[1] A redistricting plan was passed by the Nebraska Legislature on May 24, 2011,[2] after a five-hour Democratic-led filibuster was defeated.

[6] Republican Lee Terry, who has represented Nebraska's 2nd congressional district since 1999, did not run for the U.S. Senate, and ran for re-election.

The Omaha World-Herald would later describe this is "perhaps the race's defining moment" and one that prevented Ewing from gaining much traction in the general election.

[23] Terry's campaign also made mistakes, most notably releasing an ad that inaccurately quoted a nonprofit advocacy group.

[24] Organizations Newspapers Despite receiving very little help from national Democrats, Ewing outperformed Obama and lost to Terry by just 4,197 votes.