Much of the attention each presidential election cycle centers on swing states where the outcome can have an outsize impact on who wins the White House. But candidate campaigns and political analysts also zero in on smaller areas where factors like demographics and turnout can play critical roles in the race's ultimate outcome.

Enter battleground counties. Often – but not always – these geographic puzzle pieces are part of a larger swing state. They can offer clues to broader patterns among key groups like Hispanic voters or blue-collar workers, as well as to the strength of a party's turnout infrastructure and where it's chosen to make investments. Sometimes, the key is simply for a party to perform to its historical strength in a given county. If a party underperforms its historical vote share in a key county, it risks losing the state and the larger national race to 270 electoral votes.

With the 2024 presidential election approaching and a rematch of incumbent President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump looking likely, U.S. News is spotlighting 13 battleground counties across the U.S., examining their past presidential track records and explaining why they're important this year.

Among the 13 counties on our list is Douglas County, Nebraska.

If Nebraska played by the usual rules for presidential races, it would not attract much interest from either party: In the Cornhusker State, winning the statewide vote is essentially a fait accompli for Republicans. However, in 1991, the state decided to allocate three of its five electoral votes to the presidential winner of each of its congressional districts. This is a system that any state can use, but only one other state – Maine – has decided to do so.

Until 2008, Nebraska’s system remained an eccentricity, of interest only to those with a passion for election trivia. But in 2008, Barack Obama targeted Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District and managed to win it, snagging one of the state’s five electoral votes for the Democrats on his........

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