There’s been a lot of talk about preserving the officially nonpartisan nature of the Nebraska Legislature. But there is another issue, occasionally discussed with similar zeal in years past, that’s creeping up again.
(Gasp!) It’s the urban-rural split.While the focus has been on party loyalty – there are 32 Republicans and 17 Democrats in the officially nonpartisan Legislature – there are also 26 “urban” lawmakers (18 from Omaha and 8 from Lincoln) to just 23 “rural” senators. That reflects the shift of two rural districts, 49 and 36) to the Omaha metro area in the past four years.
District 49 was moved from the upper Panhandle to the Gretna area in 2018 and attorney Andrew La Grone was appointed to be the Senator. He was defeated two years later by current Senator Jen Day.Then, just last year, redistricting moved Central Nebraska’s District 36 to Bellevue when term-limited Sen. Matt Williams of Gothenburg offered the district number to easily solve the problem.
