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2016 United States presidential election in Nebraska

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The 2016 United States presidential election in Nebraska was held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016, as part of the 2016 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. Nebraska voters chose electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote, pitting the Republican Party's nominee, businessman Donald Trump, and running mate Indiana Governor Mike Pence against Democratic Party nominee, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and her running mate Virginia Senator Tim Kaine. Nebraska has five electoral votes in the Electoral College, two from the state at large, and one each from the three congressional districts.[2]

2016 United States presidential election in Nebraska
← 2012
November 8, 2016
2020 →
Turnout63.80% Increase [1]
 
Nominee Donald Trump Hillary Clinton
Party Republican Democratic
Home state New York New York
Running mate Mike Pence Tim Kaine
Electoral vote 5 0
Popular vote 495,961 284,494
Percentage 58.75% 33.70%
President before election

Barack Obama
Democratic

 Elected President

Donald Trump
Republican

Results by county showing number of votes by size and candidates by color
Treemap of the popular vote by county

Prior to the election, Nebraska was considered to be a state Trump would win or a safe red state. The state is located in the heavily conservative Great Plains and was projected to vote for Trump by a wide margin. However, Nebraska is one of the two states (the other being Maine) where electoral votes are split based on congressional districts; the statewide winner receives two electoral votes and the remaining three electoral votes are awarded to the winner of each congressional district.

Trump carried the state with 58.7% of the vote, while Clinton received 33.7%, a margin of 25%.[3] Trump also won all three congressional districts, thus winning all 5 of the state's electoral votes.

Although Trump improved on Romney's margin statewide, his margin in Nebraska's 2nd notably decreased; Trump won NE-02 with a plurality of 47% (137,264 votes) to Clinton's 45% (130,844 votes) with a notable increase in third-party voting.[4] This was the most recent presidential election when Nebraska's 2nd congressional district would vote Republican, and thus, Nebraska's 2nd district was the only electoral vote that voted for Trump in 2016 that did not vote for him in 2024.

Caucuses and primaries

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Democratic caucus

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The 2016 Nebraska Democratic caucuses was held on March 15, 2016, as part of a series of primary elections to decide the 2016 Democratic nominee for president. Senator Bernie Sanders won a commanding victory in Nebraska, winning rural areas along with big cities such as Omaha and Lincoln. This was the last Democratic primary in Nebraska held via the caucus method, the state party switched to a standard popular vote to decide the allocation of delegates in future elections including 2020. In 2016, the Nebraska caucuses occurred on the same dates as Kansas and Louisiana, the former being won handily by Sanders, while the latter was won in a landslide by the eventual nominee Hillary Clinton.

Results of the Democratic caucuses by county
  Bernie Sanders
  Hillary Clinton

Democratic presidential caucuses

Nebraska Democratic caucuses, March 5, 2016
Candidate Popular vote Estimated delegates
Count Percentage Pledged Unpledged Total
Bernie Sanders 19,120 57.14% 15 1 16
Hillary Clinton 14,340 42.86% 10 3 13
Uncommitted N/a 0 1 1
Total 33,460 100% 25 5 30
Source: [5]


Democratic presidential primary (non-binding)
The Nebraska Democratic primary was held on May 10, 2016. The primary does not bind delegates. Delegates were bound by the caucuses on March 5, 2016.

Nebraska Democratic primary, May 10, 2016
Candidate Popular vote Estimated delegates
Count Percentage Pledged Unpledged Total
Hillary Clinton 42,692 53.08% N/a
Bernie Sanders 37,744 46.92% N/a
Total 80,436 100% N/a
Source: [6]

Republican primary

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Twelve candidates appeared on the Republican presidential primary ballot:[7][8]

Nebraska Republican primary, May 10, 2016
Candidate Votes Percentage Actual delegate count
Bound Unbound Total
Donald Trump 122,327 61.47% 36 0 36
Ted Cruz (withdrawn) 36,703 18.44% 0 0 0
John Kasich (withdrawn) 22,709 11.41% 0 0 0
Ben Carson (withdrawn) 10,016 5.03% 0 0 0
Marco Rubio (withdrawn) 7,233 3.63% 0 0 0
Unprojected delegates: 0 0 0
Total: 198,988 100.00% 36 0 36
Source: The Green Papers

Libertarian primary

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2016 Nebraska Libertarian presidential primary
May 10, 2016 (2016-05-10)
2020 →
 
Candidate Gary Johnson Austin Petersen
Home state New Mexico Missouri
Popular vote 375 135
Percentage 52.08% 18.75%
 
Candidate John McAfee Marc Allan Feldman
Home state Tennessee Ohio
Popular vote 124 47
Percentage 17.22% 6.53%
County results
(Note: Italicization indicates a withdrawn candidacy)

The Nebraska primary was held on May 10, 2016. Independents and registered Libertarians were allowed to vote in the state's Libertarian primary. The Nebraska Primary marked the third large victory for Gary Johnson in the handful of states that conduct Libertarian presidential primaries. However, since the Libertarian Party does not use such primaries for selecting delegates to its national nominating convention, the results were effectively non-binding.

2016 Nebraska Libertarian primary[9]
Candidate Popular vote
Count Percentage
Gary Johnson 375 52.08%
Austin Petersen 135 18.75%
John McAfee 124 17.22%
Marc Allan Feldman 47 6.53%
Steve Kerbel 35 4.86%
Total: 720 100%

General election

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Polling

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1st Congressional District

Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size		 Margin of
error		 Hillary
Clinton (D)		 Donald
Trump (R)		 Gary
Johnson (L)		 Other Undecided
Emerson College[10] September 25–27, 2016 233 29% 53% — — —

2nd Congressional District

Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size		 Margin of
error		 Hillary
Clinton (D)		 Donald
Trump (R)		 Gary
Johnson (L)		 Other Undecided
Emerson College[10] September 25–27, 2016 233 40% 49% — — —
The Singularis Group, LLC[11] May 11–12, 2016 1,007 ± 3.08% 36% 44% — — 20%

3rd Congressional District

Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size		 Margin of
error		 Hillary
Clinton (D)		 Donald
Trump (R)		 Gary
Johnson (L)		 Other Undecided
Emerson College[10] September 25–27, 2016 234 20% 65% — — —

Predictions

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Source Ranking As of
Los Angeles Times[12] Safe R November 6, 2016
CNN[13] Safe R November 8, 2016
Rothenberg Political Report[14] Likely R November 7, 2016
Sabato's Crystal Ball[15] Safe R November 7, 2016
NBC[16] Likely R November 7, 2016
RealClearPolitics[17] Safe R November 8, 2016
Fox News[18] Safe R November 7, 2016
ABC[19] Safe R November 7, 2016
Source 1st district 2nd district 3rd district As of
CNN[20] Safe R Tossup Safe R November 8, 2016
Sabato's Crystal Ball[21] Safe R Lean R Safe R November 7, 2016
NBC[22] Safe R Tossup Safe R November 7, 2016
RealClearPolitics[23] Safe R Likely R Safe R November 8, 2016

Results

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2016 United States presidential election in Nebraska[24]
Party Candidate Running mate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican Donald Trump Mike Pence 495,961 58.75% 5
Democratic Hillary Clinton Tim Kaine 284,494 33.70% 0
Libertarian Gary Johnson William Weld 38,946 4.61% 0
Write-Ins 16,051 1.90% 0
Green Jill Stein Ajamu Baraka 8,775 1.04% 0
Totals 844,227 100.00% 5

By county

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County[24] Donald Trump
Republican		 Hillary Clinton
Democratic		 Various candidates
Other parties		 Margin Total
# % # % # % # %
Adams 9,287 68.73% 3,302 24.44% 924 6.83% 5,985 44.29% 13,513
Antelope 2,732 83.27% 383 11.67% 166 5.06% 2,349 71.60% 3,281
Arthur 244 89.38% 17 6.23% 12 4.39% 227 83.15% 273
Banner 357 88.81% 19 4.73% 26 6.46% 338 84.08% 402
Blaine 276 87.07% 30 9.46% 11 3.47% 246 77.61% 317
Boone 2,299 79.14% 414 14.25% 192 6.61% 1,885 64.89% 2,905
Box Butte 3,617 73.46% 965 19.60% 342 6.94% 2,652 53.86% 4,924
Boyd 983 85.03% 128 11.07% 45 3.90% 855 73.96% 1,156
Brown 1,385 86.73% 153 9.58% 59 3.69% 1,232 77.15% 1,597
Buffalo 14,569 68.95% 4,763 22.54% 1,797 8.51% 9,806 46.41% 21,129
Burt 2,367 66.53% 930 26.14% 261 7.33% 1,437 40.39% 3,558
Butler 3,079 77.34% 691 17.36% 211 5.30% 2,388 59.98% 3,981
Cass 8,452 65.35% 3,484 26.94% 997 7.71% 4,968 38.41% 12,933
Cedar 3,532 79.91% 571 12.92% 317 7.17% 2,961 66.99% 4,420
Chase 1,648 86.83% 171 9.01% 79 4.16% 1,477 77.82% 1,898
Cherry 2,623 84.12% 317 10.17% 178 5.71% 2,306 73.95% 3,118
Cheyenne 3,665 77.80% 711 15.09% 335 7.11% 2,954 62.71% 4,711
Clay 2,422 79.02% 477 15.56% 166 5.42% 1,945 63.46% 3,065
Colfax 2,171 67.55% 859 26.73% 184 5.72% 1,312 40.82% 3,214
Cuming 3,122 76.63% 719 17.65% 233 5.72% 2,403 58.98% 4,074
Custer 4,695 83.07% 641 11.34% 316 5.59% 4,054 71.73% 5,652
Dakota 3,616 57.59% 2,314 36.85% 349 5.56% 1,302 20.74% 6,279
Dawes 2,632 71.60% 801 21.79% 243 6.61% 1,831 49.81% 3,676
Dawson 5,984 69.30% 2,136 24.74% 515 5.96% 3,848 44.56% 8,635
Deuel 809 82.22% 120 12.20% 55 5.58% 689 70.02% 984
Dixon 2,041 73.36% 556 19.99% 185 6.65% 1,485 53.37% 2,782
Dodge 9,933 63.96% 4,544 29.26% 1,052 6.78% 5,389 34.70% 15,529
Douglas 108,077 44.95% 113,798 47.33% 18,558 7.72% -5,721 -2.38% 240,433
Dundy 823 86.36% 89 9.34% 41 4.30% 734 77.02% 953
Fillmore 2,130 72.42% 613 20.84% 198 6.74% 1,517 51.58% 2,941
Franklin 1,347 80.51% 250 14.94% 76 4.55% 1,097 65.57% 1,673
Frontier 1,110 83.58% 161 12.12% 57 4.30% 949 71.46% 1,328
Furnas 1,921 82.09% 304 12.99% 115 4.92% 1,617 69.10% 2,340
Gage 6,380 63.50% 2,935 29.21% 733 7.29% 3,445 34.29% 10,048
Garden 869 80.84% 153 14.23% 53 4.93% 716 66.61% 1,075
Garfield 821 83.78% 121 12.35% 38 3.87% 700 71.43% 980
Gosper 794 78.61% 166 16.44% 50 4.95% 628 62.17% 1,010
Grant 367 90.62% 20 4.94% 18 4.44% 347 85.68% 405
Greeley 912 77.62% 210 17.87% 53 4.51% 702 59.75% 1,175
Hall 14,408 65.31% 6,282 28.48% 1,370 6.21% 8,126 36.83% 22,060
Hamilton 3,783 75.60% 878 17.55% 343 6.85% 2,905 58.05% 5,004
Harlan 1,496 81.66% 254 13.86% 82 4.48% 1,242 67.80% 1,832
Hayes 472 91.83% 30 5.84% 12 2.33% 442 85.99% 514
Hitchcock 1,232 83.92% 161 10.97% 75 5.11% 1,071 72.95% 1,468
Holt 4,354 85.07% 531 10.38% 233 4.55% 3,823 74.69% 5,118
Hooker 355 85.13% 40 9.59% 22 5.28% 315 75.54% 417
Howard 2,284 76.29% 544 18.17% 166 5.54% 1,740 58.12% 2,994
Jefferson 2,399 68.66% 837 23.96% 258 7.38% 1,562 44.70% 3,494
Johnson 1,355 64.86% 563 26.95% 171 8.19% 792 37.91% 2,089
Kearney 2,531 76.79% 550 16.69% 215 6.52% 1,981 60.10% 3,296
Keith 3,235 80.19% 571 14.15% 228 5.66% 2,664 66.04% 4,034
Keya Paha 460 88.63% 40 7.71% 19 3.66% 420 80.92% 519
Kimball 1,330 79.31% 230 13.71% 117 6.98% 1,100 65.60% 1,677
Knox 3,188 77.47% 720 17.50% 207 5.03% 2,468 59.97% 4,115
Lancaster 61,588 45.21% 61,898 45.44% 12,737 9.35% -310 -0.23% 136,223
Lincoln 12,164 75.41% 2,913 18.06% 1,054 6.53% 9,251 57.35% 16,131
Logan 400 88.30% 32 7.06% 21 4.64% 368 81.24% 453
Loup 323 83.90% 48 12.47% 14 3.63% 275 71.43% 385
Madison 10,628 74.10% 2,711 18.90% 1,004 7.00% 7,917 55.20% 14,343
McPherson 257 89.55% 14 4.88% 16 5.57% 243 84.67% 287
Merrick 2,926 77.24% 602 15.89% 260 6.87% 2,324 61.35% 3,788
Morrill 1,802 81.58% 284 12.86% 123 5.56% 1,518 68.72% 2,209
Nance 1,261 77.79% 281 17.33% 79 4.88% 980 60.46% 1,621
Nemaha 2,116 66.94% 785 24.83% 260 8.23% 1,331 42.11% 3,161
Nuckolls 1,726 78.28% 353 16.01% 126 5.71% 1,373 62.27% 2,205
Otoe 4,860 65.17% 2,025 27.16% 572 7.67% 2,835 38.01% 7,457
Pawnee 974 73.40% 279 21.02% 74 5.58% 695 52.38% 1,327
Perkins 1,217 83.64% 161 11.07% 77 5.29% 1,056 72.57% 1,455
Phelps 3,849 81.98% 572 12.18% 274 5.84% 3,277 69.80% 4,695
Pierce 3,052 84.08% 382 10.52% 196 5.40% 2,670 73.56% 3,630
Platte 10,965 75.97% 2,646 18.33% 822 5.70% 8,319 57.64% 14,433
Polk 2,028 78.54% 413 16.00% 141 5.46% 1,615 62.54% 2,582
Red Willow 4,258 82.28% 645 12.46% 272 5.26% 3,613 69.82% 5,175
Richardson 2,769 72.77% 818 21.50% 218 5.73% 1,951 51.27% 3,805
Rock 687 86.09% 70 8.77% 41 5.14% 617 77.32% 798
Saline 3,004 58.49% 1,733 33.74% 399 7.77% 1,271 24.75% 5,136
Sarpy 45,143 56.02% 28,033 34.79% 7,404 9.19% 17,110 21.23% 80,580
Saunders 7,555 69.57% 2,523 23.23% 782 7.20% 5,032 46.34% 10,860
Scotts Bluff 10,076 70.38% 3,207 22.40% 1,034 7.22% 6,869 47.98% 14,317
Seward 5,454 68.85% 1,875 23.67% 593 7.48% 3,579 45.18% 7,922
Sheridan 2,211 84.78% 287 11.00% 110 4.22% 1,924 73.78% 2,608
Sherman 1,150 73.11% 340 21.61% 83 5.28% 810 51.50% 1,573
Sioux 616 83.70% 81 11.01% 39 5.29% 535 72.69% 736
Stanton 2,187 78.08% 417 14.89% 197 7.03% 1,770 63.19% 2,801
Thayer 2,051 76.25% 499 18.55% 140 5.20% 1,552 57.70% 2,690
Thomas 344 87.53% 30 7.63% 19 4.84% 314 79.90% 393
Thurston 1,043 49.95% 919 44.01% 126 6.04% 124 5.94% 2,088
Valley 1,780 80.73% 339 15.37% 86 3.90% 1,441 65.36% 2,205
Washington 7,424 68.54% 2,623 24.22% 785 7.24% 4,801 44.32% 10,832
Wayne 2,693 71.32% 835 22.11% 248 6.57% 1,858 49.21% 3,776
Webster 1,330 77.87% 306 17.92% 72 4.21% 1,024 59.95% 1,708
Wheeler 377 81.08% 62 13.33% 26 5.59% 315 67.75% 465
York 4,700 73.66% 1,186 18.59% 495 7.75% 3,514 55.07% 6,381
Totals495,96158.75%284,49433.70%63,7777.55%211,46725.05%844,232
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

By congressional district

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Trump won all of the state's three congressional districts, winning all of the state's electoral votes.[24]

District Trump Clinton Representative
1st 56% 35% Jeff Fortenberry
2nd 47% 45% Brad Ashford
Don Bacon
3rd 74% 20% Adrian Smith

Analysis

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A map of the most college-educated counties in the United States

Although Trump won Nebraska's 2nd congressional district in 2016, the district shifted significantly leftward, and Clinton lost it by just 2%. Trump became the first Republican to win the White House without carrying Douglas or Lancaster County since William Howard Taft in 1908.

This was because Douglas and Lancaster counties, which are in the district, are two of the most highly educated counties in Nebraska. Trump underperformed among white voters with college degrees in 2016. In 2020 and 2024 Democrats won a majority of white voters with college degrees, and were thus able to win the district in those elections.[25]

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ "Voter turnout in United States elections".
  2. ↑ "Distribution of Electoral Votes". National Archives and Records Administration. September 19, 2019. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  3. ↑ "Nebraska Election Results 2016". The New York Times. August 9, 2017.
  4. ↑ Friedman, Andrew Levinson, Lakshmi Ketineni and Dov. "Nebraska Election 2016: Live Results". WSJ. Retrieved April 13, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ↑ The Green Papers
  6. ↑ Nebraska Secretary of State Election - Official Primary Results
  7. ↑ WRAL: NC approves 27 candidates for presidential primary ballots
  8. ↑ NC State Board of Elections presidential primary candidates' list (preliminary)[dead link]
  9. ↑ "Unofficial Results: Primary Election - May 10, 2016". Nebraska Secretary of State. May 10, 2016. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  10. 1 2 3 "Emerson Poll: Washington State Looks Safe for Democrats in the Presidential and Senate Races; Trump Has a Wide Lead in Nebraska" (PDF). Emerson College. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
  11. ↑ "BACON LEADS ASHFORD IN LATEST POLL". The Singularis Group, LLC. Don Bacon for Congress. May 16, 2016. Archived from the original on September 10, 2016. Retrieved August 14, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Our final map has Clinton winning with 352 electoral votes. Compare your picks with ours". Los Angeles Times. November 6, 2016. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
  13. ↑ "Road to 270: CNN's general election map - CNNPolitics.com". Cnn.com. November 8, 2016. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Presidential Ratings". The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
  15. ↑ "Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball » 2016 President". Centerforpolitics.org. November 7, 2016. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
  16. ↑ Todd, Chuck (November 7, 2016). "NBC's Final Battleground Map Shows Clinton With a Significant Lead". NBC News. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
  17. ↑ "2016 Election Maps - Battle for White House". RealClearPolitics. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
  18. ↑ "Electoral Scorecard: Map shifts again in Trump's favor, as Clinton holds edge". Fox News. November 7, 2016. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
  19. ↑ "The Final 15: The Latest Polls in the Swing States That Will Decide the Election". Abcnews.go.com. November 7, 2016. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
  20. ↑ "Road to 270: CNN's general election map - CNNPolitics.com". Cnn.com. November 8, 2016. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
  21. ↑ "Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball » 2016 President". Centerforpolitics.org. November 7, 2016. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
  22. ↑ Todd, Chuck (November 7, 2016). "NBC's Final Battleground Map Shows Clinton With a Significant Lead". NBC News. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
  23. ↑ "2016 Election Maps - Battle for White House". RealClearPolitics. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
  24. 1 2 3 "Revised Official Report of the Board of State Canvassers" (PDF). Nebraska Secretary of State. pp. 10–11. Retrieved March 14, 2025.
  25. ↑ Silver, Nate (November 22, 2016). "Education, Not Income, Predicted Who Would Vote For Trump". FiveThirtyEight. Archived from the original on November 22, 2016.
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