The Nebraska Legislature gave final approval Thursday to maps redrawing the state’s congressional, legislative and other political districts, and Gov. Pete Ricketts signed them into law.

The Legislature wrapped up its two week special session on redistricting Thursday, voting final approval to new maps for elections to Congress, the Legislature, State Board of Education, University of Nebraska Board of Regents, Public Service Commission, and judicial retention elections. There were no changes proposed to the maps that advanced earlier this week, and most of the discussion concerned other issues, such as the prison staffing crisis and objections to the conversion of a room in the Capitol for nursing mothers into an office during construction. But Sen. Jen Day of Omaha talked about the redistricting process, which was compressed into a two-week special session due to census delays. Day is a registered Democrat in the officially nonpartisan Legislature, where registered Republicans outnumber Democrats 32-17.

“I don’t discount the feelings of people being upset at how some of these maps turned out. I know there’s people in the body and outside the body that are disappointed. But I also, being a part of the process for the first time, I saw how incredibly difficult this process is… And I respected that process. I saw the sacrifices that were made on both sides of the issue. And because I respected that process and the sacrifices that were made, I ended up being a ‘yes,’” Day said.

The congressional map ended up keeping all of Douglas County in the Omaha-area Second Congressional District, as Democrats had demanded, but added heavily Republican Saunders County to the district. It was approved 35-11 with all the no votes cast by Democrats. The legislative map wound up dividing the largely rural district of Sen. Matt Williams of Gothenburg among neighboring districts to create a new district in rapidly-growing Sarpy County. It also saw districts stretching from the Iowa and Kansas borders extended into the city of Lincoln. It was approved 37-7, with five Democrats who voted no joined by Republican Sens. Mike Groene and Steve Erdman, objecting to the loss of a rural district. Gov. Pete Ricketts then signed all the bills into law, meaning they’ll be in place for next year’s election.

LINCOLN — A Republican redistricting proposal unveiled Wednesday would cleave off Democratic-leaning northwest Douglas County from a Nebraska congressional district that has been won by presidential and congressional Democrats at various points over the past decade.
State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn, the GOP chairwoman of the Legislature’s Redistricting Committee, distributed the proposed district boundaries at a morning committee meeting.
The map would divide Douglas County, all of which currently sits in the state’s 2nd Congressional District. The district became known as Nebraska’s “blue dot” following Democrat Joe Biden’s electoral victory there in the 2020 presidential election.
The committee is slated to meet again Wednesday afternoon to discuss her map and an alternative proposed by the committee’s vice chairman, Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha, a Democrat.
Wayne’s map would leave Douglas County whole while putting Bellevue and Offutt Air Force Base back into the 2nd Congressional District. The result would be similar to the district’s boundaries following the 2001 redistricting.
The Linehan map, by contrast, would split Douglas County along Interstate 680 and West Dodge Road. Everything north and west of those main thoroughfares would move into the 1st Congressional District, which is dominated by Lincoln. The district is represented by U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry.