The 2012 United States Senate election in Nebraska took place on November 6, 2012, concurrently with the

2012 U.S. presidential election The 2012 United States presidential election was the 57th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012. Incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama and his running mate, incumbent Vice President Joe Biden, were re-el ...

as well as other elections to the United States Senate and

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

and various state and local elections. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator

Ben Nelson Earl Benjamin Nelson (born May 17, 1941) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician who served as the 37th governor of Nebraska from 1991 to 1999 and as a United States Senator from Nebraska from 2001 to 2013. He is a member of the Dem ...

chose to retire instead of seeking a third term. Former U.S. Senator

Bob Kerrey Joseph Robert Kerrey (born August 27, 1943) is an American politician who served as the 35th Governor of Nebraska from 1983 to 1987 and as a United States Senator from Nebraska from 1989 to 2001. Before entering politics, he served in the Vie ...

, a Democrat, and state senator

Deb Fischer Debra Lynelle Fischer (; born March 1, 1951) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Nebraska, a seat she has held since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Fischer was the first woman elected to a full ter ...

, a Republican, won their respective parties' primary elections on May 15, 2012. Fischer won the general election with 58% of the vote. Her election marked the first time since

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...

that a Republican was elected to Nebraska's Class 1 Senate seat, as well as the first time that a woman was elected to a full Senate term in the state's history. This was the only seat the Republicans flipped during this cycle.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

, former U.S. Senator and former governor of Nebraska * Steven Lustgarten, video production company owner * Larry Marvin, landlord and perennial candidate * Sherman Yates

Withdrew

* Chuck Hassebrook, Regent of the

University of Nebraska A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United State ...

Declined

Chris Beutler Chris Beutler (born November 14, 1944) is an American politician and former Mayor of Lincoln, Nebraska, having served from 2007 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the Nebraska Legislature from 1979 to 1986 and fro ...

, Mayor of

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

* Jane Kleeb, founder and director of

Bold Nebraska Bold Nebraska is a progressive political advocacy group founded by Jane Fleming Kleeb in 2010 in the state of Nebraska. Background Bold Nebraska began as a progressive website, and it has been a vocal opponent of the Keystone XL Pipeline. Bold ...

* Scott Kleeb, businessman, Democratic nominee for the 3rd congressional district in 2006 and for the U.S. Senate in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Steve Lathrop Steve Lathrop (born April 1, 1957) is an American attorney and Democratic Party politician from the U.S. state of Nebraska. From 2007 to 2015, he served as a member of the Nebraska Legislature, representing an Omaha-area district. He did not ru ...

, state senator *

, incumbent U.S. senator * Kim Robak, former lieutenant governor

Endorsements

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Jon Bruning Jon Cumberland Bruning (born April 30, 1969) is an American politician who served as the 32nd Attorney General of Nebraska from 2003 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he previously represented the 3rd district in the Nebraska Legislature ...

, Attorney General of Nebraska * Sharyn Elander *

, state senator * Pat Flynn, financial adviser *

Don Stenberg Don Stenberg (born September 30, 1948) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 31st Attorney General of Nebraska from 1991 to 2003 and 43rd Treasurer of Nebraska from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he previously ...

, treasurer of Nebraska, former attorney general of Nebraska and nominee for the U.S. Senate in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

* Spencer Zimmerman, truck driver and

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...

veteran

Declined

* Bob Bennie, businessman * Rex Fisher, businessman * Mike Flood, speaker of the

Nebraska Legislature The Nebraska Legislature (also called the Unicameral) is the legislature of the U.S. state of Nebraska. The Legislature meets at the Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln. With 49 members, known as "senators", the Nebraska Legislature is the sm ...

Jeff Fortenberry Jeffrey Lane Fortenberry (born December 27, 1960) is a former United States congressman. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 2005 to 2022, representing as a member of the Republican Party. In October 2021, a federal ...

, U.S. representative *

Dave Heineman David Eugene Heineman (born May 12, 1948) is an American politician who served as the 39th governor of Nebraska from 2005 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the 39th treasurer of Nebraska from 1995 to 2001 and 37th li ...

, Governor of Nebraska * Kay Orr, former governor of Nebraska * Mike Simmonds, businessman *

Adrian Smith Adrian Frederick "H" Smith (born 27 February 1957) is an English guitarist best known as a member of heavy metal band Iron Maiden, for whom he also writes songs and performs backing vocals both live and in the studio. Smith grew up in London ...

, U.S. Representative *

Lee Terry Lee Raymond Terry (born January 29, 1962) is a former American politician and a senior law firm adviser. From 1999 to 2015, he served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for as a member of the Republican Party. Since 2015, Terry r ...

, U.S. Representative

Polling

Endorsements

Results

General election

Candidates

, (Democrat), former U.S. senator and former governor of Nebraska *

, (Republican), state senator

Debates

The first debate took place at the Heartland Events Center during the Nebraska State Fair at 4 p.m. Saturday, August 25, 2012. Kerrey and Fischer participated. The second debate took place on September 28, 2012,

KETV-TV KETV (channel 7) is a television station in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, affiliated with ABC. The station is owned by Hearst Television, and has studios on 10th Street in the historic Burlington Station, which carries the address of 7 Burli ...

, Chamber of Commerce of Greater Omaha. Kerrey and Fischer participated. The third debate took place on October 1, 2012, NET-TV. Kerrey and Fischer participated. Topics included agriculture policy, the economy, taxes and education. ;External links
Complete video
at ''

Grand Island Independent ''The Grand Island Independent'' is a newspaper published in Grand Island, Nebraska. The ''Independent'' is published seven days a week but does not produce a newspaper on Christmas Day. Its daily circulation is 20,500, in eleven counties of cent ...

'', first debate, August 25, 2012
Complete video of debate
September 28, 2012 -

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

Complete video of debate
October 1, 2012 -

Fundraising

Top contributors

Top industries

Predictions

Polling

; With Kerrey ;With Lathrop ;With Nelson ;With Robak

Results

By county

From

Secretary of State of Nebraska The secretary of state of Nebraska is one of the constitutional officers of the U.S. state of Nebraska. In Nebraska, the secretary of state is elected for a four-year term. Vacancies are filled by appointment by the governor of Nebraska. The c ...

References

External links

Elections
from the Nebraska Secretary of State
Campaign contributions
at

OpenSecrets.org OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks data on campaign finance and lobbying. It was created from a merger of the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) and the National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP) ...

Outside spending
at

Sunlight Foundation The Sunlight Foundation was an American 501(c)(3) nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that advocated for open government. The organization was founded in April 2006 with the goal of increasing transparency and accountability in the United States ...

Candidate issue positions
at On the Issues
Election news coverage
at the ''

Omaha World-Herald The ''Omaha World-Herald'' is a daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, the primary newspaper of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area. It was locally owned from its founding in 1885 until 2020, when it was sold to the newspaper ch ...

'' ;Official campaign websites
Russell Anderson for U.S. Senate

Deb Fischer for U.S. Senate

Bob Kerrey for U.S. Senate
{{2012 United States elections 2012 Nebraska elections

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

Withdrew

Declined

Endorsements

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Declined

Polling

Endorsements

Results

General election

Candidates

Debates

Fundraising

Top contributors

Top industries

Predictions

Polling

Results

By county

See also

References

External links