It’s official: Nebraska Republican Rep. Don Bacon has announced he won’t seek reelection in 2026 — instantly transforming the Omaha-based 2nd Congressional District into a prime Democratic pickup opportunity in a House increasingly defined by razor-thin margins.
Bacon, a five-term congressman and retired Air Force brigadier general, has represented the 2nd District since 2017. Known for his relatively moderate approach and clashes with President Donald Trump, Bacon has occasionally broke with his party on major issues. He voted to certify the 2020 election and co-sponsored bipartisan legislation like the “Improving Reporting to Prevent Hate Act” with Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), aimed at improving the accuracy of hate crime reporting.
As The Wall Street Journal reports, Bacon still faces one major decision — one that could define President Trump’s sweeping domestic agenda:
His announcement that he won’t run for re-election comes as the party has just days to pass the president’s tax and spending bill ahead of a self-imposed July 4 deadline. Bacon, who is considered a pivotal vote, says he is waiting to see what passes out of the Senate before he decides what to do.
“I’m not a ‘yes’ necessarily,” said Bacon in a wide-ranging interview about his decision to leave Congress. He argues that the Senate’s initial text on Republicans’ “one big, beautiful bill” was worse than the version he helped pass out of the House. The Senate released a revised version in recent days and is hoping to quickly approve it and send it back to the House, where the GOP has a thin 220-212 majority and party leaders need every vote they can get.
“It’ll come down to: Does the bad outweigh the good, or the good outweigh the bad by the time it’s done?” He said he had concerns about the Medicaid provisions and the rollback of clean-energy tax credits.
Bacon, 61 years old, has found success running in the middle, winning re-election in one of the most competitive seats in the country since he flipped Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District in 2016. He is also one of the most bipartisan members of Congress, according to the Lugar Center’s bipartisan index.
Democrats wasted no time after the announcement. State Senator John Cavanaugh and business owner Denise Powell have already jumped into the race. On the Republican side, possible contenders include former State Senator Brett Lindstrom, Omaha City Councilman Brinker Harding, and Douglas County Sheriff Aaron Hanson.
Bacon’s exit opens one of the most competitive House seats in the country. The 2nd District — which includes Omaha and parts of Douglas, Sarpy, and Saunders counties — has a Cook Partisan Voting Index of D+3. Once a Republican stronghold, the district has been trending leftward thanks to shifting demographics and political realignment, particularly during the Trump era.
Before Trump, the GOP had a lock on the district. George W. Bush carried it handily in 2000 and 2004. Even Mitt Romney won it by 7 points in 2012. But the tide began to shift in 2008, when Barack Obama flipped the seat — marking the first Democratic presidential win there since 1964.
Trump won it narrowly in 2016, but Joe Biden carried the district by about 6 points in 2020, and Democrats held it again in 2024. These wins came despite Nebraska remaining solidly red overall.
What changed? Suburban backlash to Trump’s rhetoric and policies, rising numbers of college-educated voters, greater racial and ethnic diversity, and a generational shift in Omaha’s suburbs have all contributed to the district’s blue turn at the top of the ticket.
Still, Republicans have remained competitive down-ballot. Bacon held the seat even as Biden and Kamala Harris won the district twice, proof of its moderate, ticket-splitting character.
Whether that trend holds without Bacon on the ballot is now the central question — and one that could help decide control of the House in 2026.
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