OMAHA — U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., with help from House Republican leadership and national GOP donors, set a financial marker this spring to tell potential challengers that the cost of running against the four-term incumbent is going up.
Bacon’s campaign raised $483,000 in the first quarter of 2023. His federal political committee to elect other conservatives transferred another $140,000 to him, for a total of $623,000. That’s the most money any 2nd District candidate has raised in the first quarter of a non-election year, federal campaign finance records show.
But Democrats say Bacon’s stepped-up fundraising shows his fear that voters in a purple district who picked Joe Biden as president in 2020 might not be as open to Bacon in 2024, a year when former President Donald Trump could be back on the ballot.
Usually a slow fundraising time
The old record for first-quarter fundraising in a non-election year by any House candidate in the Omaha-based 2nd Congressional District was in 2019, when Bacon raised $370,693 for a run during the last presidential election year. Bacon is the only 2nd District candidate to date to file to run in 2024.
Previous April fundraising numbers posted by 2nd District incumbents of both major parties during non-election years have hovered around $200,000 to $300,000. Former Reps. Brad Ashford, D-Neb., and Lee Terry, R-Neb., raised less than $200,000 in some of those quarters, but races have gotten longer and costlier since then.
A Bacon campaign spokeswoman said his fundraising exceeded expectations.
“This shows a swell of support that is growing because people want a representative who is effective at working with others to get things done, while holding true to their values and beliefs,” Danielle Jensen said.
Abortion could motivate Dems
Nebraska Democratic Party chair Jane Kleeb said Bacon knows “he’s going to be in trouble” for portraying himself as a moderate. His previous co-sponsorship of a proposed federal abortion ban won’t sit well with women upset about new restrictions on abortion rights, she said.
“We are going to make the contrast very clear,” she said.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has again identified the 2nd District — Nebraska’s most competitive House district — race as one the Democrats think they can flip with the right candidate.
Thus far, no major Democratic candidate has announced a bid. A 2022 campaign staffer for State Sen. Tony Vargas of Omaha declined to say whether he is running in 2024, although several Douglas County Democrats told the Examiner he is kicking tires on a second-chance bid.
The National Republican Congressional Committee is expected to help Bacon as well.
Cost of races in Omaha area
In 2022, Bacon raised $3.89 million, according to OpenSecrets.org, which tracks campaign fundraising and spending. Vargas raised $3.4 million that year. Additionally, outside groups backing Bacon spent another $7.4 million, while outside groups backing Vargas spent $3.7 million.
Because Vargas hasn’t announced a bid, his federal committee reported no new fundraising in the first quarter. His final report of the 2022 race showed $53,000 in cash on hand. Bacon beat Vargas at the ballot box by about 2 percentage points in a freshly redrawn 2nd District.
Experts who reviewed this quarter’s numbers said Republicans likely have a long-term advantage from adding Republican-rich Saunders County to the 2nd District and shifting part of Sarpy County to the 1st District, Papillion and La Vista. Sarpy is more purple than Saunders, but it is home turf for Bacon, who lives in Papillion.
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