United States Senate election in Nebraska, 2014

See also: Nebraska elections, 2014

United States Senate election in Nebraska, 2014

November 4, 2014 (2014-11-04)

125px 125px Nominee Ben Sasse David Domina Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 347,636 170,127 Percentage 64.5% 31.5%

200px County results

U.S. senator before election Mike Johanns Republican Elected U.S. Senator Ben Sasse Republican

The 2014 United States Senate election in Nebraska took place on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Republican Senator Mike Johanns did not run for re-election to a second term. Republican Ben Sasse defeated Democrat David Domina to succeed him.

Republican primary

Candidates

File:Kearney Repn meeting 2013-11-04 sen candidates 1.JPG

Buffalo County Republican Party candidate event in November 2013. From left to right: Shane Osborn, Sid Dinsdale, Bart McLeay, and Ben Sasse.

Declared

• Sid Dinsdale, President of Pinnacle Bank
• Clifton Johnson, businessman
• Bart McLeay, attorney
• Shane Osborn, former Treasurer of Nebraska
• Ben Sasse, President of Midland University

Declined

• Patrick Borchers, former Vice President of Academic Affairs of Creighton University and former Dean of Creighton Law School
• Jon Bruning, Attorney General of Nebraska (running for Governor)
• Mike Foley, Auditor of Public Accounts (running for Governor)
• Jeff Fortenberry, U.S. Representative
• Dave Heineman, Governor of Nebraska
• Charles Herbster, businessman
• Charlie Janssen, State Senator (running for State Auditor)
• Mike Johanns, incumbent U.S. Senator
• Bob Krist, State Senator
• Pete Ricketts, former COO of TD Ameritrade and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2006 (running for Governor)
• Adrian Smith, U.S. Representative
• Don Stenberg, Treasurer of Nebraska, candidate for the U.S. Senate in 1996, 2006 and 2012 and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2000
• Lee Terry, U.S. Representative

Endorsements

Sid Dinsdale
Individuals Tom Osborne, former U.S. Representative (R-NE) and former University of Nebraska football coach Charles Thone, former Governor of Nebraska

Bart McLeay
Individuals Jon Christensen, former U.S. Representative David Karnes, former U.S. Senator

Shane Osborn

Individuals Ray Aguilar, former State Senator Bill Barrett, former U.S. Representative Patrick Borchers, former Vice President of Academic Affairs of Creighton University and former Dean of Creighton Law School Colby Coash, State Senator Doug Cunningham, former State Senator Pat Engle, former State Senator Steve Forbes, publishing executive and candidate for President in 1996 and 2000 Bill Kintner, State Senator Scott Lautenbaugh, State Senator John Murante, State Senator Rich Pahls, Former State Senator Scott Price, State Senator Jim Scheer, State Senator Ken Schilz, State Senator Phyllis Schlafly, conservative activist and founder of the Eagle Forum Organizations Concerned Women PAC Family-PAC Federal National Defense PAC Rescinded Endorsement FreedomWorks

Ben Sasse

Individuals Dick Armey, former House Majority Leader and former Chairman of FreedomWorks Tom Coburn, U.S. Senator (R-OK) Ted Cruz, U.S. Senator (R-TX) Erick Erickson, conservative political commentator and editor-in-chief of RedState Mark Fahleson, former Chairman of the Nebraska Republican Party Mike Lee, U.S. Senator (R-UT) Mark Levin, talk radio host and conservative political commentator Paul Ryan, U.S. Representative (R-WI), Chairman of the House Committee on the Budget and nominee for Vice President of the United States in 2012 Sarah Palin, former Governor of Alaska, nominee for Vice President of the United States in 2008 Rick Santorum, former U.S. Senator (R-PA) Pat Toomey, U.S. Senator (R-PA) Organizations Club for Growth Family Research Council FreedomWorks Gun Owners of America Nebraska Farm Bureau Federation PAC Senate Conservatives Fund

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Sid Dinsdale	Clifton Johnson	Bart McLeay	Shane Osborn	Ben Sasse	Other	Undecided
Magellan Strategies	May 8, 2014	525	± 4.28%	24%	2%	6%	20%	38%	3%	7%
Strategic National	May 7–8, 2014	500	± 4.9%	23%	3%	8%	20%	34%	—	11.5%
Not disclosed*	April 26–28, 2014	507	± ?	22%	3%	5%	25%	31%	—	14%
NSON Opinion Strategy	April 16–20, 2014	400	± 5%	13%	—	—	27%	29%	—	28%
The Polling Company	February 25–28, 2014	400	± 4.9%	9%	1%	2%	35%	24%	—	30%
Harper Polling	February 3–4, 2014	565	± 4%	13.1%	—	4.3%	30.4%	29%	—	23.2%
Public Opinion Strategies^	October 27–28, 2013	400	± 4.9%	7%	—	1%	39%	7%	—	46%
Gravis Marketing	September 6–7, 2013	1,842	± 2.2%	7%	—	2%	41%	5%	—	45%

• * Internal poll for Ben Sasse campaign
• ^ Internal poll for Shane Osborn campaign

Results

Republican primary results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ben Sasse	109,847	49.37
	Republican	Sid Dinsdale	49,832	22.39
	Republican	Shane Osborn	46,856	21.06
	Republican	Bart McLeay	12,700	5.71
	Republican	Clifton Johnson	3,285	1.48
Total votes			222,520	100.00

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

• David Domina, trial attorney and candidate for Governor in 1986
• Larry Marvin, Air Force veteran and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2008 and 2012

Declined

• Brad Ashford, State Senator
• Chris Beutler, Mayor of Lincoln
• Annette Dubas, State Senator
• Mike Fahey, former Mayor of Omaha
• Chuck Hassebrook, former Regent of the University of Nebraska and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2012 (running for Governor)
• Bob Kerrey, former U.S. Senator and former Governor
• Steve Lathrop, State Senator
• Mike Meister, attorney, nominee for Attorney General of Nebraska in 2002 and nominee for Governor in 2010
• Kim M. Robak, former Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska

Results

Democratic primary results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	David Domina	44,813	67.46
	Democratic	Larry Marvin	21,615	32.54
Total votes			66,428	100.00

General election

Candidates

• Ben Sasse (R), President of Midland University
• David Domina (D), trial attorney and candidate for Governor in 1986
• Dan Buhrdorf (I), former educator and peace activist
• Jim Jenkins (I), rancher, restaurant owner and former Chairman of the Nebraska Ethanol Board
• Todd Watson (I), businessman

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Ben Sasse (R)	David Domina (D)	Other	Undecided
CBS News/NYT/YouGov	October 16–23, 2014	681	± 5%	59%	30%	0%	11%
CBS News/NYT/YouGov	September 20–October 1, 2014	721	± 4%	58%	31%	0%	11%
CBS News/NYT/YouGov	August 18–September 2, 2014	987	± 4%	56%	30%	1%	13%
CBS News/NYT/YouGov	July 5–24, 2014	858	± 4.4%	56%	34%	1%	9%
Rasmussen Reports	May 14–15, 2014	750	± 4%	51%	34%	5%	10%
Rasmussen Reports	April 7–8, 2014	750	± 4%	52%	27%	5%	16%

Results

Nebraska's U.S. Senate general election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Ben Sasse	347,636	64.39	+6.9
	Democratic	Dave Domina	170,127	31.51	-8.6
	By Petition	Jim Jenkins	15,868	2.94	n/a
	By Petition	Todd Watson	6,260	1.16	n/a
Majority			177,509
Turnout			539,891
	Republican hold		Swing

See also

• Nebraska gubernatorial election, 2014
• United States House of Representatives elections in Nebraska, 2014
• United States Senate elections, 2014
• United States elections, 2014

External links

• U.S. Senate elections in Nebraska, 2014 at Ballotpedia
• Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
• Nebraska U.S. Senate debate excerpts, OnTheIssues.org