Omaha City Council Vice President Brinker Harding is running to replace retiring Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), the first Republican to do so as the party scrambles to find someone to hold on to the swing district.
Bacon, who has served in Congress since 2017, announced Monday that he would not seek reelection. He represents Nebraska‘s 2nd Congressional District, the state’s swing district and key linchpin in presidential elections due to the state’s electoral vote laws. Bacon won reelection handily in the 2024 election, but his district was one of three that voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris.
OMAHA UPSET OFFERS HOUSE DEMOCRATS GLIMMER OF 2026 HOPE
Harding launched his campaign video announcement on Tuesday, citing the celebration of the United States’s 250th birthday.
“Along the way, Americans have made a lot of choices,” Harding said in his video. “Some put America first, and others set us back. Next November, Americans will face another choice: what do we want our next 250 years to look like?”
He detailed his years as a businessman and serving the City Council in the “heartland” of the U.S.
“Now I’m running for Congress because I’m choosing to fight for America’s future, to make America more like its heartland, and to make the next 250 years a new golden age,” Harding said.
Harding is already facing two Democratic challengers: Denise Powell, co-founder of Women Who Run Nebraska, and Democratic state Sen. John Cavanuagh.
Bacon’s seat will be one of the most crucial for Republicans to hold on to in the 2026 midterm elections. The GOP holds a razor-thin, three-seat majority in the House, and Bacon’s seat could determine whether the Republican trifecta holds for all of President Donald Trump’s term.
His seat, once considered a Republican “toss-up,” has moved to a “lean Democrat” pick up by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. It is expected that the GOP will spend heavily in the race to bolster whoever receives their nomination, but Omaha’s purple voting body will make the contest an uphill battle for Republicans.
Whoever controls Bacon’s seat heading into 2028 will also be important. Nebraska operates under a congressional district method, meaning the state allocates two electoral votes to the candidate who wins the statewide popular vote. One electoral vote is then awarded to the popular vote winner in each congressional district. Nebraska has three congressional districts, resulting in four popular vote contests in the state, which often leads to a split electoral outcome.
The swing district has pivoted back and forth between parties over the last decade, with former President Barack Obama winning it in 2008 before Republican nominee Mitt Romney took it back in 2012. Trump then secured the district in 2016 before it swung back to Democrats in 2020 and 2024.
DON BACON WILL NOT SEEK REELECTION IN 2026 IN KEY SWING DISTRICT
Many predicted Bacon’s seat would be the tiebreaking vote between Harris and Trump, but the president won across the handful of battleground states, making the 2nd District’s electoral vote less impactful than anticipated.
However, Bacon’s win was a key victory for House Republicans. In 2026, Democrats only need a net gain of three seats to take back the majority. Bacon’s 2nd District, as well as seats held by Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Mike Lawler (R-NY), were the three that went for Harris in 2024 and will be key battlegrounds for the GOP to defend in November.