Lincoln, Nebraska is the capital city of the state and has a long history of politics that dates back to 1867. The city is governed by a Mayor-Council form of government with an elected mayor and nine council members representing four wards throughout the city. All of these members are voted on by residents in each ward during local elections. Lincoln also has representatives in both state and federal representation, including senators Ben Sasse (R) and Deb Fischer (R), as well as representatives Jeff Fortenberry (R) and Don Bacon (R). Lincoln is known for its strong Republican support, but there are also numerous Democrats and other independent voters who have been making their voices heard over the past few years. There is no shortage of civic engagement as people participate in debates over various topics such as healthcare access, economic development, education reform, public safety initiatives, arts funding, infrastructure projects, transportation upgrades, and much more.
The political climate in Lincoln, NE is leaning liberal.
Lancaster County, NE is leaning liberal. In Lancaster County, NE 52.3% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 44.6% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 3.1% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Lancaster county remained moderately Democratic, 52.3% to 44.6%.
Lancaster county voted Democratic in 2020, 2016 and 2008, and voted Republican in 2012, 2004 and 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Lincoln, NE is leaning liberal.
Lancaster County, Nebraska is leaning liberal.
Lincoln Metro Area is leaning liberal.
Nebraska is moderately conservative.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index is based on recent voting in national elections, federal campaign contributions by local residents, and consumer personality profiles.
VoteWord™
Displaying 20 years of Presidential voting, visualized in one word.
Lincoln, Nebraska: R R d r d d
How It Works:
Here at BestPlaces, we were looking at the voting patterns since the 2000 election and realized that we could express the results of each election as one letter. R if the Republican Party candidate won, D if the Democratic Party candidate won and I if the Independent Party candidate won. The six elections (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020) would be expressed as six-letter word (R R D R R).
Then we went a little further and added the dimension of magnitude. If the difference of victory was greater than 10 percent, the letter is upper case, and lower case if the difference was less than 10 percent. This allows us to see interesting voting patterns at just a glance.
Here's the VoteWord for Iowa d r d d r. In the last six elections the state has been closely contested, voting narrowly for the Republican Party candidate in 2016 and 2020 after voting for the Democratic Party in 2008 and 2012. Virginia (r r d d d D) has voted for the Democratic Party in the last three elections.
Individual Campaign Contributions in Lincoln, NE
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 16,309 contributions totaling $1,781,396 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $109 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 3,606 contributions totaling $1,285,307 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $356 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)