Nebraska's 3rd congressional district

Nebraska's 3rd congressional district
Nebraska's 3rd congressional district – since January 3, 2013.
Representative	Adrian Smith R–Gering
Distribution	53.79% rural 46.21% urban
Population (2000)	570,571
Median household income	33,866
Ethnicity	94.4% White 6.0% Hispanic 0.8% Native American 0.5% Asian 0.3% Black 0.1% other
Cook PVI	R+27

Nebraska's 3rd congressional district seat encompasses the western three-fourths of the state; it is one of the largest non-at-large Congressional districts in the country, covering nearly 65,000 square miles (170,000 km²), two time zones and 68.5 counties. It includes Grand Island, Kearney, Hastings, North Platte, Alliance, and Scottsbluff. Additionally, it encompasses a large majority of the Platte River(s).

Nebraska has had at least three congressional districts since 1883. The district's current configuration dates from 1963, when Nebraska lost a seat as a result of the 1960 United States Census. At that time, most of the old 3rd and 4th districts were merged to form the new 3rd District.

The district is one of the most Republican districts in the nation. Democrats have only come close to winning this district three times as currently drawn, in 1974, 1990, and 2006. Republican presidential and gubernatorial candidates routinely carry the district with margins of 40 percent or more, while Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936 was the last Democratic presidential candidate to win a plurality within the current district boundaries. Excepting historically Democratic Saline County on the district’s eastern boundary and Dakota County which has only been within this district since 2013, the last Democrat to carry any county within the district at a presidential level was Jimmy Carter in 1976. Although Nebraska's state legislature is elected on a nonpartisan basis, all but two state senators representing significant portions of the district are known to be Republicans. With a Cook PVI of R+27, it is the most Republican Congressional District in the country outside the South.

It is currently held by Republican Adrian Smith. The previous congressman, Tom Osborne, did not seek reelection in order to wage an unsuccessful campaign for the Republican nomination for governor of Nebraska.

List of representatives

Cong ress	Representative	Party	Years	Electoral history
48th	Edward K. Valentine	Republican	March 4, 1883 – March 4, 1885	Retired.
49th 50th 51st	George W. E. Dorsey	Republican	March 4, 1885 – March 4, 1891	Lost re-election.
52nd	Omer Madison Kem	Populist	March 4, 1891 – March 4, 1893	Redistricted to the 6th district
53rd 54th	George de Rue Meiklejohn	Republican	March 4, 1893 – March 4, 1897	Retired.
55th	Samuel Maxwell	Populist	March 4, 1897 – March 4, 1899	Retired.
56th 57th	John Seaton Robinson	Democratic	March 4, 1899 – March 4, 1903	Lost re-election.
58th 59th	John J. McCarthy	Republican	March 4, 1903 – March 4, 1907	Lost renomination.
60th	John Frank Boyd	Republican	March 4, 1907 – March 4, 1909	Lost re-election.
61st 62nd	James P. Latta	Democratic	March 4, 1909 – September 11, 1911	Died.
62nd	Vacant		September 11, 1911 – November 7, 1911
62nd 63rd 64th 65th	Dan V. Stephens	Democratic	November 7, 1911 – March 4, 1919	First elected to finish Latta's term. Lost re-election.
66th 67th	Robert E. Evans	Republican	March 4, 1919 – March 4, 1923	Lost re-election.
68th 69th 70th 71st 72nd 73rd	Edgar Howard	Democratic	March 4, 1923 – January 3, 1935	Lost re-election.
74th 75th 76th 77th 78th 79th 80th 81st 82nd	Karl Stefan	Republican	January 3, 1935 – October 2, 1951	Died.
82nd	Vacant		October 2, 1951 – December 4, 1951
82nd 83rd 84th 85th	Robert Dinsmore Harrison	Republican	December 4, 1951 – January 3, 1959	First elected to finish Stefan's term. Lost re-election.
86th	Lawrence Brock	Democratic	January 3, 1959 – January 3, 1961	Lost re-election.
87th	Ralph F. Beermann	Republican	January 3, 1961 – January 3, 1963	Redistricted to the 1st district.
88th 89th 90th 91st 92nd 93rd	David Martin	Republican	January 3, 1963 – December 31, 1974	Redistricted from the 4th district. Retired and then resigned early.
93rd	Vacant		December 31, 1974 – January 3, 1975
94th 95th 96th 97th 98th 99th 100th 101st	Virginia Smith	Republican	January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1991	Retired.
102nd 103rd 104th 105th 106th	Bill Barrett	Republican	January 3, 1991 – January 3, 2001	Retired.
107th 108th 109th	Tom Osborne	Republican	January 3, 2001 – January 3, 2007	Retired to run for Governor of Nebraska.
110th 111th 112th 113th 114th 115th	Adrian Smith	Republican	January 3, 2007 – Present	First elected in 2006.

Recent election results from statewide races

Year	Office	Results
2000	President	George W. Bush 71% - Al Gore 25%
2004	President	George W. Bush 75% - John Kerry 24%
2008	President	John McCain 69% - Barack Obama 30%
2012	President	Mitt Romney 70% - Barack Obama 28%
2016	President	Donald Trump 75% - Hillary Clinton 20%

Historical district boundaries

2003 – 2013

See also

• Nebraska's congressional districts
• List of United States congressional districts

References

• Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present