Nebraska 2010 legislative election results
Senate
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| Other 2010 Election information |
Nebraska State Senate Election Results
This page contains macro-level election results and analysis for the Nebraska State Senate. For results in individual contests see our Nebraska State Senate elections, 2010 page.
What You'll See on This Page
This page displays the following lists of candidates
- Incumbents who ran on November 2
- Incumbents who were defeated
- Challengers who defeated an incumbent
- Newly elected senators
- List of all winners
- Unopposed candidates
State Senate Overview:
- There were 21 incumbents who ran in the November 2 general election. Only 4 incumbents lost, and thus 17 incumbents were re-elected to the Nebraska State Senate.
- There will be 7 new senators sworn-in.
- 8 candidates were unopposed.
Incumbency Analysis
Of the 1,167 state senate seats up for election in 2010, incumbents ran for 894 (76.6%) of them. Of these 894, 94 lost their re-election bids, 89 Democrats and 5 Republicans. In Nebraska, 3 incumbent senators did not run for re-election on the November 2 ballot, while 21 incumbents (87.5%) ran for re-election. Of these 21 incumbents, 4 were defeated.
Incumbents who ran on November 2
The following is a list of all of the incumbents who ran on the November 2 general election ballot:
- John Harms
- Danielle Conrad
- Thomas Hansen (Nebraska)
- Mark Christensen
- Merton Dierks
- Russ Karpisek
- John Wightman
- Norm Wallman
- Tom Carlson (Nebraska)
- Bill Avery
- Greg Adams (Nebraska)
- Scott Lautenbaugh
- Annette Dubas
- Kent Rogert
- Pete Pirsch
- Dave Pankonin
- Steve Lathrop
- Bob Krist
- Paul Lambert (Nebraska)
- Amanda McGill Johnson
- Brad Ashford
- John Nelson (Nebraska)
Incumbents defeated
The following is a list of incumbents defeated on November 2:
| Candidate | District |
|---|---|
| Merton Dierks | |
| Kent Rogert |
Challengers who beat an incumbent
The following is a list of challengers who defeated an incumbent on November 2:
| Candidate | District |
|---|---|
| Tyson Larson | |
| Lydia Brasch |
New State Senators and General Election Winners
388 new senators were elected across the country. This includes challengers who defeated incumbents as well as candidates who won open seats. Of these 388, 278 were Republicans and 110 were Democrats. In Nebraska, 7 new senators will be sworn-in. There were 3 districts in which the incumbent did not seek re-election.
Newly elected senators
The following are the newly-elected members of the Nebraska State Senate:
Open Seat Winners
The following is a list of candidates who won election in seats where no incumbent was running:
Candidates who won election
The following is a list of all candidates elected to the Nebraska State Senate:
- Tyson Larson
- John Harms
- Danielle Conrad
- Thomas Hansen (Nebraska)
- Mark Christensen
- Russ Karpisek
- John Wightman
- Norm Wallman
- Tom Carlson (Nebraska)
- Bill Avery
- Greg Adams (Nebraska)
- Paul Schumacher (Nebraska)
- Scott Lautenbaugh
- Annette Dubas
- Jim Smith (Nebraska)
- Lydia Brasch
- Burke Harr
- Pete Pirsch
- Dave Pankonin
- Steve Lathrop
- Bob Krist
- Paul Lambert (Nebraska)
- Amanda McGill Johnson
- Brad Ashford
- John Nelson (Nebraska)
Competitiveness
Across the nation, 1,167 state senate seats were up for election in 2010. 1,143 of those seats were partisan seats (24 seats were up for election in Nebraska's nonpartisan unicameral legislature). In 320 (28.0%) of these state senate contests, there was a major party candidate with no major party opposition. In Nebraska, 8 candidates (33.3% of seats) faced no opposition in the general election.
Unopposed candidates in general election
The following candidates did not face major party competition:
National Partisan Trends
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| Other 2010 Election information |
National Partisan Trends
The following tables detail the partisan breakdown of national election results. These results provide context for Republican gains in Nebraska.
Incumbents who were defeated in the general election
Across the nation, only 15 Republican incumbents were defeated while 492 Democratic incumbents were defeated. In total, 507 (10.4%) of the 4,872 incumbents running in the general election were defeated. The following is a breakdown of incumbent defeats in the 2010 general election:
The following is the breakdown of incumbents who lost.
| Incumbents defeated in 2010 legislative elections | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Senate | House | Total |
| Democratic | 89 | 403 | 492 |
| Republican | 5 | 10 | 15 |
| TOTALS | 94 | 413 | 507 |
Total new legislators elected
In total, 1,733 (28.3%) new legislators were elected in 2010. Of these 1,733, 1,266 (73.1%) are Republicans and 467 (26.9%) are Democrats.
The following is the breakdown of new legislators.
| New Legislators after the 2010 legislative elections | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Senate | House | Total |
| Democratic | 110 | 357 | 467 |
| Republican | 278 | 988 | 1,266 |
| TOTALS | 388 | 1,345 | 1,733 |
Winners of Open Seats
Open seats contests made up 1,178 (19.2%) of the 6,125 seats on November 2. Of these 1,178 open seats, Republicans won 729 (61.9%) while Democrats won 449 (38.1%). Going into the election, the number of open seats formerly held by each party was quite similar. Estimates prior to the election suggest 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 2010 legislative elections | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Senate | House | Total |
| Democratic | 108 | 341 | 449 |
| Republican | 191 | 538 | 729 |
| TOTALS | 299 | 879 | 1,178 |
Impact on legislative majorities
- See also: Partisan balance of state legislatures
Heading into the November 2 elections, the Democratic Party held a commanding lead in state houses in the 88 legislative chambers that held elections in 2010. 52 of the 88 chambers, or nearly 60% of them, had a Democratic majority, while only 33 of them had a Republican majority. (Two chambers had an exactly equal number of Democrats and Republicans and one is officially nonpartisan.) The following is a partisan breakdown of state legislatures prior to the November 2 election:
| Partisan breakdown before the November 2010 Election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Legislative chamber | 
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| State senates | 23 | 18 | 1 | 1 |
| State houses | 29 | 15 | 1 | - |
| Totals: | 52 | 33 | 2 | 1 |
As a result of the election, Republicans picked up 20 legislative chambers while Democrats lost 20. Republicans won 53 total chambers on November 2, while Democrats won only 32. The following is a partisan breakdown of state legislatures after the November 2 election:
| Partisan breakdown after the November 2010 Election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Legislative chamber |
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| State senates | 16 | 25 | 1 | 1 |
| State houses | 16 | 28 | 1 | 0 |
| Totals: | 32 | 53 | 2 | 1 |
Another way to examine the data is to gauge how many chambers had gains for the Democratic Party versus the Republican Party. Using this variable, the wide-sweeping Republican victory is further amplified. Democrats bolstered their majorities in only 7 of 88 (7.96%) state chambers. These legislatures are as follows:
| State legislative chambers where Democrats gained seats on November 2 | ||
|---|---|---|
| State | Chamber | Number of seats gained by Democrats |
| California | Assembly | + 2 |
| Delaware | House | + 2 |
| Hawaii | Senate | + 1 |
| Maryland | Senate | + 2 |
| Massachusetts | Senate | + 1 |
| Missouri | Senate | + 1 |
| West Virginia | Senate | + 1 |
In 7 chambers, the GOP kept their current number of seats. In one chamber, the California State Assembly, both major parties gained seats by filling 2 vacancies and defeating an incumbent independent. Overall, the Republican Party picked up legislative seats in 75 (85.2%) of the 88 legislative chambers that held elections on November 2.
Impact on State Politics
Along with the GOP capture of the U.S. House of Representatives, state Republicans gained trifectas (control of the governorship, house, and senate) in 12 states. The following is a breakdown of trifectas across the nation, before and after the 2010 election:
| Trifectas before and after the 2010 Election | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Before election | U.S. House seats | After election | U.S. House seats | Gain/loss states | Gain/loss congressional seats |
| 16 | 131 | 11 | 115 | -5 | -16 | |
| 8 | 66 | 20 | 198 | +12 | +132 | |
Before the election, 131 U.S House seats were in states with Democratic trifectas, while 66 districts were in states with Republican trifectas. After the election, Republicans trifectas control redistricting for 198 U.S. House seats while Democrats control only 115. Additionally, California, the strongest Democratic trifecta with 53 U.S. House representatives, passed propositions that take redistricting power away from state government.
