Nebraska's 3rd congressional district is a

congressional district Congressional districts, also known as electoral districts in other nations, are divisions of a larger administrative region that represent the population of a region in the larger congressional body. Countries with congressional districts includ ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

that encompasses its western three-fourths; it is one of the largest non-

at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather tha ...

districts in the country, covering nearly , two time zones and 80 counties. It includes Grand Island, Kearney,

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

, North Platte,

Alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or sovereign state, states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an a ...

, and Scottsbluff. Additionally, it encompasses the Sandhills region and a large majority of the Platte River. With a

Cook Partisan Voting Index The Cook Partisan Voting Index, abbreviated PVI or CPVI, is a measurement of how partisan a U.S. congressional district or U.S. state is. This partisanship is indicated as lean towards either the Republican Party or the Democratic Party, com ...

rating of R+27, it is by far the most Republican district in Nebraska, a state with an all-Republican delegation.

Political history

Nebraska has had at least three congressional districts since 1883. The district's current configuration dates from 1963, when Nebraska lost a seat as a result of the

1960 United States census The 1960 United States census, conducted by the United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 179,323,175, an increase of 19 percent over the 151,325,798 persons Enumeration, enumerated ...

. At that time, most of the old 3rd and 4th districts were merged to form the new 3rd district. It is one of the most Republican districts in the nation, as Democrats have only come close to winning it three times as currently drawn, in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

, and

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, all years where the incumbent was not running for reelection. Republican presidential and gubernatorial candidates routinely carry the district with margins of 40 percent or more, while

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

was the last Democratic presidential candidate to win a plurality within the current district boundaries. Excepting historically Democratic Saline County on the district's eastern boundary, Thurston County which only moved into the district in 2023, and Dakota County which has only been within the district since 2013, the last Democrat to carry any county within the district at a presidential level was

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

. Although the

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

is elected on a

nonpartisan Nonpartisan or non-partisan may refer to: __NOTOC__ General political concepts * Nonpartisanship, also known as Nonpartisanism, co-operation without reference to political parties * Non-partisan democracy, an election with no official recognition ...

basis, all but two members representing significant portions of the district are known to be Republicans. With a

(CPVI) of R+29, it is the most Republican congressional district outside

Appalachia Appalachia ( ) is a geographic region located in the Appalachian Mountains#Regions, central and southern sections of the Appalachian Mountains in the east of North America. In the north, its boundaries stretch from the western Catskill Mountai ...

. Because Nebraska awards an

Electoral College An electoral college is a body whose task is to elect a candidate to a particular office. It is mostly used in the political context for a constitutional body that appoints the head of state or government, and sometimes the upper parliament ...

vote from each district, it is the most Republican Electoral College constituency. It is currently held by Republican Adrian Smith, who was first elected in

Recent election results from statewide races

Composition

Nebraska's 3rd congressional district contains the entirety of the following counties, with the exception of Polk, which it shares with the

1st First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

. Polk County communities within the 3rd district include the village of Polk and Stromsburg.https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/cong_dist/cd118/cd_based/ST31/CD118_NE03.pdf
/ref>

Cites and CDPS with 10,000 or more people

* Grand Island – 52,622 * Kearney – 34,362 *

– 24,896 * North Platte – 22,523 * Scottsbluff – 14,305 * South Sioux City – 13,856 * Beatrice – 12,262 * Lexington – 10,816

2,500 – 10,000 people

* Gering – 8,531 *

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

– 8,180 *

– 8,056 * Blair – 7,967 *

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

– 7,488 * Nebraska City – 7,414 * McCook – 7,253 * Sidney – 6,440 * Wayne – 6,165 * Holdrege – 5,542 * Chadron – 5,145 *

Aurora An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...

– 4,704 * Ogallala – 4,680 * Falls City – 4,045 * Cozad – 3,933 * Fairbury – 3,832 * O'Neill – 3,575 * Broken Bow – 3,542 * Auburn – 3,507 *

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

– 3,430 *

Minden Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the largest town in population between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district () of Minden-Lübbecke, situated in the cultural region ...

– 3,136 * Central City – 3,090 * Valentine – 2,631

List of members representing the district

Election history

2004

2006

2008

2010

2012

2014

2016

2018

2020

2022

2024

Historical district boundaries

References

* *
Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nebraska's 3rd Congressional District 03 1883 establishments in Nebraska