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Landmark Turnout In NE This Election; Republicans Keep Their Seats

NET

Nebraska voters set a turnout record in the 2020 general election, with nearly 74% of eligible voters casting a ballot. Secretary of State Bob Evnen said Wednesday that voters beat the previous record from the 2016 general election by about 68,000 votes. Election officials statewide counted 936,106 votes cast. Evnen says 34 counties had a turnout of more than 80%, and four counties had a turnout of 88%. He says the record will likely increase once counties process an additional 20,000 to 25,000 ballots and provisional ballots that were submitted on Tuesday. 

Republican Rep. Don Bacon scored a third term in Congress on Tuesday despite a tough challenge from a progressive Democrat in Nebraska’s competitive 2nd Congressional District. Bacon defeated social worker and nonprofit executive Kara Eastman in a rematch that echoed the 2016 race, which Eastman also narrowly lost. Bacon's voting record mostly aligned with President Donald Trump. He repeatedly pitched himself as bipartisan during the campaign. He also secured endorsements from several centrist Nebraska Democrats, including former Rep. Brad Ashford, who lost his seat to Bacon in 2016. Republican representatives Ben Sasse, Jeff Fortenberry and Adrian Smith also managed to fend off their Democratic opponents in Tuesday's election.

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