved January 2, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. ^ a b Joseph Morton (May 16, 2014). "Conservatives opposed to Lee Terry mull options for getting independent candidate on ballot". Omaha.com. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
  8. ^ "Lee Terry files for re-election". Omaha World-Herald. January 18, 2014. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
  9. ^ Tysver, Robynn (November 3, 2013). "Republican Dan Frei will take on Lee Terry in District 2". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved November 5, 2013.
  10. ^ a b Young, JoAnne (July 23, 2013). "Omaha Sen. Krist will seek re-election in 2014". Lincoln Journal Star. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
  11. ^ Beck, Margery (October 9, 2013). "Terry faces possible tea party primary challenge". Lincoln Journal Star. Retrieved October 10, 2013.
  12. ^ Frei Internal Poll
  13. ^ Tysver, Robynn (October 13, 2013). "Pete Festersen to vie for Lee Terry's congressional seat in 2014". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved October 13, 2013.
  14. ^ a b c d Golden, Erin (December 9, 2013). "Pete Festersen drops out of U.S. House race against Lee Terry". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
  15. ^ Hammel, Paul (February 13, 2014). "State Sen. Brad Ashford to seek Lee Terry's U.S. House seat". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved February 13, 2014.
  16. ^ Morton, Joseph (July 11, 2013). "Omaha Councilman Pete Festersen may try to oust Lee Terry from House seat". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
  17. ^ Duggan, Joe (January 19, 2014). "Omaha attorney David Domina first Democrat in Nebraska U.S. Senate race". Omaha World-Herald. Archived from the original on February 14, 2014. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
  18. ^ Jordan, Joe (December 23, 2013). "Domina for Terry's House seat?". Nebraska Watchdog. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
  19. ^ Jordan, Joe (July 10, 2013). "Ewing won't take second swing at Congressman Terry". Nebraska Watchdog. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
  20. ^ Jordan, Joe (June 20, 2013). "Video special: NE Dems still looking for Senate hopeful as Lathrop says its gov or bust". Nebraska Watchdog. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
  21. ^ a b Joseph Morton (May 21, 2014). "'I have a plan to save the country': Chip Maxwell to run against Lee Terry". Omaha.com. Retrieved May 22, 2014.
  22. ^ a b "Maxwell drops out of 2nd District race". Lincoln Journal Star. July 24, 2014. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
  23. ^ Robynn Tysver (May 22, 2014). "'Chip Maxwell, running for House against Lee Terry, calls spoiler theory 'hysterical'". Omaha.com. Retrieved May 22, 2014.
  24. ^ NFM Research
  25. ^ DCCC (D)
  26. ^ Global Strategy Group (D-Ashford)
  27. ^ DCCC
  28. ^ Raju, Manu; Reis, Patrick (February 18, 2013). "Nebraska Sen. Mike Johanns to retire". Politico. Retrieved May 30, 2013.
  29. ^ Giaritelli, Anna (October 16, 2013). "Democrats Continue to Fight Nebraska GOP's Grasp". Roll Call. Retrieved October 17, 2013.
  30. ^ "Col. Tom Brewer eager to take on new mission: House race against Adrian Smith". Omaha.com. January 2, 2014. Retrieved February 20, 2014.
  31. ^ Schulz, Sarah (March 16, 2013). "Sullivan running for Congress again in 2014". Grand Island Independent. Retrieved October 10, 2013.
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