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The reelection of Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird by a comfortable margin establishes Lincoln as the current Democratic hot spot in the state.

But Omaha remains highly competitive for Democrats and the anchor for a potential and highly prized 2024 Democratic presidential electoral vote from the 2nd Congressional District.

Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird speaks with supporters as she makes her rounds around an election night party for Democrats on Tuesday at the DelRay Ballroom.

The Omaha-dominated district handed an electoral vote to Barack Obama in 2008 and to Joe Biden in 2020, but Republicans continue to build on their string of victories in the 2nd District House race, thanks to Sarpy County voters, while maintaining control of the Omaha mayor's office despite a Democratic voter registration advantage within the city.

West of Lincoln and outside the two big cities, the elephant roams.

And the elephant rules.

With a sole exception in Thurston County in northeastern Nebraska, which joins Douglas County (Omaha) as the only counties in the state with a Democratic voter registration majority.

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The county tally in Nebraska dramatically displays overwhelming Republican dominance, 91 to 2.

Rural Nebraskans are strongly Republican and that can be seen even in recent figures in Lancaster County: Lincoln voter registration, 66,589 Republicans, 64,141 Democrats; rural registration in the county, 13,194 Republicans, 5,181 Democrats.

But there also are a hefty 46,965 registered non-partisans in Lancaster County.

All those Lancaster County figures contained in a recent breakdown are edging up slowly.

Out west in Grant County, it's 411 Republicans and 24 lonely Democrats.

In Blaine County in north-central Nebraska, it's 302 to 20.

Statewide: 600,389 Republicans; 337,232 Democrats.

* * *

It's never over until it's over.

Circulating among state senators at the end of the week were newspaper stories about the North Carolina Legislature's recent enactment of a 12-week abortion ban with exceptions for rape, incest and serious fetal anomalies.

Supporters of new abortion restrictions in Nebraska already have identified a bill with priority designation still sitting in a legislative committee that conceivably could be transformed into an abortion restriction bill and scooted to the floor of the Legislature for action if it can gain a spot on the agenda.

Sen. Merv Riepe of Ralston, a Republican whose decision not to vote on a filibuster-ending cloture motion effectively killed a bill that would have reduced Nebraska's current abortion ban from 20 weeks to about six weeks, has made it clear that "I'm a 12-weeker, period."

When his earlier non-vote blocked the bill, it disappeared from the agenda.

With just 17 days left on the legislative calendar and a filibuster-delayed collection of priority bills backed up for this session's tedious journey through hours and hours of so-called debate and three floor votes, it's unclear whether a new abortion proposal would even be considered.

But there are indications that there might be an effort.

* * *

This has been a legislative session unlike any other at least in modern times.

It's the year of the eternal filibuster and that is going to trigger substantial changes in the legislative rules for the 2024 session.

Freshman senators who have been questioning their colleagues about what they have gotten into, with some of them raising doubts as to whether they want to stay, are being assured by some of the veterans that this will be one and done.

There's a rules battle looming over the horizon.

* * *

* Carson Vaughan, who grew up in the Sandhills and graduated from UNL, has crafted a wondrously written tribute to Mari Sandoz with a focus on Lincoln, published in The New York Times.

* Frank Daley Jr. is retiring as executive director of the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission in August. He has been director since 1999.

* How did we get here? $350 million for a new state prison coupled with hold-the-line budgeting for the University of Nebraska.

* Dramatic changes in Lincoln's skyline are in the works with what would be an even more impressive view opening up as motorists prepare to enter the city after leaving Interstate 80 west. The entry already features Memorial Stadium, Haymarket Park and Pinnacle Bank Arena, all gradually emerging into view on both sides of the highway.

* Sen. Megan Hunt's switch from registered Democrat to registered non-partisan won't change the way she votes or her advocacy on legislative issues, but it's a fit for both her independent nature and Nebraska's unique non-partisan Legislature.

* Nebraska ranked fourth among the states in a U.S. News and World Report survey of state performance on fundamental issues like health care and education, the state's economy, public safety and fiscal stability of state government.

* Baseball's new rules have rescued MLB from some of the tyranny of analytics; this fan was reluctant, but all is good.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7248 or dwalton@journalstar.com.

On Twitter @LJSdon

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Don Walton: Lincoln mayor's reelection a rare win for Nebraska ... - Lincoln Journal Star