Nebraska's 2nd congressional district

Nebraska's 2nd congressional district
Nebraska's 2nd congressional district - since January 3, 2013.
Current Representative		Brad Ashford (D–Omaha)
Distribution	97.86% urban, 2.14% rural
Population (2000)	570,421
Median income	$45,235
Ethnicity	82.3% White, 10.2% Black, 1.8% Asian, 6.3% Hispanic, 0.6% Native American, 0.2% other
Cook PVI	R+4

Nebraska's 2nd congressional district encompasses the core of the Omaha metropolitan area. It includes all of Douglas County, which includes Omaha, and the urbanized areas of Sarpy County. In the United States House of Representatives, it is currently represented by Brad Ashford, a Democrat.

Electoral vote; 2008 presidential race

Nebraska and Maine are the only two states in the United States which distribute their electoral votes for president based on presidential candidates' performance in their respective congressional districts in addition to their statewide performance. The statewide popular vote winner for president receives two electoral votes, and the winner of each of Nebraska's congressional districts—there are currently three such districts—receives an electoral vote from the respective district.

While the rest of the state's electorate is heavily aligned towards the Republican Party, the 2nd district—centered as it is on the city of Omaha—is more closely divided between the two main parties—Republican and Democratic.

In the 2008 United States presidential election, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama targeted the district as a strategy of breaking a potential electoral-vote tie.^[1] He won the district's electoral vote by a margin of 3,325 votes over his chief general election opponent, Republican John McCain.^[2] However, McCain won Nebraska's statewide popular vote, as well as the district-wide popular vote for the other two Nebraska congressional districts, thus receiving four electoral votes from Nebraska.^[2]

Obama's victory in the 2nd district meant that Nebraska's electoral delegation was split for the first time ever. It also marked the first Nebraskan electoral vote for a Democrat since 1964.^[2] By contrast, in 2012 Gov. Mitt Romney won the 2nd district, as well as the overall statewide vote and the electoral votes of the first and third districts.^[3]

Redistricting

In 2011, Nebraska lawmakers moved Offutt Air Force Base and the town of Bellevue — an area with a large minority population — out of the Omaha-based 2nd District and shifted in the Republican-heavy Omaha suburbs in Sarpy County. The move was expected to dilute the city's urban Democratic vote, which Democrats criticized as gerrymandering.^[4]

List of representatives

Congress	Representative	Party	Years of Service	Notes
District created		March 4, 1883
48th	James Laird	Republican	March 4, 1883 – August 17, 1889	Died
49th
50th
51st
51st	Gilbert L. Laws	Republican	December 2, 1889 – March 4, 1891
52nd	William A. McKeighan	Populist	March 4, 1891 – March 4, 1893	Redistricted to the 5th district
53rd	David Henry Mercer	Republican	March 4, 1893 – March 4, 1903
54th
55th
56th
57th
58th	Gilbert M. Hitchcock	Democratic	March 4, 1903 – March 4, 1905
59th	John L. Kennedy	Republican	March 4, 1905 – March 4, 1907
60th	Gilbert M. Hitchcock	Democratic	March 4, 1907 – March 4, 1911
61st	Gilbert M. Hitchcock		March 4, 1907 – March 4, 1911
62nd	Charles O. Lobeck	Democratic	March 4, 1911 – March 4, 1919
63rd
64th
65th
66th	Albert W. Jefferis	Republican	March 4, 1919 – March 4, 1923
67th	Albert W. Jefferis		March 4, 1919 – March 4, 1923
68th	Willis G. Sears	Republican	March 4, 1923 – March 4, 1931
69th
70th
71st
72nd	H. Malcolm Baldrige	Republican	March 4, 1931 – March 4, 1933
73rd	Edward R. Burke	Democratic	March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1935
74th	Charles F. McLaughlin	Democratic	January 3, 1935 – January 3, 1943
75th
76th
77th
78th	Howard Buffett	Republican	January 3, 1943 – January 3, 1949
79th
80th
81st	Eugene D. O'Sullivan	Democratic	January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1951
82nd	Howard Buffett	Republican	January 3, 1951 – January 3, 1953
83rd	Roman Hruska	Republican	January 3, 1953 – November 8, 1954	Resigned after being elected to the US Senate
84th	Jackson B. Chase	Republican	January 3, 1955 – January 3, 1957	Retired
85th	Glenn Cunningham	Republican	January 3, 1957 – January 3, 1971	Lost renomination
86th
87th
88th
89th
90th
91st
92nd	John Y. McCollister	Republican	January 3, 1971 – January 3, 1977	Retired to unsuccessfully run for U.S. Senate
93rd
94th
95th	John J. Cavanaugh	Democratic	January 3, 1977 – January 3, 1981	Retired
96th	John J. Cavanaugh		January 3, 1977 – January 3, 1981	Retired
97th	Hal Daub	Republican	January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1989	Retired to unsuccessfully run for U.S. Senate (Defeated in Primary)
98th
99th
100th
101st	Peter Hoagland	Democratic	January 3, 1989 – January 3, 1995	Defeated
102nd
103rd
104th	Jon L. Christensen	Republican	January 3, 1995 – January 3, 1999	Retired to unsuccessfully run for Governor (Defeated in Primary)
105th	Jon L. Christensen		January 3, 1995 – January 3, 1999
106th	Lee Terry	Republican	January 3, 1999 – January 3, 2015	Defeated
107th
108th
109th
110th
111th
112th
113th
114th	Brad Ashford	Democratic	January 3, 2015 – present

Competitiveness

Election results from presidential races:

Year	Office	Results
2000	President	George W. Bush 57 - Al Gore 39%
2004	President	George W. Bush 60 - John Kerry 38%
2008	President	Barack Obama 50 - John McCain 49%
2012	President	Mitt Romney 53 - Barack Obama 46%

Historical district boundaries

2003 - 2013

References

↑ Curry, Tom (2008-11-02). "Is Obama-Terry the winning ticket in Omaha?". MSNBC. Retrieved 2008-11-20. If the national electoral vote tally is close, then the one electoral vote in Omaha would loom large. But with Obama apparently ahead in competitive states such as Virginia, the presidency may not hinge on Omaha's vote.
1 2 3 Staff reporter (2008-11-14). "Obama wins 1 of Nebraska's electoral votes". AP. Retrieved 2009-10-17. (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/5kaEXuAwS)
↑ Walton, Don (2012-11-07). "Romney wins 2nd District electoral vote". Lincoln Journal Star. Retrieved 2012-11-07. Republican nominee Mitt Romney appeared to have won the battle for Nebraska's only competitive presidential electoral vote Tuesday night. [...] Romney held comfortable leads in both the 1st District, which includes Lincoln, and the vast 3rd District, as well as statewide. (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6Bzdk9RLy)
↑ Schulte, Grant (May 27, 2011). "Nebraska Redistricting Maps Approved". AP. Retrieved August 10, 2012.

Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present

Nebraska's congressional districts

All districts Territory At-large 1 2 3 4 5 6 The At-large and 4th-6th districts are obsolete See also Nebraska's past and present Representatives, Senators, and Delegations Recent U.S. House elections in Nebraska: 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014 All U.S. districts Apportionment Redistricting Gerrymandering

Coordinates: 41°15′N 96°00′W / 41.250°N 96.000°W / 41.250; -96.000

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