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| Turnout | 63.80% [1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 County results Congressional district results Precinct results
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The2016 United States presidential election in Nebraska was held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016, as part of the2016 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus theDistrict of Columbia participated.Nebraska voters chose electors to represent them in theElectoral College via a popular vote, pitting theRepublican Party's nominee, businessmanDonald Trump, and running mateIndiana GovernorMike Pence againstDemocratic Party nominee, formerSecretary of StateHillary Clinton, and her running mate VirginiaSenatorTim Kaine. Nebraska has five electoral votes in the Electoral College, two from the state at large, and one each from thethree congressional districts.[2]
Trump carried the state with 58.7% of the vote, while Clinton received 33.7%.[3] This is also 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.
The 2016 Nebraska Democratic caucuses was held on March 15, 2016, as part of a series ofprimary elections to decide the 2016 Democratic nominee for president. SenatorBernie Sanders won a commanding victory in Nebraska, winning rural areas along with big cities such asOmaha andLincoln. This was the last Democratic primary in Nebraska held via thecaucus method, the state party switched to a standard popular vote to decide the allocation of delegates in future elections including2020. In 2016, the Nebraska caucuses occurred on the same dates asKansas andLouisiana, the former being won handily by Sanders, while the latter was won in a landslide by the eventual nomineeHillary 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 | — | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Total | 33,460 | 100% | 25 | 5 | 30 |
| Source:[4] | |||||
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% | — | ||
| Bernie Sanders | 37,744 | 46.92% | — | ||
| Total | 80,436 | 100% | — | ||
| Source:[5] | |||||
Twelve candidates appeared on the Republican presidential primary ballot:[6][7]
| 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 | |||||
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 Nebraska results by county
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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 forGary 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[8] | ||
|---|---|---|
| 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% |
Nebraska's 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[9] | September 25–27, 2016 | 233 | 29% | 53% | — | — | — |
Nebraska's 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[9] | September 25–27, 2016 | 233 | 40% | 49% | — | — | — | |
| The Singularis Group, LLC[10] | May 11–12, 2016 | 1,007 | ± 3.08% | 36% | 44% | — | — | 20% |
Nebraska's 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[9] | September 25–27, 2016 | 234 | 20% | 65% | — | — | — |
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Times[11] | Safe R | November 6, 2016 |
| CNN[12] | Safe R | November 8, 2016 |
| Rothenberg Political Report[13] | Likely R | November 7, 2016 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[14] | Safe R | November 7, 2016 |
| NBC[15] | Likely R | November 7, 2016 |
| RealClearPolitics[16] | Safe R | November 8, 2016 |
| Fox News[17] | Safe R | November 7, 2016 |
| ABC[18] | Safe R | November 7, 2016 |
| Source | Ranking (1st) | Ranking (2nd) | Ranking (3rd) | As of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CNN[19] | Safe R | Tossup | Safe R | November 8, 2016 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[20] | Safe R | Lean R | Safe R | November 7, 2016 |
| NBC[21] | Safe R | Tossup | Safe R | November 7, 2016 |
| RealClearPolitics[22] | Safe R | Likely R | Safe R | November 8, 2016 |
| 2016 United States presidential election in Nebraska[23] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | |||
| County[23] | 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 |
| Totals | 495,961 | 58.75% | 284,494 | 33.70% | 63,777 | 7.55% | 211,467 | 25.05% | 844,232 |
Swing by county
Trend relative to the state by county
County flipsDemocratic Gain from Republican | Republican Hold Gain from Democratic
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Trump won all of the state's three congressional districts, winning all of the state's electoral votes.[23]
| District | Trump | Clinton | Representative |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 56% | 35% | Jeff Fortenberry |
| 2nd | 47% | 45% | Brad Ashford |
| Don Bacon | |||
| 3rd | 74% | 20% | Adrian Smith |
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 carryingDouglas orLancaster County sinceWilliam Howard Taft in1908.
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.[24]
State and district results of the2016 United States presidential election | ||
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