NEBRASKA
      Nov. 3, 2020 U.S. Senate                                      

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+Ben Sasse (R) i
 		583,507
 		62.74%
Chris Janicek (D)
 		227,191
 		24.43%
Gene Siadek (L)
 55,115
 5.93%
Preston Love, Jr. (D, w/in)
 58,411
 6.28%
write-in scatterings
 5,788
 0.62%

930,012
Registered voters: 1,266,730.  Total votes cast:  966,920.
Plurality: 356,316 votes (38.31 percentage points).
 NE Secretary of State



Notes:  Sen. Ben Sasse (R), was elected to a second term by a wide margin.  Chris Janicek (D), Omaha wedding cake designer, won the May 12 primary, but in June the Nebraska Democratic Party demanded that he withdraw from the race after a charge of sexual harassment.  Janicek vowed to remain on the ballot and the party could not replace him.  On Sept. 10 longtime civil rights activist Preston Love, Jr. (D w/in) announced as a write-in candidate, backed by the party.  Also running was Gene Siadek (L).

Sasse was elected to the Senate in 2014 after serving as president of Midland University (formerly Midland Lutheran College).  He was one of the most prominent Republican officials critical of President Trump.

In the May 12 primaries, Sasse defeated Matt Innis, a businessman, Marine Corps veteran and former chairman of Lancaster Co. Republicans, with 75.21% of the vote (215,207 votes to 70,921).  In the Democratic primary, Janicek finished first out of a field of seven candidates, tallying 46,247 votes (30.69%) followed by progressive activist Angie Phillips 35,929 (23.84%), mental health therapist Alisha Shelton 34,284 (22.75%), Andy Stock 17,156 (11.38%), and three other candidates tallying 17,086 total votes.

On June 11, following the sexual harassment charge by a campaign staffer against Janicek, the Nebraska Democratic Party demanded he decline the nomination.  Janicek refused, and on June 15 the party's state executive committee voted unanimously to withhold all resources from his campaign.  If Janicek withdrew by Sept. 1, the party would be able replace him, and on July 19  the party endorsed Alisha Shelton.  However, Janicek stood firm and state law prohibited primary candidates from running as write-in candidates in the general election.  On Aug. 24 former U.S. Rep. Brad Ashford said he would run as a write-in candidate, but days later he reversed course.  On Sept. 10 the party announced its endorsement of Preston Love, Jr., who teaches Black history at University of Nebraska Omaha and served as campaign manager for Rev. Jesse Jackson's 1984 presidential campaign.
 
Sasse and Janicek participated in one debate, on Sept. 4 hosted by NET at the Ron Hull Studio in Lincoln (>).  The  Libertariian Party of Nebraska and their nominee Gene Siadek  reached out to NET about participating in the debate, but he was excluded.  According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the Sasse campaign spent $5.0 million to $126,459 for the Janicek campaign (>).

Campaign Managers:
Ben Sasse 
 
Chris Janicek 
 

Registration Details:  Republican 606,822 (47.90%)   Democratic 370,385 (29.24%)   Libertarian 17,882 (1.41%)   Nonpartisan 271,641 (21.44%)   Total 1,266,730.








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