2016 Nebraska Legislature election

none June 2026 2016 Nebraska Legislature election Nebraska Legislative Popular No 2014 Nebraska Legislature election 2014 2018 Nebraska Legislature election 2018 25 out of 49 seats in the Nebraska Legislature 25 November 8, 2016Officially nonpartisan 150x150px File:3x4.svg Galen Hadley(term-limited) Republican Party (United States) January 7, 2015 District 37 35 31 4 File:3x4.svg None Democratic Party (United States) 13 16 3 Ernie Chambers(de facto) Independent (United States) January 9, 2013 District 11 1 1 File:Laura Ebke by Gage Skidmore.jpg Laura Ebke(de facto) Libertarian Party (United States) January 7, 2015 District 32 0 1Switched from Republican to Libertarian in 2016. Nebraska Unicameral 2016 Election.svg #0671B0 Democratic gain #CA0120 Republican gain #92C5DE Democratic hold #F48882 Republican hold #999999 Independent hold Speaker Galen Hadley Republican Party (United States) Jim Scheer Republican Party (United States) The 2016 Nebraska Legislature election was held on November 8, 2016, to determine which party would control the Nebraska Legislature for the following two years in the 105th Nebraska legislature. The 25 odd-numbered seats out of 49 seats in the Nebraska Legislature were up for election and the primary was held on May 10, 2016. Prior to the election, 35 seats were held by Republicans, 13 seats were held by Democrats and 1 seat was held by an independent. The general election saw Democrats gaining 3 seats, this however meant that Republicans maintained their majority in the State Legislature.https://ballotpedia.org/Nebraska_State_Senate_elections,_2016 Nebraska State Senate elections, 2016 ballotpedia.org December 6, 2025https://sos.nebraska.gov/sites/default/files/doc/elections/2016/2016-canvass-book.pdf General 2016 Canvass Book sos.nebraska.gov December 6, 2025 Retirements Democrats District 5: Heath Mello was term-limited. District 13: Tanya Cook was term-limited. District 21: Ken Haar was term-limited. District 41: Kate Sullivan was term-limited. Republicans District 17: Dave Bloomfield was term-limited. District 25: Kathy Campbell was term-limited. District 27: Colby Coash was term-limited. District 35: Mike Gloor was term-limited. District 37: Galen Hadley was term-limited. District 39: Beau McCoy was term-limited. District 47: Ken Schilz was term-limited. Defeated incumbents In primary Republicans District 7: Nicole Fox lost the primary to Democrats Tony Vargas and John Synowiecki. In general Republicans District 3: Tommy Garrett lost re-election to Democrat Carol Blood. District 15: David Schnoor lost re-election to Democrat Lynne Walz. District 23: Jerry Johnson lost re-election to fellow Republican Bruce Bostelman. District 33: Les Seiler lost re-election to fellow Republican Steve Halloran. District 43: Al Davis lost re-election to fellow Republican Tom Brewer. Closest races Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%: blue District 35, 0.66% (gain) blue District 13, 2.32% blue District 15, 2.78% (gain) blue District 3, 3.12% (gain) blue District 31, 4.14% red District 43, 4.52% red District 37, 6.52% red District 39, 9.74% ResultsAll Nebraska state legislative elections are technically non-partisan; therefore, parties listed here are from candidates' websites and official party endorsement lists. Candidates all appear on the ballot without party labels.. District 1 District 1 election, 2016 Republican Party (United States) Dan Watermeier (incumbent) 13,916 100.0% 13,916 100.0% Republican Party (United States) District 3 District 3 election, 2016 Democratic Party (United States) Carol Blood 7,959 51.56% Republican Party (United States) Tommy Garrett (incumbent) 7,476 48.44% 15,435 100.0% Democratic Party (United States) Republican Party (United States) District 5 District 5 election, 2016 Democratic Party (United States) Mike McDonnell 7,120 70.16% Republican Party (United States) Gilbert Ayala 3,028 29.84% 10,148 100.0% Democratic Party (United States) District 7 District 7 election, 2016 Democratic Party (United States) Tony Vargas 5,244 61.75% Democratic Party (United States) John Synowiecki 3,248 38.25% 8,492 100.0% Democratic Party (United States) Republican Party (United States) District 9 District 9 election, 2016 Democratic Party (United States) Sara Howard (incumbent) 10,552 79.19% Nonpartisan politician Larry Roland 2,773 20.81% 13,325 100.0% Democratic Party (United States) District 11 District 11 election, 2016 Independent (United States) Ernie Chambers (incumbent) 7,763 81.81% Nonpartisan politician John Sciara 1,726 18.19% 9,489 100.0% Independent (United States) District 13 District 13 election, 2016 Democratic Party (United States) Justin Wayne 6,920 51.16% Nonpartisan politician Jill Brown 6,605 48.84% 13,525 100.0% Democratic Party (United States) District 15 District 15 election, 2016 Democratic Party (United States) Lynne Walz 7,601 51.39% Republican Party (United States) David Schnoor (incumbent) 7,189 48.61% 14,790 100.0% Democratic Party (United States) Republican Party (United States) District 17 District 17 election, 2016 Republican Party (United States) Joni Albrecht 6,825 60.53% Nonpartisan politician Ardel Bengtson 4,451 39.47% 11,276 100.0% Republican Party (United States) District 19 District 19 election, 2016 Republican Party (United States) Jim Scheer (incumbent) 12,908 100.0% 12,908 100.0% Republican Party (United States) District 21 District 21 election, 2016 Republican Party (United States) Mike Hilgers 8,588 56.67% Nonpartisan politician Larry Scherer 6,567 43.33% 15,155 100.0% Republican Party (United States) Democratic Party (United States) District 23 District 23 election, 2016 Republican Party (United States) Bruce Bostelman 8,693 55.57% Republican Party (United States) Jerry Johnson (incumbent) 6,950 44.43% 15,643 100.0% Republican Party (United States) District 25 District 25 election, 2016 Republican Party (United States) Suzanne Geist 12,899 55.70% Democratic Party (United States) Jim Gordon 10,258 44.30% 23,157 100.0% Republican Party (United States) District 27 District 27 election, 2016 Democratic Party (United States) Anna Wishart 9,930 74.93% Nonpartisan politician Dick Clark 3,657 25.07% 14,587 100.0% Democratic Party (United States) Republican Party (United States) District 29 District 29 election, 2016 Democratic Party (United States) Kate Bolz (incumbent) 14,281 82.95% Nonpartisan politician Melody Vaccaro 2,936 17.05% 17,217 100.0% Democratic Party (United States) District 31 District 31 election, 2016 Democratic Party (United States) Rick Kolowski (incumbent) 9,762 52.07% Nonpartisan politician Ian Swanson 8,985 47.93% 18,747 100.0% Democratic Party (United States) District 33 District 33 election, 2016 Republican Party (United States) Steve Halloran 9,164 60.22% Republican Party (United States) Les Seiler (incumbent) 6,053 39.78% 15,217 100.0% Republican Party (United States) District 35 District 35 election, 2016 Democratic Party (United States) Dan Quick 5,743 50.33% Nonpartisan politician Gregg Neuhaus 5,668 49.67% 11,411 100.0% Democratic Party (United States) Republican Party (United States) District 37 District 37 election, 2016 Republican Party (United States) John Lowe 8,600 53.26% Nonpartisan politician Bob Lammers 7,547 46.74% 16,147 100.0% Republican Party (United States) District 39 District 39 election, 2016 Republican Party (United States) Lou Ann Linehan 11,729 54.87% Nonpartisan politician Bill Armbrust 9,646 45.13% 21,375 100.0% Republican Party (United States) District 41 District 41 election, 2016 Republican Party (United States) Tom Briese 14,080 100.0% 14,080 100.0% Republican Party (United States) Democratic Party (United States) District 43 District 43 election, 2016 Republican Party (United States) Tom Brewer 9,169 52.26% Republican Party (United States) Al Davis (incumbent) 8,376 47.74% 17,545 100.0% Republican Party (United States) District 45 District 45 election, 2016 Democratic Party (United States) Sue Crawford (incumbent) 8,774 56.58% Nonpartisan politician Michael Cook 6,734 43.42% 15,508 100.0% Democratic Party (United States) District 47 District 47 election, 2016 Republican Party (United States) Steve Erdman 10,739 67.25% Nonpartisan politician Karl Elmshaeuser 5,230 32.75% 15,969 100.0% Republican Party (United States) District 49 District 49 election, 2016 Republican Party (United States) John Murante (incumbent) 15,137 100.0% 15,137 100.0% Republican Party (United States) Notes References Category:2016 elections in Nebraska Category:Nebraska Legislature elections Category:November 2016 in the United States Category:2016 state legislature elections in the United States