How does government work in Nebraska?

What may surprise you here

• Nebraska’s Legislature has a single chamber, so there is no separate House and Senate. source
• Members of the Legislature are elected in nonpartisan elections, while other state offices use open primaries. source

Legislature

Name

Nebraska Legislature source

Legislature (unicameral; members are called senators): seats

49 source

Legislature (unicameral; members are called senators): term in years

4 source

Term limits

No service for four years after two consecutive terms source

Structure set by: Neb. Const. art. III, sec. 1.

Governor and statewide offices

Term in years

4 source

Term limit

Ineligible for four years after two consecutive terms source

Next regular election

2030 source

Lieutenant governor

joint ticket source

Attorney general

elected source

Attorney general’s term in years

4 source

Secretary of state

elected source

Secretary of state’s term in years

4 source

Courts

Highest court

Supreme Court source

Intermediate appeals court

Court of Appeals source

Main trial court

District Courts source

How high-court judges reach the bench

merit selection with retention source

Local government

Called

county source

How many

93 source

Cities and towns

Nebraska law classes municipalities by population; one with more than 800 and not more than 5,000 inhabitants is a city of the second class unless it adopts or keeps a village form of government. source

Schools

An elected board governs each school district in Nebraska (2022). source

Elections

Chief election official

Secretary of State source

Who runs elections locally

County clerks, and election commissioners in the most populous counties source

Primary type

mixed: nonpartisan for the Legislature, open for other offices source

Regular governor elections fall in

even source

Citizen initiatives

yes source

Who holds these offices

As of November 5, 2026. Terms of the current Congress run to January 3, 2027. Winners of the November 3, 2026 elections are not shown until results are certified and they take office.

Governor: Jim Pillen RRepublican, in office since January 5, 2023. source

Who has held each Senate seat since 2001

Each band is one person in the seat. The line marks November 2026; anything to its right is the rest of a current term. Dates through 2026 come from the congress-legislators public dataset, whose current members are matched against the Senate’s own roster on every build.

Sources