Nebraska's 1st Congressional District election, 2026 (May 12 Democratic primary)

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Ballotpedia Election Coverage Badge-smaller use.png
U.S. Senate • U.S. House • Governor • Lt. Gov • Attorney General • Secretary of State • State executive offices • State Senate • Special state legislative • Supreme court • Appellate courts • State ballot measures • School boards • Municipal • How to run for office
Flag of Nebraska.png


← 2024
Nebraska's 1st Congressional District
Ballotpedia Election Coverage Badge.png
Democratic primary
Republican primary
General election
Election details
Filing deadline:
February 17, 2026 (incumbent)
March 2, 2026 (non-incumbent)
Primary: May 12, 2026
General: November 3, 2026
How to vote
Poll times:

8 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Central time zone); 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (Mountain time zone)
Voting in Nebraska

Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Solid Republican
DDHQ and The Hill: Pending
Inside Elections: Solid Republican
Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Republican
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds
U.S. House battlegrounds
Federal and state primary competitiveness
Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2026
See also
Nebraska's 1st Congressional District
U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd
Nebraska elections, 2026
U.S. Congress elections, 2026
U.S. Senate elections, 2026
U.S. House elections, 2026

A Democratic Party primary takes place on May 12, 2026, in Nebraska's 1st Congressional District to determine which Democratic candidate will run in the district's general election on November 3, 2026.

Candidate filing deadline Primary election General election
March 2, 2026
May 12, 2026
November 3, 2026



A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. In Nebraska, participation rules for primaries vary by the office up for election. State legislative primaries use a nonpartisan top-two primary system in which any voter can participate. Congressional primaries are partisan, but an unaffiliated voter may vote in the congressional primary of their choice. For all other statewide offices, a state party can determine whether it will allow unaffiliated voters to vote in its primary.[1]

As of October 2025, the Democratic Party held a semi-closed primary in which registered party members and unaffiliated voters could participate, and the Republican Party held a closed primary in which only registered party members could participate.[2][3]


This page focuses on Nebraska's 1st Congressional District Democratic primary. For more in-depth information on the district's Republican primary and the general election, see the following pages:

Candidates and election results

Democratic primary

Democratic primary for U.S. House Nebraska District 1

Christopher Backemeyer (D) and Eric Moyer (D) are running in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Nebraska District 1 on May 12, 2026.

Candidate
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Christopher Backemeyer
Image of Eric Moyer
Eric Moyer  Candidate Connection

There are no incumbents in this race.

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.

Eric Moyer

Image of Eric Moyer

WebsiteFacebookXYouTube

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

Income inequality is the single greatest threat to the future of the United States. The affordability crisis and concentration of wealth must be addressed by Congress. If elected, I will pursue reforms to the tax code to eliminate loopholes and impose an "asset origination tax" at fair market value for compensation of any individual in lieu of a regular salary. Once enacted, any award of stock or real property to an individual or entity valued in excess of $400,000 will be subject to taxation. Farmland and assets transferred via inheritance would be exempt from this tax. Further, I would work to create a tax cut for any individual earning less than $72,000 per year or $125,000 for those married filing jointly.

Our nation's "for profit" health care system is irreparably broken, inefficient and needlessly cruel. I fully and unequivocally support Medicare for All. Reproductive care is healthcare and healthcare is a human right. All citizens should have fair, effective and affordable access to universal basic health services. I will seek to expand the Medicare system to cover every citizen residing in the United States via reducing the qualifying age for Medicare access until every man, woman and child is covered. Under this system, for profit insurance and insurance through employers would still be encouraged for those who wish to have it.

Our nation's founders envisioned three co-equal branches of government in which Congress held the power of the purse. I will reassert congressional authority over taxes, spending and levying tariffs to guarantee that the will of the people and spending reflects the greater good rather than the whims of the powerful. If elected, I will eliminate tax cuts for the wealthy. Then I intend to restore funding to the Veterans Health Administration, Department of Education and SNAP while reining in wasteful spending on Immigration and Customs Enforcement. My spending priorities also include support for our allies and defenders of democracy worldwide assuming they respect fundamental, human rights.

Voting information

See also: Voting in Nebraska

Election information in Nebraska: May 12, 2026, election.

What is the voter registration deadline?

  • In-person: May 1, 2026
  • By mail: Postmarked by April 27, 2026
  • Online: April 27, 2026

Is absentee/mail-in voting available to all voters?

Yes

What is the absentee/mail-in ballot request deadline?

  • In-person: May 1, 2026
  • By mail: Received by May 1, 2026
  • Online: N/A

What is the absentee/mail-in ballot return deadline?

  • In-person: May 12, 2026
  • By mail: Received by May 12, 2026

Is early voting available to all voters?

Yes

What are the early voting start and end dates?

April 13, 2026 to May 11, 2026

Are all voters required to present ID at the polls? If so, is a photo or non-photo ID required?

N/A

When are polls open on Election Day?

8:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. (CT)

Campaign finance

Name Party Receipts* Disbursements** Cash on hand Date
Christopher Backemeyer Democratic Party $157,269 $32,078 $125,191 As of December 31, 2025
Eric Moyer Democratic Party $20,882 $16,810 $5,018 As of December 31, 2025

Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2026. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee."
** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.

District analysis

Click the tabs below to view information about voter composition, past elections, and demographics in both the district and the state.

  • District map - A map of the district in place for the election.
  • Competitiveness - Information about the competitiveness of 2026 U.S. House elections in the state.
  • Presidential elections - Information about presidential elections in the district and the state.
  • State party control - The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation and state government.


Below is the district map in place for this election. Click the map below to enlarge it.

2023_01_03_ne_congressional_district_01.jpg
See also: Primary election competitiveness in state and federal government, 2026
Information about competitiveness will be added here as it becomes available.

Partisan Voter Index

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

Heading into the 2026 elections, based on results from the 2024 and 2020 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district is R+6. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 6 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made Nebraska's 1st the 176th most Republican district nationally.[4]

2020 presidential election results

The table below shows what the vote in the 2024 presidential election was in this district. The presidential election data was compiled by The Downballot.

2024 presidential results in Nebraska's 1st Congressional District
Kamala Harris Democratic PartyDonald Trump Republican Party
43.0%56.0%

Presidential voting history

See also: Presidential election in Nebraska, 2024

Nebraska presidential election results (1900-2024)

  • 6 Democratic wins
  • 27 Republican wins
Year 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Winning Party R R D D D R R R D D R R R R R R D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R
See also: Party control of Nebraska state government

Congressional delegation

The table below displays the partisan composition of Nebraska's congressional delegation as of October 2025.

Congressional Partisan Breakdown from Nebraska
Party U.S. Senate U.S. House Total
Democratic 0 0 0
Republican 2 3 5
Independent 0 0 0
Vacancies 0 0 0
Total 2 3 5

State executive

The table below displays the officeholders in Nebraska's top four state executive offices as of October 2025.

State executive officials in Nebraska, October 2025
OfficeOfficeholder
GovernorRepublican Party Jim Pillen
Lieutenant GovernorRepublican Party Joe Kelly
Secretary of StateRepublican Party Bob Evnen
Attorney GeneralRepublican Party Mike Hilgers

State legislature

Nebraska State Senate

Party As of October 2025
     Democratic Party 14
     Republican Party 33
     Other 2
     Vacancies 0
Total 49

Trifecta control

Nebraska Party Control: 1992-2025
Seven years of Democratic trifectas  •  Twenty-seven years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Governor D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R
Senate - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Ballot access

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. House candidates in Nebraska in the 2026 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Nebraska, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. House candidates, 2026
State Office Party Signatures required Filing fee Filing deadline Source
Nebraska U.S. House Ballot-qualified party N/A $1,740 Incumbents: 2/17/2026, Non-incumbents: 3/2/2026 Source
Nebraska U.S. House Unaffiliated 20% of registered voters in the district who voted for president in 2020, or 2,000, whichever is less $1,740 Incumbents: 2/17/2026, Non-incumbents: 3/2/2026 Source

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Nebraska Legislature, "Neb. Rev. Stat. § 32–912," accessed October 27, 2025
  2. ↑ Nebraska Secretary of State, "How nonpartisan voting works in Nebraska primary elections," accessed October 27, 2025
  3. ↑ Nebraska Democratic Party, "2026 Democratic Candidates," accessed October 27, 2025
  4. ↑ Cook Political Report, "2025 Cook PVI℠: District Map and List (119th Congress)," accessed July 1, 2025


Nebraska's current delegation to the United States Congress
Senators
Deb Fischer (R)
Pete Ricketts (R)
Representatives
District 1
District 2
Don Bacon (R)
District 3
Republican Party (5)


Retrieved from "https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=Nebraska%27s_1st_Congressional_District_election,_2026_(May_12_Democratic_primary)&oldid=11077013"