OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Rep. Don Bacon announced Monday he will not run for reelection in 2026, saying he wants to spend more time with his family. The Nebraska congressman made the announcement at Eppley Airfield, highlighting the airport's expansion as one of his accomplishments during his time in Congress.
Bacon was first elected to represent Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District in 2016 and has been reelected four times since then. His most recent victory came last fall when he defeated Tony Vargas by about 2 percentage points.
During his announcement, Bacon reflected on his time in office.
"What I hope to be remembered for is that I'm a Christian first, American second, and somewhere down there is being a Republican. It's about doing the right thing. I'm a traditional conservative at heart. I feel like I've been able to do what I thought was right, whether that's infrastructure, whether it was certifying the election - that's constitutional, and whether it was trying to pick the right Speaker. So I've been able to weigh in," Bacon said.
The congressman emphasized he is not resigning and will serve the remainder of his term, which has about a year and a half left. I spoke with Bacon, who indicated he would welcome some sort of executive role after leaving Congress.
Two Democratic candidates have already announced their candidacy for this seat, with Republican candidates expected to announce soon.
Bacon believes whoever wins will need to be moderate enough to gain support from outside their party.
Democrats in Nebraska and the Democratic National Committee are organizing different programs this summer, seeing the district as potentially winnable.
State Party Chair Jane Kleeb says now that Bacon's plans are known, they'll invest in more rural areas to try and flip the CD-2 seat.
"We have already hired three organizers across the state, one is specifically targeting the rural areas of the second congressional district. That's area that we have always fallen down on but we know with the early organizing money, because of the DNC investments that's going to be the real reason we flip that seat," Kleeb said.
Both in-person and virtual events are planned for this summer as part of the Democratic organizing efforts.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
WATCH MARY NELSON'S EXCLUSIVE CONVERSATION WITH DON BACON:
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