Finstad led Ettinger by four points with 99 percent of the votes cast Wednesday, according to the Associated Press. Donald Trump won the district by about 10 points in 2020.
In Nebraska’s 1st Congressional District, which held a special election in June, the shift was even more pronounced. While Trump won the district by about 15 percentage points in 2020, Republican congressional candidate Mike Flood beat his Democratic opponent, Patty Pansing Brooks, by about six points.
Both elections took place after the Supreme Court overturned Roe, which established a constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy. Democrats have been working to translate anger at the decision into support for their candidates. They said they were encouraged when conservative-leaning Kansas voted overwhelmingly in a high-turnout election this month to protect abortion rights.
