2026 race

NE-03 — U.S. House

5 candidates on the November ballot. Incumbent: Adrian Smith.

Read the record. Not the rhetoric.

See where these candidates stand — and who's funding them.

DeepSyte tracks the money and the record in every race against the issues you care about — not party, not press releases. Take the 2-minute values quiz to see your alignment.

How we got here · 2 earlier contests
Democratic primary · Tuesday, May 12, 2026
Called by audit: web-verified
Becky Kelly StilleWon100.0%
Republican primary · Tuesday, May 12, 2026
Called by audit: web-verified
Adrian SmithWon
  • RDavid HuebnerDefeated
Election held
Counting
Tuesday, November 3, 2026

Results appear here once a race is called and verified. Official returns from the Nebraska Secretary of State.

Disclosed money in race
$2.8M
Candidate + outside spending. See finance breakdown below.
Incumbent

Currently in office

Challengers

Sorted by fundraising

Becky Kelly Stille

D
ChallengerFEC H6NE03180

Sign in + take the quiz to see alignment.

Raised this cycle$97K
Cash on hand: −$50

Mark Cohen

I
ChallengerFEC H6NE03198

Sign in + take the quiz to see alignment.

Raised this cycle$76K
Cash on hand: $16K

Macey Budke

I
ChallengerFEC H6NE03206

Sign in + take the quiz to see alignment.

Raised this cycle$6K
Cash on hand: $326

David J. Else

I
ChallengerFEC H0NE03217

Sign in + take the quiz to see alignment.

Raised this cycle—
Cash on hand: —
1 defeated candidate — show

David Huebner

RDefeated
ChallengerFEC H6NE03172

Sign in + take the quiz to see alignment.

Raised this cycle$86K
Cash on hand: $272
Local signal

Early read on NE-03 — U.S. House

A directional read on where this seat is trending, from the signals we have so far. This is an early scaffold — more inputs light up as coverage and constituent activity accrue.

Coverage tone · the matchup
Recent news coverage of the nominees heading to the general election.
Adrian Smithmixed
0 pos4 neutral0 neg4 articles
Becky Kelly Stillelimited coverage
No coverage in our tracked outlets in the last 90 days.
A media signal, not a poll of the district.
Constituent stakes
No one here has staked a position on a tracked vote yet. As neighbors weigh in on /pressure campaigns, the district's lean will show up here.
Money in the race

Finance breakdown

Disclosed funding shaping this race — both the money candidates raise themselves and the outside spending dropped by independent groups. Issue-ad spending by 501(c)(4) groups is excluded; the FEC doesn't require disclosure of it. See the note below for details.

Candidate fundraising: FEC reports through October 14, 2026 · 2025–26 cycle

Total disclosed
$2.8M
Candidate fundraising + independent expenditures (FEC).
Candidate-direct (Schedule A)
$2.5M
Raised by candidate committees themselves.
Outside spending (Schedule E)
$283K
$283K for · $0 against
CandidateRaised directlyOutside forOutside againstNet in corner
Adrian Smith(R)incumbent
+ DEFEND AMERICAN JOBS $283K
$2.2M$283K—$2.5M
Becky Kelly Stille(D)
$97K——$97K
Mark Cohen
$76K——$76K
Macey Budke(I)
$6K——$6K
David J. Else
$0——$0
1 defeated candidate — show finances
CandidateRaised directlyOutside forOutside againstNet in corner
David Huebner(R)defeated
$86K——$86K
Where the money comes from

In-state vs out-of-state

Share of each candidate's itemized individual contributions from donors inside NE versus the rest of the country. Excludes sub-$200 unitemized donations (no geography on file) and PAC money — see note below.

Adrian Smith(R)54% in-state · $419K itemized
$226K in-state$192K out-of-state
Becky Kelly Stille(D)71% in-state · $7K itemized
$5K in-state$2K out-of-state
Mark Cohen64% in-state · $22K itemized
$14K in-state$8K out-of-state
1 defeated candidate — show
David Huebner(R)defeated99% in-state · $66K itemized
$66K in-state$500 out-of-state
What's counted, what isn't

Candidate-direct is each campaign's reported receipts on FEC Schedule A — individual contributions plus PAC contributions to the candidate's own committee — through the most recent filing.

Outside spending is independent expenditures on FEC Schedule E: money spent by PACs, super PACs, and party committees for or against a candidate, without legal coordination with the campaign. The committees listed under each candidate are the largest disclosed spenders on either side.

In-state vs out-of-state covers only itemized individual contributions — donations over $200, which are the only ones that carry a contributor address at the FEC. Sub-$200 unitemized donations (often a large share for grassroots campaigns) have no geography on file and are excluded, as is PAC money. So the percentages describe where a candidate's itemized individual money comes from, not where every dollar raised comes from.

Not counted: 501(c)(4) "social welfare" organizations run issue ads that frequently mention candidates by name but aren't classified as express advocacy under FEC rules — they file no Schedule E and don't appear in this breakdown. Press reporting on a race may cite figures that include this dark-money spending; ours doesn't.

About this race page

Candidate roster is sourced from the FEC's active-candidate list for the 2026 cycle. Fundraising totals reflect committee filings through the last reporting period.

Alignment % compares the candidate's extracted policy positions against your quiz answers. Positions are pulled from the candidate's campaign issues page by AI; we save the source quote for each position so you can verify the extraction. Candidates without a campaign issues page show position data pending — we're working through the roster and re-checking stale extractions every 90 days.

News coverage is from the GDELT 2.0 global news feed, filtered to a curated list of national, political, and regional outlets.