A moderate Republican House member is planning to call it quits ahead of next year’s midterm elections which could see the slim GOP majority slip away, thereby hamstringing President Donald Trump’s last two years in office.
U.S. Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) announced Friday that he will not seek re-election in the upcoming 2026 midterm elections, ending his tenure in Congress after five terms. His retirement opens up Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District as a prime pickup opportunity for Democrats.
Bacon, who has served the Omaha-area district since 2017, is expected to formally announce his decision as early as next week. According to two sources familiar with the matter, the timing of the announcement is likely to align with the anticipated passage of the Trump-backed “Big Beautiful Bill.”
Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District—which covers much of the Omaha metropolitan area—is expected to be one of the Democrats’ top flip targets in 2026 as they work to reclaim control of the House. Rep. Don Bacon first won the district in 2016 by fewer than 5,000 votes and has since survived a series of closely contested races, despite the district’s Democratic lean.
According to the Cook Partisan Voting Index, NE-02 currently leans D+3. In the 2024 presidential election, former Vice President Kamala Harris carried the district by four points, while Bacon narrowly held his seat by just under 6,000 votes. Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts also carried the district in a recent special election to fill the Senate seat previously held by Ben Sasse, who retired in 2023.
During his time in the House, Rep. Don Bacon developed a reputation as one of the more moderate voices within the Republican caucus. He supported former President Biden’s agenda roughly 30 percent of the time, though he opposed several of Biden’s major initiatives, including the “Build Back Better” plan.
Bacon voted in favor of establishing a congressional committee to investigate the January 6 Capitol protests and recently expressed support for legislation that would limit the president’s authority to impose tariffs. In the wake of Kevin McCarthy’s ouster as House Speaker in 2022, Bacon even floated the possibility of siding with Democrats to elect a new speaker, though he ultimately backed current Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA).