What you need to know before heading to the polls in Nebraska

LINCOLN — It’s Election Day again in Nebraska, and you’re too busy to cut through the political noise.

Let us help.

[Voter Guide: 2026 Primary Election Voter Guide: The candidates, the ballot measures, and the tools you need to cast your vote.]

Here at the Nebraska Examiner, we make it our mission to help people engage with the political process. If you need a cheat sheet, try our 2026 Voter Guide. 

First things first, polls are open today from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Central time, and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mountain time. If you’ve still got an early voting ballot at home, return it by the time polls close.

Nebraskans are watching more races than usual for an off-year primary election — races involving both major political parties and one involving a party that many Nebraskans don’t know much about. Our list:

• All eyes are on the Democratic primary in Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District. This is the six-candidate race blowing up people’s phones and TV screens in the Omaha area. The race’s early favorite, State Sen. John Cavanaugh, has taken a lot of fire from groups supporting his adversaries. His top-polling opponents, Douglas County District Court Clerk Crystal Rhoades and political action committee co-founder Denise Powell, have emphasized what they describe as the risks to Democratic priorities of removing Cavanaugh from the Legislature. Navy veteran Kishla Askins campaigned hard and has a chance to play spoiler.

• Republicans have a high-level primary race that could change how votes are counted, with GOP incumbent Secretary of State Bob Evnen facing a populist challenge from Omaha businessman Scott Petersen, part of the group that ousted a leadership team loyal to then-Gov. Pete Ricketts from the Nebraska Republican Party in 2022. Evnen survived two fellow GOP challengers in 2022 who split a majority vote against him. He has spent much of the past year emphasizing his support for President Donald Trump and his agenda, including handing over the state’s voter data to the Trump Justice Department over the legal objections of some Nebraskans.

• Another race grabbing Election Day attention, oddly enough, will be the Democratic U.S. Senate primary between party-backed Cindy Burbank and party-opposed anti-abortion pastor William Forbes. Burbank and the Nebraska Democratic Party say Forbes is a plant by people aligned with U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., to keep registered nonpartisan Senate candidate Dan Osborn from having a two-person contest with Ricketts in November. Forbes supporters and Republicans have argued Burbank is an Osborn plant. They point to her post on her campaign website saying that she intends to resign if she wins the Democratic nomination and give Osborn a head-to-head shot against Ricketts.

• Folks are also watching the U.S. Senate primary for the Legal Marijuana NOW Party between Mike Marvin and Earl Starkey. Some have accused Marvin of trying to win that party’s nomination on behalf of Osborn and resign. Marvin has denied being a plant.

• Republicans in Nebraska’s sprawling, largely rural 3rd Congressional District let incumbents know about every three to five election cycles that they’re restless. Signs point to that sort of GOP primary today for U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb., against former Border Patrol agent David Huebner. Most political observers expect Smith to win handily, but don’t be surprised if the early results show a closer-than-typical race and Republicans from smaller-population counties widen the gap late.

• In eastern Nebraska’s 1st Congressional District, Democrats will pick a standard-bearer to press U.S. Rep. Mike Flood, a former speaker of the Legislature from northeast Nebraska. Their choices are former diplomat Chris Backemeyer and renewable energy advocate Eric Moyer. Most local congressional election experts expect Flood to win another term this fall. But they acknowledge that weird things happen in wave election years.

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• Much of the night’s drama will focus on a handful of legislative races and their impact on partisan dynamics in the officially nonpartisan Nebraska Unicameral. Republicans today hold a narrow supermajority of 33 seats in the 49-member body. But they don’t always align by party on controversial legislation. Gov. Jim Pillen and others in the GOP are trying to increase the Republican advantage, largely in an effort to help more bills get past legislative filibusters. Democrats, meanwhile, are working to add seats or add enough Democratic-leaning nonpartisan seats to block or influence partisan GOP-led bills.

• Statewide, 11 of 25 legislative races include more than two candidates, meaning the top two finishers will advance to November’s general election. Omaha-area races are among the most high-profile this cycle, including a crowded race in Legislative District 12 involving Republican State Sen. Merv Riepe of Ralston, who has been at the center of controversial legislation in recent years. He lost his 2018 reelection bid to a Democrat but returned after trying again in 2022. He’s the Legislature’s lone GOP incumbent representing a district President Donald Trump lost in 2024. He faces three Democratic challengers: Thomas Kastrup of Omaha, Christy Knorr of Omaha and Robin Richards of Ralston. Richards is a write-in candidate.

• Elsewhere, Legislative District 18, in northwest Omaha, and Legislative District 14, in the Papillion-La Vista area, feature high spending campaigns, both internally and from political action committees, in seats currently held by Republicans. LD 18 includes Jess Goldoni of Omaha, Taylor Royal of Bennington and Derek Schwartz of Bennington. LD 14 includes Bill Bowes of La Vista, Jay Jackson of Papillion and SuAnn Witt of Papillion. Republican-aligned PACs are also amping up pressure in Legislative District 10 in hopes to flip a seat red that has been held by term-limited State Sen. Wendy DeBoer. That race includes Cindy Johnson of Omaha and Rebecca Rens of Bennington.

• Omaha-based Legislative District 4 and Legislative District 20 feature high spending, too, from incumbent State Sens. Brad von Gillern, a Republican, and John Fredrickson, a Democrat, each seeking reelection. Von Gillern faces a rematch with Cindy Maxwell-Ostdiek, a registered nonpartisan, while Fredrickson, who was narrowly outspent in 2022, seeks to avoid another nail-biter election, which he won by 82 votes. Fredrickson faces Chris Anderson and Dan Witt, both Republicans.

• State Sen. Rick Holdcroft of Bellevue also faces a high-profile reelection fight in Legislative District 36, in Sarpy County, against challenger Darin Tompkins of Papillion.

• On the Nebraska State Board of Education, only one race has more than two candidates: District 5 in southeast Nebraska. The candidates — Michaela Conway of Crete, Lana Daws of Seward and Angie Eberspacher of Beaver Crossing — seek to succeed conservative board member Kirk Penner of Aurora, who declined to seek reelection. Conway is a Democrat; Daws and Eberspacher are Republicans.

• Two races for the University of Nebraska Board of Regents have more than two candidates: District 1, in Lincoln, and a special election for District 4, in Omaha. Brent Comstock, Jeremy Hosein and Roland Nance are running in a Lincoln race that is the district’s first contested one since 2008, Comstock and Hosein have nearly raised a combined $600,000. NU Regent Tim Clare of Lincoln declined to seek reelection for a fourth term.

• In Omaha, five candidates look to fill out the final four years of a term vacated by former NU Regent Elizabeth O’Connor, who resigned in January — Larry Bradley, Jim Rogers, Susanne Shore, Michael Skocz and Justin Solomon. NU Regent Joel Makovicka, whom Pillen appointed to succeed O’Connor, is not running.

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