United States Senate election in Nebraska, 2026 (May 12 Republican primary)

← 2024
U.S. Senate, Nebraska
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: Likely Republican
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds U.S. House battlegrounds Federal and state primary competitiveness Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2026
See also
U.S. Senate, Nebraska U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd Nebraska elections, 2026 U.S. Congress elections, 2026 U.S. Senate elections, 2026 U.S. House elections, 2026 Alabama U.S. Senate raceAlaska U.S. Senate raceArkansas U.S. Senate raceColorado U.S. Senate raceDelaware U.S. Senate raceGeorgia U.S. Senate raceIdaho U.S. Senate raceIllinois U.S. Senate raceIowa U.S. Senate raceKansas U.S. Senate raceKentucky U.S. Senate raceLouisiana U.S. Senate raceMaine U.S. Senate raceMassachusetts U.S. Senate raceMichigan U.S. Senate raceMinnesota U.S. Senate raceMississippi U.S. Senate raceMontana U.S. Senate raceNebraska U.S. Senate raceNew Hampshire U.S. Senate raceNew Jersey U.S. Senate raceNew Mexico U.S. Senate raceNorth Carolina U.S. Senate raceOklahoma U.S. Senate raceOregon U.S. Senate raceRhode Island U.S. Senate raceSouth Carolina U.S. Senate raceSouth Dakota U.S. Senate raceTennessee U.S. Senate raceTexas U.S. Senate raceVirginia U.S. Senate raceWest Virginia U.S. Senate raceWyoming U.S. Senate raceSubmit

A Republican Party primary takes place on May 12, 2026, in Nebraska to determine which Republican candidate will run in the state's general election on November 3, 2026.

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

Heading into the election, the incumbent is Pete Ricketts (Republican), who was first elected in 2024.

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 any voter may vote in the congressional primary of their choice. For all other statewide offices, a state party can determine if it will allow unaffiliated voters to vote their primary ballot.

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.

This page focuses on Nebraska's United States Senate Republican primary. For more in-depth information on the state's Democratic primary and the general election, see the following pages:

• United States Senate election in Nebraska, 2026 (May 12 Democratic primary)
• United States Senate election in Nebraska, 2026

Candidates and election results

Note: The following list includes official candidates only. Ballotpedia defines official candidates as people who:

• Register with a federal or state campaign finance agency before the candidate filing deadline
• Appear on candidate lists released by government election agencies

Note: At this time, Ballotpedia is combining all declared candidates for this election into one list under a general election heading. As primary election dates are published, this information will be updated to separate general election candidates from primary candidates as appropriate.

Candidate profiles

There are currently no candidate profiles created for this race. Candidate profiles will appear here as they are created. Encourage the candidates in this race to complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey so that their profile will appear here.

Voting information

See also: Voting in Nebraska

Ballotpedia will publish the dates and deadlines related to this election as they are made available.

Campaign finance

There are currently no declared candidates in this race. Know of one we missed? Click here to let us know.

Ballot access

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. Senate 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. Senate candidates, 2026
State	Office	Party	Signatures required	Filing fee	Filing deadline	Source
Nebraska	U.S. Senate	Ballot-qualified party	N/A	1% of annual salary	Incumbents: 2/17/2026, Non-incumbents: 3/2/2026	Source
Nebraska	U.S. Senate	Unaffiliated	4,000	1% of annual salary	Incumbents: 2/17/2026, Non-incumbents: 3/2/2026	Source

See also

• United States Senate election in Nebraska, 2026 (May 12 Democratic primary)
• United States Senate election in Nebraska, 2026
• United States Senate Democratic Party primaries, 2026
• United States Senate Republican Party primaries, 2026
• United States Senate elections, 2026
• U.S. Senate battlegrounds, 2026

External links

Suggest a link

• Search Google News for this topic

Footnotes

[show]

Nebraska's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Deb Fischer (R)

Pete Ricketts (R)

Representatives

District 1

Mike Flood (R)

District 2

Don Bacon (R)

District 3

Adrian Smith (R)

Republican Party (5)

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