United States Senate election in Nebraska, 2020

	2022 → ← 2018
U.S. Senate, Nebraska
	Democratic primary; Republican primary; General election
Election details
	Filing deadline: March 2, 2020
	Primary: May 12, 2020; General: November 3, 2020; Pre-election incumbent:; Ben Sasse (Republican)
How to vote
	Poll times: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Central time zone); 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (Mountain time zone); Voting in Nebraska
Race ratings
	Cook Political Report: Solid Republican; Inside Elections: Solid Republican; Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Republican
Ballotpedia analysis
	U.S. Senate battlegrounds; U.S. House battlegrounds; Federal and state primary competitiveness; Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2020
See also
	U.S. Senate, Nebraska; U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd; Nebraska elections, 2020; U.S. Congress elections, 2020; U.S. Senate elections, 2020; U.S. House elections, 2020; Alabama U.S. Senate raceAlaska U.S. Senate raceArizona U.S. Senate raceArkansas U.S. Senate raceColorado U.S. Senate raceDelaware U.S. Senate raceGeorgia U.S. Senate raceIdaho U.S. Senate raceIllinois U.S. Senate raceIowa U.S. Senate raceKansas U.S. Senate raceKentucky U.S. Senate raceLouisiana U.S. Senate raceMaine U.S. Senate raceMassachusetts U.S. Senate raceMichigan U.S. Senate raceMinnesota U.S. Senate raceMississippi U.S. Senate raceMontana U.S. Senate raceNebraska U.S. Senate raceNew Hampshire U.S. Senate raceNew Jersey U.S. Senate raceNew Mexico U.S. Senate raceNorth Carolina U.S. Senate raceOklahoma U.S. Senate raceOregon U.S. Senate raceRhode Island U.S. Senate raceSouth Carolina U.S. Senate raceSouth Dakota U.S. Senate raceTennessee U.S. Senate raceTexas U.S. Senate raceVirginia U.S. Senate raceWest Virginia U.S. Senate raceWyoming U.S. Senate raceSenden

Voters in Nebraska elected one member to the U.S. Senate in the election on November 3, 2020.

Incumbent Ben Sasse won election in the general election for U.S. Senate Nebraska.

Candidate filing deadline	Primary election	General election
March 2, 2020	May 12, 2020	November 3, 2020

The election filled the Class II Senate seat held by Ben Sasse (R). Sasse was first elected in 2014.

Election procedure changes in 2020

See also: Changes to election dates, procedures, and administration in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020

Ballotpedia provided comprehensive coverage of how election dates and procedures changed in 2020. While the majority of changes occurred as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, some changes occurred for other reasons.

Nebraska modified its absentee/mail-in voting procedures for the November 3, 2020, general election as follows:

Absentee/mail-in voting: Mail-in ballots were sent to all registered voters in the general election.

For a full timeline about election modifications made in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, click here.

Candidates and election results

General election

General election for U.S. Senate Nebraska

Incumbent Ben Sasse defeated Chris Janicek, Preston Love Jr., and Gene Siadek in the general election for U.S. Senate Nebraska on November 3, 2020.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Ben Sasse (R)	62.7	583,507
	Chris Janicek (D)	24.4	227,191
	Preston Love Jr. (D) (Write-in)	6.3	58,411
	Gene Siadek (L)	5.9	55,115
	Other/Write-in votes	0.6	5,788

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 930,012
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Eric Dilliard (L)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Nebraska

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Nebraska on May 12, 2020.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Chris Janicek	30.7	46,247
	Angie Philips	23.8	35,929
	Alisha Shelton	22.7	34,284
	Andrew Stock	11.4	17,156
	Larry Marvin	4.6	6,868
	Daniel Wik	3.8	5,765
	Dennis Macek	3.0	4,453

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 150,702
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. Senate Nebraska

Incumbent Ben Sasse defeated Matt Innis in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate Nebraska on May 12, 2020.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Ben Sasse	75.2	215,207
	Matt Innis	24.8	70,921

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 286,128
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Libertarian primary election

Libertarian primary for U.S. Senate Nebraska

Gene Siadek advanced from the Libertarian primary for U.S. Senate Nebraska on May 12, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Gene Siadek	100.0	2,517

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,517
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Ballot access requirements

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. Senate candidates in Nebraska in the 2020 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Nebraska, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. Senate candidates, 2020
State	Office	Party	Signatures required	Signature formula	Filing fee	Filing fee formula	Filing deadline	Source
Nebraska	U.S. Senate	Qualified party	K.A.	K.A.	$1,740.00	1% of annual salary	3/2/2020	Source
Nebraska	U.S. Senate	Unaffiliated	4000	Fixed number	$1,740.00	1% of annual salary	9/1/2020	Source

Campaign finance

This section contains campaign finance figures from the Federal Election Commission covering all candidate fundraising and spending in this election.^[1] It does not include information on fundraising before the current campaign cycle or on spending by satellite groups. The numbers in this section are updated as candidates file new campaign finance reports. Candidates for Congress are required to file financial reports on a quarterly basis, as well as two weeks before any primary, runoff, or general election in which they will be on the ballot and upon the termination of any campaign committees.^[2]

Name	Party	Receipts*	Disbursements**	Cash on hand	Date
Ben Sasse	Republican Party	$6,514,150	$5,168,783	$2,133,259	As of December 31, 2020
Chris Janicek	Democratic Party	$159,630	$141,424	$2,310	As of October 14, 2020
Preston Love Jr.	Democratic Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Gene Siadek	Libertarian Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2020. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC). * According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election. * Candidate either did not report any receipts or disbursements to the FEC, or Ballotpedia did not find an FEC candidate ID.

Race ratings

See also: Race rating definitions and methods

Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:

Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.^[3]
Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.

Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.^[4]^[5]^[6]

Race ratings: U.S. Senate election in Nebraska, 2020
Race tracker	Race ratings
	November 3, 2020	October 27, 2020	October 20, 2020	October 13, 2020
The Cook Political Report	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball	Safe Republican	Safe Republican	Safe Republican	Safe Republican
Note: Ballotpedia updates external race ratings every week throughout the election season.

Election history