United States Senate elections in Nebraska, 2012

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2012 U.S. Senate Elections in Nebraska

Candidates • Polls • Election History

November 6 Election Winner: Deb Fischer

Incumbent prior to election: Ben Nelson

Cook Political Report Race Rating      Likely R (Prior to election)

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2012 U.S. House Elections

Voters in Nebraska elected one member to the U.S. Senate in the November 6, 2012 elections. Former Democratic Governor and U.S. Senator Bob Kerrey squared off against Republican state Senator Deb Fischer and independent candidate Russell Anderson. Deb Fischer won the election.

Candidate Filing Deadline	Primary Election	General Election
March 1, 2012	June 5, 2012	November 6, 2012

Primary: Nebraska has a closed primary system, in which the selection of a party's candidates in an election is limited to registered party members.

Voter registration: Voters had to register to vote in the primary by February 10 by mail or February 17 in-person. For the general election, the voter registration deadline was October 19 by mail or October 26 in-person.

See also: Nebraska elections, 2012

Incumbent: The election filled the Class 1 Senate seat, which was held by Ben Nelson (D). First elected in 2000, Nelson did not run for re-election in 2012.

Candidates

Note: Election results were added on election night as races were called. Vote totals will be added when official election results are certified. For more information about Ballotpedia's election coverage plan, click here. If you find any errors in this list, please email: Geoff Pallay.

General election candidates

Bob Kerrey

Deb Fischer

Russell Anderson

Democratic Primary

• Larry Marvin: Air Force veteran
• Steven P. Lustgarten: Filmmaker
• Sherman Yates: Non-profit executive
• Bob Kerrey: Former Nebraska Governor & Senator a

Note: Chuck Hassebrook withdrew from the primary on March 8, 2012

Republican primary

• Jon Bruning: Nebraska Attorney General
• Deb Fischer: Nebraska state senator a
• Sharyn Elander: Small Business Owner
• Pat Flynn: Investment adviser
• Don Stenberg: Nebraska state treasurer
• Spencer Zimmerman: Air Force veteran

Third party

• Russell Anderson: Independent a

General election results

U.S. Senate, Nebraska, General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Deb Fischer	57.8%	455,593
	Democratic	Bob Kerrey	42.2%	332,979
Total Votes				788,572
Source: Nebraska Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

Primary results

The primary took place on June 5, 2012.

Republican Primary

US Senate - Nebraska Republican Primary, 2012
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Deb Fischer	6.7%	79,941
Jon Bruning	58.6%	701,067
Don Stenberg	30.2%	361,727
Pat Flynn	4.3%	51,413
Spencer Zimmerman	0.1%	1,601
Sharyn Elander	0.1%	1,294
Total Votes		1,197,043

Democratic Primary

US Senate - Nebraska Democratic Primary, 2012
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Bob Kerrey	81%	66,586
Chuck Hassebrook	12%	9,886
Steven P. Lustgarten	2.6%	2,177
Larry Marvin	2.5%	2,076
Sherman Yates	1.8%	1,500
Total Votes		82,225

Race background

Personal finances

Media reports in January 2012 regard two candidates in the Republican primary -- Don Stenberg and Jon Bruning -- centered around their personal finances. Stenberg has criticized Bruning for becoming wealthy while in office as attorney general. Reports indicated that Stenberg -- the Nebraska state Treasurer -- is also a millionaire, but he says he earned his money in the private sector before taking office.

Ballot Issues

In late March, the Nebraska Supreme Court dismissed the Republican Party's case to remove Senate contender Bob Kerrey (D) from the May 15 primary election ballot, paving the way for a big-money, high-stakes battle that could conceivably alter the balance of power in Washington.

Nebraska Secretary of State John Gale (R) had expressed misgivings about whether Kerrey, a former Nebraska Governor and U.S. Senator, had established residency at the time of filing, but ultimately ruled that the U.S. Constitution protected his status as a candidate in the race to replace retiring Sen. Ben Nelson (D).

State Republicans asked the courts to overturn Gale's decision, claiming that Kerrey had resorted to the "New York-style political trick" of filing at the eleventh hour to avoid scrutiny from election officials, but the judges ruled that they had no authority to grant relief.

The Nebraska Supreme Court upheld District Court Judge Steven Burns' decision that there was "no evidence to suggest that Mr. Kerrey knowingly and willfully violated any laws of the state of Nebraska."

Outside spending

Outside groups spent more than $2 million on advertising prior to the primary, with more than $1 million going into attack ads against Jon Bruning.

Race rating

Cook Political Report

Each month the Cook Political Report releases race ratings for President, U.S. Senate, U.S. House (competitive only) and Governors. There are seven possible designations:

     Solid Democratic
     Likely Democratic
     Lean Democratic

     Tossup

     Lean Republican
     Likely Republican
     Solid Republican

Cook Political Report Race Rating -- Nebraska Senate
Month	Rating
November 1, 2012
October 4, 2012
September 13, 2012
August 21, 2012
July 12, 2012
May 31, 2012
May 10, 2012
March 22, 2012
March 1, 2012
January 26, 2012
December 22, 2011
December 1, 2011

Polls

Bob Kerrey v. Deb Fischer
Response	Pharos Research Group (October 26-28, 2012)	Average
Deb Fischer	49.7%	49.7%
Bob Kerrey	47.0%	47%
Other	0%	0%
Undecided	3.2%	3.2%
Number polled	761	761
Margin of error	+/-3.5	3.5%
Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org

Election history

2008

On November 4, 2008, Mike Johanns was elected to the United States Senate. He defeated Scott Kleeb (D), Kelly Renee Rosberg (Nebraska), and Steve Larrick (Green).

United States Senate Nebraska General Election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Mike Johanns	57.5%	455,854
	Democratic	Scott Kleeb	40.1%	317,456
	Nebraska	Kelly Renee Rosberg	1.4%	11,438
	Green	Steven R. Larrick	1%	7,763
Total Votes				792,511

2006

On November 7, 2006, Ben Nelson was re-elected to the United States Senate for a second term. He defeated Pete Ricketts (R).

United States Senate Nebraska General Election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Ben Nelson Incumbent	63.9%	378,388
	Republican	Pete Ricketts	36.1%	213,928
Total Votes				592,316

Campaign donors

Bob Kerrey

Bob Kerrey (2012) Campaign Finance Reports
Report	Date Filed	Beginning Balance	Total Contributions for Reporting Period	Expenditures	Cash on Hand
April Quarterly	March 31, 2012	$0.00	$900,237.29	$(344,103.26)	$556,134.03
July Quarterly	June 30, 2012	$393,143.45	$1,577,687.26	$(714,602.05)	$1,256,228.66
			Running totals
			$2,477,924.55	$(1,058,705.31)

Deb Fischer

Deb Fischer (2012) Campaign Finance Reports
Report	Date Filed	Beginning Balance	Total Contributions for Reporting Period	Expenditures	Cash on Hand
April Quarterly	March 31, 2012	$207,839.86	$61,496.46	$(83,158.10)	$186,178.22
July Quarterly	June 30, 2012	$94,330.09	$1,291,638.61	$(279,645.93)	$1,106,322.77
			Running totals
			$1,353,135.07	$(362,804.03)

See also

• United States House of Representatives elections in Nebraska, 2012
• United States Senate elections, 2012