# 2020 United States Senate election in Nebraska

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The 2020 United States Senate election in Nebraska was held on November 3, 2020, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Nebraska, concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
Incumbent Republican Senator Ben Sasse was challenged by Democratic nominee Chris Janicek, who was disavowed by his party after numerous scandals; by write-in candidate Preston Love Jr., who received the support of the state Democratic Party; and by Libertarian nominee Gene Siadek.
Sasse was reelected to a second term in office with 62.7% of the vote and a 38.3% margin. He outperformed President Donald Trump by almost 27,000 votes, or 8.9%, compared to the concurrent presidential election, the largest overperformance by any Republican Senate candidate in the country that year. In contrast, Janicek was the worst performing Democratic Senate candidate in the country compared to Joe Biden, underperforming him by 13.1%. This was attributed to a sexual misconduct scandal affecting Janicek and split-ticket voting in Omaha suburbs.

## Republican primary
### Candidates
#### Nominee

* Ben Sasse, incumbent U.S. senator

#### Eliminated in primary

* Matt Innis, businessman and former chair of the Lancaster County Republican Party

#### Declined

* Charles Herbster, farmer
* Pete Ricketts, Governor of Nebraska

### Endorsements

Organizations
* Club for Growth

### Polling

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Matt Innis | Ben Sasse | Undecided |
| We Ask America | February 19–20, 2020 | 400 (LV) | ± 4.9% | 17% | 65% | 18% |

### Results

Republican primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Ben Sasse (inc.) | 215,207 | 75.21% |
| | Republican | Matt Innis | 70,921 | 24.79% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 284,212 | 100.00% |

## Democratic primary
### Candidates
#### Nominee

* Chris Janicek, businessman and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2018
On June 16, 2020, Janicek lost the support of the Nebraska Democratic Party after allegations surfaced of sending sexually explicit text messages about a female campaign staff member and allegedly using racist slurs to insult a guest at a party 20 years prior. Nonetheless, Janicek refused to drop out of the race and his name remained on the ballot in the general election. In September the state Democratic party supported Preston Love Jr. via a write-in candidacy.

#### Eliminated in primary

* Dennis Frank Maček
* Larry Marvin, perennial candidate
* Angie Philips, mental health advocate
* Alisha Shelton, behavioral health clinical supervisor
* Andy Stock, former candidate for Lancaster County Treasurer
* Dan Wik, physician

#### Declined

* Chris Beutler, former mayor of Lincoln

### Results

Democratic primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Chris Janicek | 46,247 | 30.69% |
| | Democratic | Angie Philips | 35,929 | 23.84% |
| | Democratic | Alisha Shelton | 34,284 | 22.75% |
| | Democratic | Andy Stock | 17,156 | 11.38% |
| | Democratic | Larry Marvin | 6,868 | 4.56% |
| | Democratic | Daniel Wik | 5,765 | 3.83% |
| | Democratic | Dennis Macek | 4,453 | 2.95% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 150,702 | 100.00% |

## Other candidates
### Libertarian Party
#### Nominee

* Gene Siadek, former chairman of the Libertarian Party of Nebraska

#### Withdrawn

* Eric Dilliard

#### Results

Libertarian primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Libertarian | Gene Siadek | 2,517 | 100.00% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 2,517 | 100.00% |

### Democratic write-in
#### Declared

* Preston Love Jr., first vice president of the Omaha NAACP chapter and second associate chairman of the Nebraska Democratic Party, endorsed by the party after the allegations against Janicek

#### Withdrawn

* Brad Ashford, former Democratic Congressman from NE-02

## General election
### Predictions

| Source | Ranking | As of |
| The Cook Political Report | Safe R | October 29, 2020 |
| Inside Elections | Safe R | October 28, 2020 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball | Safe R | November 2, 2020 |
| Daily Kos | Safe R | October 30, 2020 |
| Politico | Safe R | November 2, 2020 |
| RCP | Safe R | October 23, 2020 |
| DDHQ | Safe R | November 3, 2020 |
| 538 | Safe R | November 2, 2020 |
| Economist | Safe R | November 2, 2020 |

### Polling

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Ben Sasse (R) | Chris Janicek (D) | Gene Siadek (L) | Undecided |
| Cygnal | October 19–21, 2020 | 625 (LV) | ± 3.9% | 47% | 18% | 6% | 29% |
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Generic Republican | Generic Democrat | Undecided |
| Cygnal | October 19–21, 2020 | 625 (LV) | ± 3.9% | 53% | 38% | 9% |

### Results

United States Senate election in Nebraska, 2020 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Republican | Ben Sasse (inc.) | 583,507 | 62.74% | −1.60% |
| | Democratic | Chris Janicek | 227,191 | 24.43% | −7.06% |
| | Democratic | Preston Love Jr. (write-in) | 58,411 | 6.28% | — |
| | Libertarian | Gene Siadek | 55,115 | 5.93% | — |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 5,788 | 0.62% | — |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 356,316 | 38.31% | +5.46% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 930,012 | 100.0% | |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |

#### By county

By county :
| County | Ben Sasse Republican | Ben Sasse Republican | Chris Janicek Democratic | Chris Janicek Democratic | Preston Love Jr. (write-in) Democratic | Preston Love Jr. (write-in) Democratic | Gene Siadek Libertarian | Gene Siadek Libertarian | Write-in | Write-in | Total votes |
| County | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | Total votes |
| Adams | 70.88% | 9,995 | 18.32% | 2,583 | 3.89% | 548 | 6.36% | 897 | 0.56% | 79 | 14,102 |
| Antelope | 82.14% | 2,828 | 10.28% | 354 | 0.84% | 29 | 5.34% | 184 | 1.39% | 48 | 3,443 |
| Arthur | 84.44% | 228 | 7.78% | 21 | 0.00% | 0 | 7.78% | 21 | 0.00% | 0 | 270 |
| Banner | 84.17% | 335 | 9.80% | 39 | 0.50% | 2 | 5.28% | 21 | 0.25% | 1 | 398 |
| Blaine | 75.00% | 222 | 11.82% | 35 | 0.68% | 2 | 11.49% | 34 | 1.01% | 3 | 296 |
| Boone | 79.51% | 2,402 | 11.62% | 351 | 1.79% | 54 | 5.89% | 178 | 1.19% | 36 | 3,021 |
| Box Butte | 75.59% | 3,840 | 16.18% | 822 | 1.34% | 68 | 6.42% | 326 | 0.47% | 24 | 5,080 |
| Boyd | 83.62% | 883 | 8.43% | 89 | 0.00% | 0 | 7.10% | 75 | 0.85% | 9 | 1,056 |
| Brown | 85.20% | 1,387 | 7.68% | 125 | 0.86% | 14 | 5.71% | 93 | 0.55% | 9 | 1,628 |
| Buffalo | 72.45% | 16,729 | 16.68% | 3,851 | 3.38% | 780 | 6.95% | 1,605 | 0.55% | 126 | 23,091 |
| Burt | 73.57% | 2,639 | 18.90% | 678 | 1.95% | 70 | 5.21% | 187 | 0.36% | 13 | 3,587 |
| Butler | 80.16% | 3,512 | 13.99% | 613 | 1.05% | 46 | 4.52% | 198 | 0.27% | 12 | 4,381 |
| Cass | 70.77% | 10,493 | 19.38% | 2,874 | 3.55% | 527 | 5.98% | 886 | 0.31% | 46 | 14,826 |
| Cedar | 81.34% | 3,902 | 11.36% | 545 | 0.96% | 46 | 5.67% | 272 | 0.67% | 32 | 4,797 |
| Chase | 85.70% | 1,666 | 8.90% | 173 | 0.62% | 12 | 4.06% | 79 | 0.72% | 14 | 1,944 |
| Cherry | 78.49% | 2,365 | 9.39% | 283 | 1.16% | 35 | 9.09% | 274 | 1.86% | 56 | 3,013 |
| Cheyenne | 75.54% | 3,505 | 15.47% | 718 | 0.45% | 21 | 6.96% | 323 | 1.57% | 73 | 4,640 |
| Clay | 77.73% | 2,660 | 12.62% | 432 | 1.55% | 53 | 7.10% | 243 | 0.99% | 34 | 3,422 |
| Colfax | 73.24% | 2,652 | 20.63% | 747 | 1.66% | 60 | 4.31% | 156 | 0.17% | 6 | 3,621 |
| Cuming | 82.07% | 3,566 | 11.71% | 509 | 1.57% | 68 | 4.56% | 198 | 0.09% | 4 | 4,345 |
| Custer | 82.56% | 4,824 | 9.09% | 531 | 0.74% | 43 | 6.18% | 361 | 1.44% | 84 | 5,843 |
| Dakota | 60.53% | 3,951 | 34.24% | 2,235 | 1.33% | 87 | 3.68% | 240 | 0.21% | 14 | 6,527 |
| Dawes | 71.75% | 2,883 | 19.54% | 785 | 2.17% | 87 | 6.22% | 250 | 0.32% | 13 | 4,018 |
| Dawson | 72.31% | 6,460 | 20.48% | 1,830 | 1.42% | 127 | 5.36% | 479 | 0.43% | 38 | 8,934 |
| Deuel | 82.71% | 837 | 10.28% | 104 | 0.49% | 5 | 6.13% | 62 | 0.40% | 4 | 1,012 |
| Dixon | 74.05% | 2,206 | 16.82% | 501 | 1.58% | 47 | 6.92% | 206 | 0.64% | 19 | 2,979 |
| Dodge | 69.07% | 11,397 | 20.65% | 3,408 | 3.47% | 572 | 6.51% | 1,074 | 0.30% | 50 | 16,501 |
| Douglas | 50.71% | 136,745 | 32.49% | 87,608 | 10.10% | 27,229 | 5.94% | 16,019 | 0.76% | 2,046 | 269,647 |
| Dundy | 85.82% | 835 | 7.91% | 77 | 0.82% | 8 | 4.93% | 48 | 0.51% | 5 | 973 |
| Fillmore | 78.46% | 2,418 | 14.11% | 435 | 2.21% | 68 | 5.06% | 156 | 0.16% | 5 | 3,082 |
| Franklin | 82.67% | 1,398 | 11.24% | 190 | 1.24% | 21 | 4.20% | 71 | 0.65% | 11 | 1,691 |
| Frontier | 84.14% | 1,183 | 9.17% | 129 | 0.92% | 13 | 5.19% | 73 | 0.57% | 8 | 1,406 |
| Furnas | 81.43% | 2,079 | 10.85% | 277 | 0.71% | 18 | 6.31% | 161 | 0.71% | 18 | 2,553 |
| Gage | 70.44% | 7,656 | 20.61% | 2,240 | 2.83% | 308 | 5.70% | 620 | 0.41% | 45 | 10,869 |
| Garden | 82.06% | 938 | 11.11% | 127 | 0.09% | 1 | 6.47% | 74 | 0.26% | 3 | 1,143 |
| Garfield | 84.52% | 868 | 8.86% | 91 | 0.78% | 8 | 4.87% | 50 | 0.97% | 10 | 1,027 |
| Gosper | 82.42% | 900 | 10.16% | 111 | 1.56% | 17 | 5.40% | 59 | 0.46% | 5 | 1,092 |
| Grant | 86.29% | 321 | 3.76% | 14 | 1.08% | 4 | 6.72% | 25 | 2.15% | 8 | 372 |
| Greeley | 79.97% | 938 | 14.15% | 166 | 0.85% | 10 | 4.77% | 56 | 0.26% | 3 | 1,173 |
| Hall | 68.54% | 16,231 | 21.87% | 5,180 | 2.76% | 653 | 6.29% | 1,489 | 0.54% | 129 | 23,682 |
| Hamilton | 77.24% | 4,114 | 12.73% | 678 | 2.23% | 119 | 7.02% | 374 | 0.77% | 41 | 5,326 |
| Harlan | 81.37% | 1,529 | 11.07% | 208 | 1.22% | 23 | 5.59% | 105 | 0.75% | 14 | 1,879 |
| Hayes | 88.91% | 457 | 5.84% | 30 | 0.39% | 2 | 4.47% | 23 | 0.39% | 2 | 514 |
| Hitchcock | 81.65% | 1,179 | 9.97% | 144 | 0.69% | 10 | 7.55% | 109 | 0.14% | 2 | 1,444 |
| Holt | 77.98% | 4,165 | 11.29% | 603 | 1.14% | 61 | 6.98% | 373 | 2.60% | 139 | 5,341 |
| Hooker | 81.73% | 349 | 11.24% | 48 | 0.94% | 4 | 3.98% | 17 | 2.11% | 9 | 427 |
| Howard | 78.86% | 2,660 | 13.22% | 446 | 1.54% | 52 | 6.14% | 207 | 0.24% | 8 | 3,373 |
| Jefferson | 75.17% | 2,764 | 18.06% | 664 | 1.25% | 46 | 5.19% | 191 | 0.33% | 12 | 3,677 |
| Johnson | 72.93% | 1,576 | 19.30% | 417 | 1.90% | 41 | 5.78% | 125 | 0.09% | 2 | 2,161 |
| Kearney | 79.56% | 2,790 | 11.75% | 412 | 2.02% | 71 | 6.27% | 220 | 0.40% | 14 | 3,507 |
| Keith | 78.92% | 3,355 | 13.01% | 553 | 1.62% | 69 | 5.98% | 254 | 0.47% | 20 | 4,251 |
| Keya Paha | 84.39% | 427 | 8.10% | 41 | 0.20% | 1 | 6.72% | 34 | 0.59% | 3 | 506 |
| Kimball | 79.85% | 1,458 | 13.36% | 244 | 0.49% | 9 | 6.13% | 112 | 0.16% | 3 | 1,826 |
| Knox | 75.78% | 3,376 | 15.89% | 708 | 0.65% | 29 | 6.46% | 288 | 1.21% | 54 | 4,455 |
| Lancaster | 51.74% | 79,436 | 31.75% | 48,756 | 10.41% | 15,990 | 5.47% | 8,405 | 0.62% | 954 | 153,541 |
| Lincoln | 75.39% | 12,679 | 15.61% | 2,626 | 1.81% | 304 | 6.62% | 1,113 | 0.57% | 96 | 16,818 |
| Logan | 85.22% | 369 | 8.31% | 36 | 0.23% | 1 | 5.08% | 22 | 1.15% | 5 | 433 |
| Loup | 84.28% | 370 | 6.38% | 28 | 4.10% | 18 | 4.78% | 21 | 0.46% | 2 | 439 |
| Madison | 75.31% | 11,552 | 15.64% | 2,399 | 2.20% | 337 | 6.15% | 943 | 0.71% | 109 | 15,340 |
| McPherson | 88.14% | 260 | 4.07% | 12 | 0.68% | 2 | 6.44% | 19 | 0.68% | 2 | 295 |
| Merrick | 79.81% | 3,242 | 12.58% | 511 | 1.03% | 42 | 6.57% | 267 | 0.00% | 0 | 4,062 |
| Morrill | 76.14% | 1,870 | 13.23% | 325 | 0.53% | 13 | 9.00% | 221 | 1.10% | 27 | 2,456 |
| Nance | 78.57% | 1,353 | 14.05% | 242 | 1.63% | 28 | 5.23% | 90 | 0.52% | 9 | 1,722 |
| Nemaha | 75.11% | 2,511 | 15.67% | 524 | 2.54% | 85 | 6.16% | 206 | 0.51% | 17 | 3,343 |
| Nuckolls | 82.27% | 1,856 | 11.30% | 255 | 1.20% | 27 | 4.74% | 107 | 0.49% | 11 | 2,256 |
| Otoe | 73.18% | 5,961 | 18.43% | 1,501 | 2.49% | 203 | 5.59% | 455 | 0.32% | 26 | 8,146 |
| Pawnee | 77.46% | 1,072 | 15.68% | 217 | 2.02% | 28 | 4.70% | 65 | 0.14% | 2 | 1,384 |
| Perkins | 85.18% | 1,270 | 9.26% | 138 | 0.74% | 11 | 4.63% | 69 | 0.20% | 3 | 1,491 |
| Phelps | 80.46% | 3,896 | 10.08% | 488 | 1.18% | 57 | 6.69% | 324 | 1.59% | 77 | 4,842 |
| Pierce | 83.85% | 3,261 | 9.08% | 353 | 1.05% | 41 | 5.25% | 204 | 0.77% | 30 | 3,889 |
| Platte | 79.26% | 12,055 | 14.35% | 2,183 | 1.40% | 213 | 4.77% | 725 | 0.22% | 34 | 15,210 |
| Polk | 80.97% | 2,276 | 12.63% | 355 | 1.39% | 39 | 4.66% | 131 | 0.36% | 10 | 2,811 |
| Red Willow | 80.65% | 4,290 | 10.79% | 574 | 1.69% | 90 | 6.39% | 340 | 0.47% | 25 | 5,319 |
| Richardson | 76.05% | 3,023 | 17.11% | 680 | 1.06% | 42 | 4.93% | 196 | 0.86% | 34 | 3,975 |
| Rock | 86.94% | 699 | 5.35% | 43 | 0.00% | 0 | 5.97% | 48 | 1.74% | 14 | 804 |
| Saline | 65.91% | 3,675 | 25.29% | 1,410 | 1.99% | 111 | 6.81% | 380 | 0.00% | 0 | 5,576 |
| Sarpy | 61.46% | 57,763 | 25.00% | 23,500 | 6.88% | 6,471 | 6.20% | 5,826 | 0.46% | 432 | 93,992 |
| Saunders | 74.06% | 9,210 | 16.06% | 1,997 | 3.22% | 400 | 6.18% | 768 | 0.49% | 61 | 12,436 |
| Scotts Bluff | 71.36% | 10,820 | 20.06% | 3,042 | 1.82% | 276 | 6.29% | 953 | 0.47% | 71 | 15,162 |
| Seward | 75.04% | 6,718 | 16.35% | 1,464 | 3.21% | 287 | 5.08% | 455 | 0.32% | 29 | 8,953 |
| Sheridan | 78.87% | 2,042 | 11.20% | 290 | 0.50% | 13 | 8.07% | 209 | 1.35% | 35 | 2,589 |
| Sherman | 75.60% | 1,233 | 15.14% | 247 | 0.98% | 16 | 7.85% | 128 | 0.43% | 7 | 1,631 |
| Sioux | 84.92% | 597 | 7.40% | 52 | 0.71% | 5 | 6.69% | 47 | 0.28% | 2 | 703 |
| Stanton | 76.80% | 2,304 | 12.47% | 374 | 1.63% | 49 | 8.07% | 242 | 1.03% | 31 | 3,000 |
| Thayer | 81.38% | 2,356 | 12.85% | 372 | 1.38% | 40 | 4.25% | 123 | 0.14% | 4 | 2,895 |
| Thomas | 82.25% | 329 | 10.00% | 40 | 0.00% | 0 | 5.25% | 21 | 2.50% | 10 | 400 |
| Thurston | 53.30% | 1,218 | 38.73% | 885 | 2.36% | 54 | 3.24% | 74 | 2.36% | 54 | 2,285 |
| Valley | 80.47% | 1,821 | 12.37% | 280 | 1.33% | 30 | 5.39% | 122 | 0.44% | 10 | 2,263 |
| Washington | 72.88% | 8,808 | 16.39% | 1,981 | 4.10% | 495 | 6.30% | 761 | 0.34% | 41 | 12,086 |
| Wayne | 73.62% | 3,000 | 15.66% | 638 | 3.26% | 133 | 6.77% | 276 | 0.69% | 28 | 4,075 |
| Webster | 80.43% | 1,443 | 12.82% | 230 | 1.78% | 32 | 4.96% | 89 | 0.00% | 0 | 1,794 |
| Wheeler | 80.79% | 387 | 10.23% | 49 | 0.63% | 3 | 7.52% | 36 | 0.84% | 4 | 479 |
| York | 77.84% | 5,406 | 14.64% | 1,017 | 1.83% | 127 | 5.46% | 379 | 0.23% | 16 | 6,945 |