The Winner

If you live in Nebraska’s 3rd Congressional District, Rep. Adrian Smith (R-NE) will keep representing you after winning an 11th term. The Associated Press called the race for Smith at 10:08 p.m. Central time on election night, Tuesday, Nov. 3. ​

Smith has 174,101 votes (71.0%) to 48,938 (20.0%) for Democrat Becky Stille, a margin of about 51 points, with an estimated 98% of votes counted. That’s about 10 points narrower than his 2024 win over Democrat Daniel Ebers, 80.4% to 19.6%.

The Race

Three other candidates split the remaining vote. Nonpartisan Mark Cohen, a lawyer and karate instructor from Lemoyne, took 8,083 votes (3.3%), and David Else of the Legal Marijuana Now Party took 7,109 (2.9%). Macey Budke of the Nebraska Working People Party took 2.8%.

Stille, of South Sioux City, works in the biofuels industry and ran unopposed in the May 12 Democratic primary, according to the Nebraska Examiner’s voter guide. Smith beat Republican David Huebner 64.7% to 35.3% in that primary. Cook Political Report and Inside Elections rated the race Solid Republican, and Sabato’s Crystal Ball rated it Safe Republican, according to Ballotpedia’s race page.

The district takes in 80 of Nebraska’s 93 counties, covering all of central and western Nebraska and parts of the state’s eastern edges, according to the Examiner. Smith, of Gering, has represented it since 2007.

About 652,100 people live in the district, and residents are 82.7% white, 13.1% Hispanic, 1.5% Black and 0.8% Asian. The median household income is $68,600, and the median age is 40. Of adults, 25% hold at least a bachelor’s degree, unemployment is 2.6% and 10.9% of residents live below the poverty line.

What’s Next

Smith’s new term begins Sunday, Jan. 3, and he will serve in the House minority after Democrats won control of the chamber. That means he will give up his post as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee’s trade subcommittee, since committee and subcommittee gavels go to the majority party.

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