State profile: Nebraska

Nebraska has voted Republican in every presidential election since 1964. It is a religious, conservative heartland.

The Democrats do have a chance of a Senate pick-up here, however, to add to their existing Senate seat, held currently by the conservative Ben Nelson. Maverick anti-war Republican Senator Chuck Hagel is not standing for re-election, and some commentators think that his open seat is potentially winnable for the Democrats.

Pioneers who travelled through the flat state believed it to be infertile and dubbed Nebraska the "Great American Desert".

KEY FACTS Population: 1,768,331 (ranked 38 among states) Governor: Dave Heinemann (R) Electoral college votes: 5

But Nebraska's agricultural potential was soon realised and farming became the backbone of the state's economy.

This is where the Populist movement of the 1890s developed under the leadership of William Jennings Bryan, and farming has continued to dominate the economy and the political agenda.

Modern Nebraskan agriculture involves agri-businesses such as food packaging, meat processing and fertiliser production, as well as the traditional hog and crop farming.

IN CONGRESS House of Representatives: 3 Republican Senate: 1 Democrat, 1 Republican

The 1990s brought growth and increased diversity to the rest of the economy.

Omaha is home to several Fortune 500 companies, including billionaire investor Warren Buffett's company Berkshire Hathaway, and Union Pacific, America's largest railway operator.

Still, Nebraska is not wealthy and rural depopulation is a serious problem. Although its unemployment is amongst the lowest in the United States, it has some of the nation's poorest counties.

VOTING RECORD 2004: Bush 66%, Kerry 33% 2000: Bush 62%, Gore 33% 1996: Clinton 35%, Dole 54%

During the Great Depression, the Bryan-era populism helped Nebraska become the only US state to turn its state house into a unicameral legislature. This was seen as a measure both of good governance and of budgetary restraint.

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