Nebraska's 3rd congressional district

Nebraska's 3rd congressional district
Nebraska's 3rd congressional district – since January 3, 2013.
Current Representative		Adrian Smith (R–Gering)
Distribution	46.21% urban, 53.79% rural
Population (2000)	570,571
Median income	$33,866
Ethnicity	94.4% White, 0.3% Black, 0.5% Asian, 6.0% Hispanic, 0.8% Native American, 0.1% other
Cook PVI	R+23

Nebraska's 3rd congressional district seat encompasses the western three-fourths of the state; it is one of the largest non-at-large Congressional districts in the country, covering nearly 65,000 square miles (170,000 km²), two time zones and 68.5 counties. It includes Grand Island, Kearney, Hastings, North Platte, and Scottsbluff.

Nebraska has had at least three congressional districts since 1883. The district's current configuration dates from 1963, when Nebraska lost a seat as a result of the 1960 United States Census. At that time, most of the old 3rd and 4th districts were merged to form the new 3rd District.

The district is one of the most Republican districts in the nation. Democrats have only come close to winning this district twice as currently drawn, in 1974 and 2006; and Republican presidential and gubernatorial candidates routinely carry the district with margins of 70 percent or more. Although Nebraska's state legislature is elected on a nonpartisan basis, all but one state senator representing a significant portion of the district is known to be a Republican.

It is currently held by Republican Adrian Smith. The previous congressman, Tom Osborne, did not seek reelection in order to wage an unsuccessful campaign for the Republican nomination for governor of Nebraska.

List of representatives

Congress	Representative	Party	Years	Notes
48th	Edward K. Valentine	Republican	March 4, 1883 – March 4, 1885	Also served as a Nebraska at-large congressman (46th and 47th Congress); Chair of Committee on Agriculture (47th Congress); Retired
49th	George W. E. Dorsey	Republican	March 4, 1885 – March 4, 1891	Chair of Committee on Banking and Currency (51st Congress); Lost re-election
50th
51st
52nd	Omer Madison Kem	Populist	March 4, 1891 – March 4, 1893	Redistricted to the 6th district
53rd	George de Rue Meiklejohn	Republican	March 4, 1893 – March 4, 1897	Retired
54th
55th	Samuel Maxwell	Populist	March 4, 1897 – March 4, 1899	Retired
56th	John Seaton Robinson	Democratic	March 4, 1899 – March 4, 1903	Lost re-election
57th
58th	John J. McCarthy	Republican	March 4, 1903 – March 4, 1907	Lost renomination
59th
60th	John Frank Boyd	Republican	March 4, 1907 – March 4, 1909	Lost re-election
61st	James P. Latta	Democratic	March 4, 1909 – September 11, 1911	Died in office
62nd
	Vacant		September 11, 1911 – November 7, 1911
62nd	Dan V. Stephens	Democratic	November 7, 1911 – March 4, 1919	Won special election held in 1911 to fill Latta's vacant seat; Lost re-election
63rd
64th
65th
66th	Robert E. Evans	Republican	March 4, 1919 – March 4, 1923	Lost re-election
67th
68th	Edgar Howard	Democratic	March 4, 1923 – January 3, 1935	Chair of the U.S. House Committee on Indian Affairs (72nd and 73rd Congress); Lost re-election
69th
70th
71st
72nd
73rd
74th	Karl Stefan	Republican	January 3, 1935 – October 2, 1951	Died in office
75th
76th
77th
78th
79th
80th
81st
82nd
82nd	Vacant		October 2, 1951 – December 4, 1951
82nd	Robert Dinsmore Harrison	Republican	December 4, 1951 – January 3, 1959	Won special election held in 1951 to fill Stefan's vacant seat; Lost re-election
83rd
84th
85th
86th	Lawrence Brock	Democratic	January 3, 1959 – January 3, 1961	Lost re-election
87th	Ralph F. Beermann	Republican	January 3, 1961 – January 3, 1963	Changed districts and was elected to represent Nebraska's 1st Congressional District in the 88th Congress
88th	David T. Martin	Republican	January 3, 1963 – December 31, 1974	Retired
89th
90th
91st
92nd
93rd
94th	Virginia Smith	Republican	January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1991	Only woman from Nebraska to serve in the U.S. House; Retired
95th
96th
97th
98th
99th
100th
101st
102nd	Bill Barrett	Republican	January 3, 1991 – January 3, 2001	Retired
103rd
104th
105th
106th
107th	Tom Osborne	Republican	January 3, 2001 – January 3, 2007	Retired to run for Governor of Nebraska
108th
109th
110th	Adrian Smith	Republican	January 3, 2007 – Present	Still in office
111th
112th

Historical district boundaries

2003 – 2013

See also

• Nebraska's congressional districts
• List of United States congressional districts

References

• Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present