Omaha, along with (AP) – The US -Rep. Don Bacon, a Republican from Nebraska, announced on Monday that he will not be striving for an increasingly polarized political climate next year.
The 61-year-old Bacon said at a press conference at the Omaha Airport that he would not catch up with a sixth term in Nebraska’s second district with his so-called blue dot, which includes many progressive voters in Omaha.
Bacon had to navigate an ever shadowy line between the stay in the good grace of his party and President Donald Trump without alienating his increasingly democratic district. He said he was proud of his cross -party approach in the face of bitter partnership and dysfunction in Washington.
“It is worrying to be attacked by the right,” said Bacon.
Bacon said he thinks he could win the district again, but he would like to be able to spend more time with his family in Omaha and his eight grandchildren. He has been in office for almost a decade.
“I think it’s time for a new Republican to be your candidate who lasts 12 to 14 hours a day and keep this seat,” said Bacon.
Bacon said in “In this district, you have to win swing voters. It’s just a fact of life.” But he said the Republicans will have a good shot to keep the seat in 2026 because the Democrats have so far appealed to the tough left in the race.
In 2024, he won a re -election as the air force veteran elected in 2016. He is a member of the House Armed Services Committee and was the focus of many debates in the congress. He was also the chairman of the conservative-centrist republican Main Street Caucus in the house. He plans to end his term.
Bacon has acquired a call as a centerist – an increasingly scarce name of the Republicans because the party moved further to the right. However, he has long recognized that moderation is a necessary attribute for anyone who wants to represent the omaha-centered district who is closely divided between Republican and democratic voters.
Nebraska is one of two states that do not follow a winner-take-all system for the allocation of votes from the election college. Instead, Nebraska and Maine allow the choice of presidential elections from the congress district. Bacon’s district moved his voter three times to a democratic presidential candidate – against Barack Obama, 2008, 2020 to Joe Biden and Camala Harris in 2024.
The political climate in Omaha is changing quickly, where voters recently rejected a fourth term for the republican mayor Jean Stothert in favor of her democratic opponent John Ewing.
Several democrats already see an opportunity to make a vulnerable seat and have already announced their candidacy. John Cavanaugh, a state senator from Omaha, his father John John J. Cavanaugh III. The 2nd district represented in the congress from 1977 to 1981.
Bacon managed to survive the swing of the district to the left by staying exactly in the middle. In his most recent campaigns, he emblazoned his cross -party references in political advertisements and quoted his willingness to end his party to support measures such as the popular infrastructure investment calculation of infrastructure in 2021 of the bidges government.
Despite Bacon’s willingness to blame both his party and the Trump administration, he consistently voted with most of her agenda. But his criticism of Trump was enough to draw the growing anger of his party. Bacon stood in 2024 with a primary challenger who was supported by the Republican Party in Nebraska, who was led by Trump -Loyalist.
Nevertheless, Bacon has become more deafening in his criticism of the Trump administration. This includes the disordered collective bargaining policy of the president, whereby Speck goes so far to introduce a draft law to return the authority to issue tariffs to the congress.
Bacon said he would not decide whether he should vote for Trump’s general attractive bill until he sees the final form. He said the house bill that focused on adding Medicaid work requirements and checking the program would have good things, but there were changes.
“The Senate hit some new provisions there that are worrying,” said Bacon. “There are also a lot of great things in this legislation, so we have to weigh it.”
On Sunday, the Republican Senator Thom Tillis from North Carolina also decided not to look for re -election next year. Because of his reduction in health programs, he had captured his opposition to the tax relief and expenditure of President Donald Trump’s patterns.
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Associated Press Writer Josh Funk contributed to this report by Omaha.
