Nebraska 2nd District Congressman Don Bacon announced plans to retire during a press event Monday morning.
Bacon, who is in his fifth term representing the Omaha area, will not seek reelection in 2026 and will retire at the end of the 119th Congress.
The grandfather, 61, had hinted back in March that he was considering retirement, saying in a statement released by his campaign that whether to run for a sixth term was a “family decision” that would be made during the summer.
This leaves the seat open for Nebraska’s “blue dot,” a district that Vice President Kamala Harris won in the 2024 election.
“Today I am announcing I’m not running for reelection. So I feel emotional. It’s been a great 10 years…It’s time to come home,” Bacon said Monday. “It’s been an honor to serve. I thank the second district for the opportunity.”
Bacon’s Legislative record includes 38 bills introduced that became law.
“After three decades in the Air Force and now going on one decade in Congress, I look forward to coming home in the evenings and being with my wife and seeing more of our adult children and eight grandchildren, who all live near my home,” he said in a press release. “I’ve been married for 41 years, and I’d like to dedicate more time to my family, my church, and the Omaha community. I also want to continue advocating for a strong national security strategy and a strong alliance system with countries that share our love of democracy, free markets and the rule of law.”
He has been one of the few Republicans in Congress willing to criticize President Donald Trump, going so far as to introduce a resolution in April in the House of Representatives that would have required Congressional approval for tariffs. Bacon also criticized the president’s strategy toward the Russia-Ukraine war, saying in a “60 Minutes” interview earlier this year that it appeared Trump was trying to “appease” Russian President Vladimir Putin.
And he was the first House Republican to call for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to be fired after Hegseth shared plans for an airstrike on Yemen in a chat on the Signal messaging app and inadvertently included the editor of the Atlantic magazine on the message string.
Bacon is considered a moderate Republican, which helped him to continue to win reelection in the Congressional District nicknamed the “blue dot” because its electoral vote has gone to the Democratic candidate in three of the past four presidential elections.
Bacon said he is confident the Republican party will keep the seat, but it has to be a candidate who can appeal to swing voters in the district.
But his elections have always been close, with Bacon never winning more than 51% of the vote. He also faced a Republican primary challenger last year in businessman Dan Frei, although he easily defeated him.
Even with the disadvantage of the midterms usually flipping seats, he is confident a Republican will still represent the district.
“This district, you got to win swing voters. It’s just a fact of life, and so you got to be careful about not building positions in the primary,” he added.
He was already facing at least two Democratic challengers in State Sen. John Cavanaugh and nonprofit leader and businesswoman Denise Powell.
Sen. Deb Fischer, also a Republican, released a statement on X saying Bacon has faithfully served the country.
” I have enjoyed working alongside Don on many issues facing our nation, and I will miss partnering with him on solutions that strengthen our Nebraska communities,” she wrote.
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