2020 United States presidential election in Nebraska

2020 United States presidential election in Nebraska

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Turnout	76.33% (of registered voters) [1]
Nominee Donald Trump Joe Biden Party Republican Democratic Home state Florida Delaware Running mate Mike Pence Kamala Harris Electoral vote 4 1 Popular vote 556,846 374,583 Percentage 58.51% 39.36%
County Results Congressional District Results Precinct Results Trump   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90%   90–100% Biden   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90%   90–100% No Votes
President before election Donald Trump Republican Elected President Joe Biden Democratic

Elections in Nebraska
Federal offices Presidential elections 1868 1872 1876 1880 1884 1888 1892 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024 Presidential primaries Democratic 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 Republican 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024 U.S. Senate elections 1867 1869 1870 1875 1877 1880 1883 1886 1888 1889 1893 1895 1899 1899 sp 1901 1901 sp 1905 1907 1911 1913 1916 1918 1922 1924 1928 1930 1934 1934 sp 1936 1940 1942 1946 1948 1952 1952 sp 1954 1954 sp 1958 1960 1964 1966 1970 1972 1976 1978 1982 1984 1988 1990 1994 1996 2000 2002 2006 2008 2012 2014 2018 2020 2024 2024 sp 2026 U.S. House of Representatives elections 1866 1868 1870 1872 1874 1876 1878 1880 1882 1884 1886 1888 1889 2nd sp 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1899 6th sp 1900 1902 1904 1905 1st sp 1906 1908 1910 1911 3rd sp 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1922 1st sp 6th sp 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1st sp 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1951 3rd sp 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 1st sp 2024
State government State elections 2010 2014 2018 2020 Gubernatorial elections 1866 1868 1870 1872 1874 1876 1878 1880 1882 1884 1886 1888 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 2026 Lieutenant Gubernatorial elections 1876 1878 1880 1882 1884 1886 1888 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1970 Secretary of State elections 2022 Attorney General elections 2022 State Legislature elections 2018 2020 2022 2024
Ballot measures 2000 Initiative 416
Lincoln Mayoral elections 2019 2023
Omaha Mayoral elections 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 2021
Government
v t e

The 2020 United States presidential election in Nebraska was held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, as part of the 2020 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated.^[2] Nebraska voters chose electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote, pitting the Republican Party's nominee, incumbent President Donald Trump, and running mate Vice President Mike Pence against Democratic Party nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, and his running mate California Senator Kamala Harris. Nebraska has five electoral votes in the Electoral College, two from the state at large, and one each from the three congressional districts.^[3]

Located in the conservative Great Plains, Nebraska is one of the most reliably Republican states in the country, having backed the Democratic presidential nominee only once since 1936, during Lyndon B. Johnson's 1964 landslide, and having gone to the Republican nominee by a double-digit margin in every presidential election since. However, Nebraska is one of two states, the other being Maine, to allocate its electoral votes by congressional district. A candidate receives one electoral vote for each district won while the statewide winner receives an additional two electoral votes. Ever since Nebraska first adopted this system in 1992, in practice the Republican nominee has almost always won all three districts, and hence all the state's electoral votes. The first time it split its electoral votes came in 2008 when Barack Obama carried Nebraska's 2nd congressional district, anchored by Omaha, and thus received one electoral vote from the state despite losing statewide. The 2nd district returned to the Republican column in the following two elections, but in 2020 it was considered a key battleground.

Trump carried Nebraska statewide by 19 points on Election Day, down from 25 points in 2016. Biden was able to flip the 2nd district, carrying it by 6.6 points, the best Democratic performance since Nebraska first adopted its system of allocation by district, and the first time in this period that the district has voted more Democratic than the nation. Trump received the state's other four electoral votes. Before the election, all news organizations declared Nebraska a safe red state, while most organizations viewed the 2nd district as either Lean Biden or a tossup. This was the first election in which both Nebraska and Maine would officially split their electoral votes.

Biden won only the two most populous counties in the state: Douglas County, home to Omaha, by 11 points, approximately the same margin Lyndon B. Johnson won the county with in 1964 and the best result for Democrats since that election, and Lancaster County, home to the state's second largest city and state capital Lincoln, where the University of Nebraska is located, by just under 8 points, another 56-year high for Democrats. While he didn't win the state's third largest, Sarpy County, a growing suburban county to the south of Omaha, which in all presidential elections from 1968 to 2016 except 2008 had backed the Republican candidate by at least 21 points, he reduced Trump's winning margin to only 11 points and won 43 percent of the vote there, again a 56-year best for Democrats. Biden also received more than 40 percent of the vote in two counties in the northeastern corner of the state: Thurston County with a Native American majority, and Dakota County with a large Hispanic population.^[4]

Per exit polls by the Associated Press, Trump's strength in Nebraska came from whites, who constituted 90% of the electorate, and specifically from Protestants with 70%. Post-election, many rural Nebraskans expressed worries about trade and the economy under a Biden presidency,^[5] with 59% of voters stating they trusted Trump more to handle international trade.^[6]

Joe Biden improved on Hillary Clinton's performance in Nebraska, as he did in most other states. Nebraska was one of 43 states where the Democratic nominee received a greater proportion of the two-party vote than in the prior election.^[a] Despite his loss, Biden's 374,583 votes are the most received by a Democratic candidate for president statewide in Nebraska.

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