AP Race Call: Republican Pete Ricketts wins election to U.S. Senate in Nebraska

By The Associated Press The Associated Press

Republican U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts of Nebraska won election Tuesday to the seat he was appointed to nearly two years ago. Ricketts, a former two-term Nebraska governor, defeated Democratic challenger Preston Love Jr., an 81-year-old longtime community activist in Omaha. Love had painted Ricketts — one of the wealthiest members of the U.S. Senate — as privileged and out of-touch with most voters. But Ricketts easily prevailed in the heavily conservative state. Ricketts will serve out the remaining two years of the six-year term left vacant by former Republican Sen. Ben Sasse, who resigned in 2022. The Associated Press declared Ricketts the winner at 9:00 p.m. EST.