Nebraska's 3rd congressional district

Nebraska's 3rd congressional district
Current Representative		Adrian M. 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+24

The 3rd Nebraska 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, Scottsbluff and Columbus.

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 M. 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 of Service	District Home	Notes
District created		March 4, 1883
48th	Edward K. Valentine	Republican	March 4, 1883 - March 4, 1885		Redistricted from the At-large district
49th	George W. E. Dorsey	Republican	March 4, 1885 - March 4, 1891
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
54th
55th	Samuel Maxwell	Populist	March 4, 1897 - March 4, 1899
56th	John Seaton Robinson	Democratic	March 4, 1899 - March 4, 1903
57th
58th	John J. McCarthy	Republican	March 4, 1903 - March 4, 1907
59th
60th	John Frank Boyd	Republican	March 4, 1907 - March 4, 1909
61st	James P. Latta	Democratic	March 4, 1909 - September 11, 1911		Died
62nd
	Dan V. Stephens	Democratic	November 7, 1911 - March 4, 1919
63rd
64th
65th
66th	Robert E. Evans	Republican	March 4, 1919 - March 4, 1923
67th
68th	Edgar Howard	Democratic	March 4, 1923 - January 3, 1935
69th
70th
71st
72nd
73rd
74th	Karl Stefan	Republican	January 3, 1935 - October 2, 1951		Died
75th
76th
77th
78th
79th
80th
81st
82nd
	Robert Dinsmore Harrison	Republican	October 4, 1951 - January 3, 1959
83rd
84th
85th
86th	Lawrence Brock	Democratic	January 3, 1959 - January 3, 1961
87th	Ralph F. Beermann	Republican	January 3, 1961 - January 3, 1963		Redistricted to the 1st district
88th	David T. Martin	Republican	January 3, 1963 - December 31, 1974		Redistricted from the 4th district, Resigned
89th
90th
91st
92nd
93rd
94th	Virginia Smith	Republican	January 3, 1975 - January 3, 1991
95th
96th
97th
98th
99th
100th
101st
102nd	Bill Barrett	Republican	January 3, 1991 - January 3, 2001
103rd
104th
105th
106th
107th	Tom Osborne	Republican	January 3, 2001 - January 3, 2007
108th
109th
110th	Adrian M. Smith	Republican	January 3, 2007 - Present		Incumbent
111th
112th

References

• Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. 
• Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. 
• Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present