A speck of blue on an otherwise red area in some presidential elections, the dot is now dividing candidates in a key midterm contest.
In presidential election years, an area of deep-red Nebraska nicknamed the “blue dot” can draw plenty of attention. The state awards an Electoral College vote to the winner in each of its congressional districts, and its lone swing district could decide an exceptionally close White House race.
Now the district, which includes Omaha, is getting a turn in the spotlight in this year’s midterm primaries. Representative Don Bacon, a moderate Republican who has held the district for nearly a decade, is retiring, and Democrats competing to replace him have crowded into the race.
Although the district has long been in Republicans’ hands in Congress, it has gone to Democrats in three of the last five presidential races, giving it its nickname.
One of the main issues animating this year’s Democratic primary is a suggestion that a victory by a leading candidate could ultimately spell an end to the blue dot’s unique role in presidential contests. Here’s why, and what else you should know ahead of the primary on Tuesday:
What is the blue dot?
The blue dot refers to the speck of blue on the map that the Omaha-area Second Congressional District can create when it votes for Democrats in presidential elections.
The nickname took off in 2024, as blue dots popped up on yard signs, light poles and T-shirts.
The district went for Kamala Harris in 2024, Joseph R. Biden Jr. in 2020 and Donald J. Trump in 2016. Mitt Romney won the district in 2012. Barack Obama’s victory there in 2008, the first by a Democrat in four decades, caused some to call the area “Obamaha.”