Nebraska 2012 legislative election results

The tabs below contain analysis of election results in the 2012 legislative elections for Nebraska.

• Senate
• National Partisan Trends

2012 Legislative Election Results
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Nebraska State Senate Election Results

This page contains macro-level election results and analysis for the Nebraska State Senate 2012 elections. For results in individual contests see our Nebraska State Senate elections, 2012 page. Nebraska is a non-partisan legislature -- elected officials do not run with a party designation.

What You'll See on This Page

This page will display the following lists of candidates

• Incumbents running on November 6
• Defeated incumbents
• Challengers who defeated an incumbent
• Newly elected senators
• List of all winners
• Unopposed candidates
• Third party candidates

State Senate Overview:

• A total of 25 of the state's Senate seats were up for election in 2012.

Incumbents

Incumbents running in November 6

The following is a list of all of the incumbents running on the November 6 general election ballot:

1. Beau McCoy
2. Brenda Council
3. Charlie Janssen
4. Colby Coash
5. Dave Bloomfield
6. Galen Hadley
7. Heath Mello
8. Jeremy Nordquist
9. Kate Sullivan
10. Kathy Campbell (Nebraska)
11. Ken Haar
12. Ken Schilz
13. Les Seiler
14. Mike Gloor
15. Paul Lambert
16. Scott Price (Nebraska)
17. Tanya Cook

Incumbents defeated

The followings is a list of incumbents defeated in 2012:

General election

Candidate	Party	District
Brenda Council	Non-partisan	Nebraska State Senate District 11
Paul Lambert	Non-partisan	Nebraska State Senate District 2

Primary election

No candidates have this category yet.

Challengers who beat an incumbent

The following is a list of challengers who defeated an incumbent in 2012:

General election

Candidate	Party	District
Bill Kintner		Nebraska State Senate District 2
Ernie Chambers		Nebraska State Senate District 11

Primary election

Results will display after the election on November 6.

New State Senators and General Election Winners

Newly elected senators

The following list will display the newly-elected members of the Nebraska State Senate:

1. Al Davis
2. Bill Kintner
3. Dan Watermeier
4. Ernie Chambers
5. Jerry Johnson (Nebraska)
6. Jim Scheer
7. John Murante
8. Kate Bolz
9. Rick Kolowski
10. Sara Howard
11. Sue Crawford

Open Seat Winners

The following will display a list of candidates who won election in seats where no incumbent was running:

1. Al Davis
2. Dan Watermeier
3. Jerry Johnson (Nebraska)
4. Jim Scheer
5. John Murante
6. Kate Bolz
7. Rick Kolowski
8. Sara Howard
9. Sue Crawford

Candidates who won election

The following will be a list of all candidates elected to the Nebraska State Senate:

1. Al Davis
2. Beau McCoy
3. Bill Kintner
4. Charlie Janssen
5. Colby Coash
6. Dan Watermeier
7. Dave Bloomfield
8. Ernie Chambers
9. Galen Hadley
10. Heath Mello
11. Jeremy Nordquist
12. Jerry Johnson (Nebraska)
13. Jim Scheer
14. John Murante
15. Kate Bolz
16. Kate Sullivan
17. Kathy Campbell (Nebraska)
18. Ken Haar
19. Ken Schilz
20. Les Seiler
21. Mike Gloor
22. Rick Kolowski
23. Sara Howard
24. Scott Price (Nebraska)
25. Sue Crawford
26. Tanya Cook

Competitiveness

Unopposed candidates in general election

The following candidates will not face major party competition:

1. Acela Turco
2. Beau McCoy
3. Brenda Council
4. Brook Curtiss
5. Charlie Janssen
6. Colby Coash
7. Frank Wellenstein
8. Heath Mello
9. Jim Scheer
10. John Murante
11. Judy Domina
12. Kate Sullivan
13. Kathy Campbell (Nebraska)
14. Ken Schilz
15. Kyle Michaelis
16. Les Seiler
17. Marvin Butch Hughes
18. Mike Gloor
19. Mike Petersen (Nebraska)
20. Richard Carter
21. Rick Kolowski
22. Scott Price (Nebraska)
23. Sue Crawford
24. Suzanne McNamara
25. Tanya Cook
26. Timothy Ashford
27. William Goodpasture

Ballot Access

Nebraska has non-partisan elections. Thus, all candidates run without a party designation.

2012 Legislative Election Results
State-by-State Analysis
Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Maine Massachusetts • Michigan• Minnesota • Missouri • Montana • Nebraska • Nevada • New Hampshire • New Mexico • New York • North Carolina • North Dakota • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • Utah • Vermont • Washington • West Virginia • Wisconsin • Wyoming
Other 2012 Election information
State legislative elections • State legislative election results • Statewide elections, 2012 • State Senate elections • State House elections

National Partisan Trends

The following tables will detail the partisan breakdown of national election results.

Incumbents who were defeated in the general election

In the 44 states with elections, there were 4,534 incumbents who ran in the general election. The following is a breakdown of incumbent defeats in the 2012 general election:

Incumbents defeated in 2012 legislative general election
Party	Senate	House	Total
Democratic	21	49	70
Republican	37	182	219
Third Party	2	3	5
TOTALS	60	234	294

Total new legislators elected

In total, 1,707 (28.4%) new legislators were elected in 2012. Of these 1,707, 849 (50.0%) were Republicans and 854 (50.0%) were Democrats.

The following is the breakdown of new legislators.

New Legislators after the 2012 legislative elections
Party	Senate	House	Total
Democratic	165	684	849
Republican	202	652	854
Independent	0	4	4
TOTALS	367	1,340	1,707

Winners of Open Seats

Open seats contests made up 705 (11.7%) of the 6,015 seats in 2012. Of these 705 open seats, Republicans won 401 (56.9%) while Democrats won 304 (43.1%). Going into the election, the number of open seats formerly held by each party was quite similar. Estimates prior to the election suggested that approximately 52% of the open seats were previously held by Republicans and 48% were held by Democrats.

The following is the breakdown of open seat winners.

Open Seat Winners in 2012 legislative elections
Party	Senate	House	Total
Democratic	82	220	302
Republican	105	296	401
Third Party	0	0	0
TOTALS	187	516	703

Impact on legislative majorities

See also: Partisan balance of state legislatures

Partisan Balance of Chambers with 2012 Elections
	Pre-election				Post-election
Legislative chamber
State senates	17	24	1	1	18	24	0	1
State houses	15	27	1	0	19	24	0	0
Totals:	32	51	2	1	37	48	0	1

Partisan Balance of All 99 Chambers Before and After 2012 Elections
	Pre-election				Post-election
Legislative chamber
State senates	19	28	2	1	20	28	1	1
State houses	17	31	1	0	21	28	0	0
Totals:	35	60	3	1	41	56	1	1