3rd Congressional District - Nebraska

Mark Cohen  (Independent) 
Adrian Smith  (Incumbent) (Republican Party)
Becky Lynn Stille  (Democratic Party)
David J. Else  (Legal Marijuana Now Party)
Macey Budke  (Independent) 

The Third Congressional District is a huge area consisting of over 90% of the geographic area of the state and extending west to east from the Scottsbluff Monument to the Missouri River, and north to south from the Niobrara River to the Republican River.  This District has historically been considered a safe Republican seat, and the incumbent Rep. Adrian Smith is the Republican nominee.  Rep. Adrian Smith has been a strong supporter of President Trump’s agenda.  In personal meetings with Rep. Smith, he has defended the current Administration’s policies and showed no intent to actively stand up and resist the authoritarian Trump agenda nor to actively defend the important independent role of Congress.   From our current perspective, Rep. Smith has not honored his oath of office to defend the Constitution and does not deserve re-election.  

Becky Lynn Stille is the Democracy Party nominee for this District, as she had no opponent in the Primary.  Ms. Stille is a life-long Nebraskan and Democrat.  Her website says, “she will fight to secure our democracy…. Political rhetoric has become alarmingly aggressive and intolerant. We need staunch defenders of democracy in Congress who will listen to the people.”

David J. Else is the Legal Marijuana Now Party nominee for this District.  No further information on this candidate was available to us at this time.  

Macey Budke is a declared, independent candidate for the Third Congressional District.  Her website offers progressive pro-democracy positions on a number of issues.  

Mark Cohen is a declared, independent candidate for the Third Congressional District.  His website (https://www.markfornebraska.org/) offers progressive pro-democracy positions that are very much in line with Stand Up Nebraska positions on the threats to our democracy.  Both Mark Cohen’s campaign and that of Macey Budke are in the process of collecting the required signatures to appear on the ballot.

Overthrowing an incumbent Republican in Nebraska’s Third Congressional District is a very tough challenge.  This is because of the District’s overwhelming size and also because of its strong conservative leanings.  For this reason, we believe an independent, non-partisan campaign has the best chance for success in this District.  To be successful, any such campaign must be built upon a strong grassroots organization, spread all across the District, and will quite possibly require more than one campaign season to build such a network.  

Several of the non-incumbent candidates offer attractive policy positions.  However, to have any realistic chance to defeat an incumbent Republican in this District, it is necessary to coalesce behind one candidate. In this regard, we have been impressed with the campaign efforts of Mark Cohen.  Since he declared his candidacy, Mark has traveled and visited with Nebraskans all across the huge 3rd District area, working to build a District-wide network of supporters.  

At this time, we feel that investing pro-democracy resources (time and money) in the independent campaign of Mark Cohen offers the best prospects for pro-democracy results.