The 2012 United States Senate election in Nebraska took place on November 6, 2012, concurrently with the 2012 U.S. presidential election 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 entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

and various state and local elections. Incumbent Democratic 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 D ...

chose to retire instead of seeking a third term. Democrat

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 Vietn ...

, who held this seat from 1989 to 2001, and Republican state senator

Deb Fischer Debra Lynelle Fischer (; born March 1, 1951) is an American politician and former educator serving as the senior United States senator from Nebraska, a seat she has held since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Fischer is the third woman t ...

won their respective parties' primary elections on May 15, 2012. Fischer won the general election with 57.8% 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 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

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 Republican flip of the 2012 U.S. Senate elections.

Fischer Fischer is a German occupational surname, meaning fisherman. The name Fischer is the fourth most common German surname. The English version is Fisher. People with the surname A * Abraham Fischer (1850–1913) South African public official * ...

's inauguration marked the first time since the resignation of

Roman Hruska Roman Lee Hruska () (August 16, 1904April 25, 1999) was an American attorney and politician who served as a Republican U.S. senator from the state of Nebraska. Hruska was known as one of the most vocal conservatives in the Senate during the 196 ...

in 1976 where Republicans held both Senate seats from Nebraska.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

, former U.S. Senator and former governor of Nebraska ''(initially declined)'' * 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 educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

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 fr ...

, Mayor of

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...

* 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 Scott Michael Kleeb ( ; born August 23, 1975) is an American businessman and politician. He is the former CEO and President of Energy Pioneer Solutions, a company that created and then sold a new data-driven model for energy efficiency issues tha ...

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

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

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. https://jour ...

, 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 Legislatu ...

, 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 Nebraska Attorney General, Attorney General of Nebraska from 1991 to 2003 and 43rd Nebraska State Treasurer, Treasurer of Nebraska from 2011 to 2019 ...

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

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

* 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 army aviati ...

veteran

Declined

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

Jeff Fortenberry Jeffrey Lane Fortenberry (born December 27, 1960) is an American politician. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 2005 to 2022, representing as a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party. In Octo ...

, 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 was the 39th treasurer of Nebraska from 1995 to 2001 and 37th lieutenant gove ...

, Governor of Nebraska *

Kay Orr Kay Avonne Orr (née Stark; January 2, 1939) is an American politician who served as the 36th governor of Nebraska from 1987 to 1991. A member of the Republican Party, she was the state's first and to date only female governor. Early life and ...

, former governor of Nebraska * Mike Simmonds, businessman *

Adrian Smith Adrian Smith may refer to: * Adrian Smith (basketball) (born 1936), American basketball player *Adrian Smith (architect) (born 1944), American architect *Sir Adrian Smith (statistician) (born 1946), English statistician and academic *Adrian Smith (m ...

, 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 eight terms as a member of the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives for as a ...

, 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, 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 daily newspaper published in Grand Island, Nebraska. History In 1869, Maggie Eberhart and Seth Mobley founded the ''Platte Valley Independent'' in North Platte. Eberhart, whose parents had immigrated from I ...

'', 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 television in the United States, cable and Satellite television in the United States, satellite television network, created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a Non ...

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 cu ...

"Official Results of Nebraska General Election - November 6, 2012".
p. 12. Retrieved January 2, 2013. ;Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

By congressional district

Fischer won all 3 congressional districts.https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1odDqvZkVBmd6LgZP__AuvqnB-72FeWMZjliKEqwo4WY/edit?gid=0#gid=0

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 and publishes data on campaign finance and lobbying, including a revolving door database which documents the individuals who have worked in both the public sector and ...

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 On the Issues or OnTheIssues is an American non-partisan, non-profit organization providing information to American voters on American candidates, primarily via their website. The organization was started in 1996, went non-profit in 2000, and is ...

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 ...

'' 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 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 ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

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

By congressional district

See also

References

External links