Nebraska’s Second Congressional District could play a decisive role in a very close election.
In a close race, the presidential election could be decided by an unlikely spot: Nebraska’s Second Congressional District, including Omaha and most of its suburbs. If the race is decided there, Joe Biden appears to have the advantage, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll Monday. He leads President Trump by seven points,48 percent to 41 percent, among likely voters in the first nonpartisan survey of the district so far this year, according to FiveThirtyEight. Unlike most states, Nebraska awards its Electoral College votes by congressional district. Under state law, the winner of Nebraska receives two votes, and the winner of each district receives one. Every other state, except Maine, awards its electoral votes on a winner-take-all basis. As a result, Nebraska’s Second can play a potentially decisive role in an extremely close election: one decided by one vote in the Electoral College. In an overwhelmingly Republican state, the second district has long loomed as a potential vulnerability for the president. Although the district is traditionally Republican, Mr. Trump carried it by only two percentage points in 2016. The district was even closer than familiar battleground states like Arizona or North Carolina. The district’s demographics have made it an even more plausible pickup opportunity for Mr. Biden. It’s relatively white, metropolitan and well educated, and national polls routinely show Mr. Biden running ahead of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 performance among all three groups.
