| State: | Nebraska |
| District Number: | 2 |
| Image Name: | Nebraska's 2nd congressional district (since 2023).png |
| Image Width: | 400 |
| Image Caption: | Nebraska's 2nd congressional district since January 3, 2023 |
| Representative: | Don Bacon |
| Party: | Republican |
| Residence: | Papillion |
| Percent Urban: | 97.86 |
| Percent Rural: | 2.14 |
| Population: | 658,116 |
| Population Year: | 2022 |
| Median Income: | $77,535[1] |
| Percent White: | 67.8 |
| Percent Black: | 9.8 |
| Percent Hispanic: | 12.8 |
| Percent Asian: | 4.4 |
| Percent More Than One Race: | 4.3 |
| Percent Other Race: | 0.9 |
| Cpvi: | EVEN[2] |
Nebraska's 2nd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Nebraska that encompasses the core of the Omaha–Council Bluffs metropolitan area. It includes all of Douglas County, which includes the state's largest city Omaha; it also includes Saunders County and areas of western Sarpy County. It has been represented in the United States House of Representatives since 2017 by Don Bacon, a member of the Republican Party. It was one of 18 districts that would have voted for Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election had they existed in their current configuration while being won or held by a Republican in 2022.
With a Cook Partisan Voting Index (CPVI) rating of EVEN, the district is the least Republican of the congressional districts in Nebraska, a state with an all-Republican congressional delegation.[2] It is also one of seven districts in the country with a CPVI of EVEN, meaning that the district votes almost identically to the national electorate.
While the rest of the state's electorate tends to be solidly Republican, the 2nd district is much more closely divided between the Republican and Democratic parties.[3] In the 2010s, the district became known as a swing district; it was one of two districts with a margin of less than 5% in all elections held after the 2010 census. Since 2000, it has backed the electoral winner of the presidential election with the exception of 2012.
Since 1992, Nebraska is one of only two states in the United States that distributes their electoral votes for president by both congressional district and statewide popular vote (the other being Maine). In the 2008 United States presidential election, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama targeted the district as a strategy of breaking a potential electoral-vote tie.[4] He won the district's electoral vote by a margin of 3,325 votes over Republican John McCain, who won the state's other four electoral votes.[5] Obama's victory in the 2nd district meant that Nebraska's electoral delegation was split for the first time ever, and the first Nebraskan electoral vote for a Democrat since 1964.[5] However, he subsequently failed to win the district in 2012 against Mitt Romney.[6] In 2014, longtime Representative Lee Terry, a Republican, was ousted by Democratic challenger Brad Ashford, one of only two Republican incumbents that cycle to lose their seat.[7]
In 2016, Republican Donald Trump won only a plurality of the 2nd district over Democrat Hillary Clinton; he won only 2% over Clinton, a sharp reduction of Romney's seven-point advantage over Obama. Republican Don Bacon also bested one-term Democrat Brad Ashford to win the seat and has held the seat since. In 2020, Trump notably targeted the district in a fashion similar to Obama as Democrat Joe Biden polled at an advantage in the district.[8] Trump's campaigning in the district drew criticism after rally attendees were left stranded in freezing temperatures due to transportation issues.[9] Biden ultimately won in the district over Trump by six points, nearly matching Romney's margin over Obama.[10] Precious McKesson cast the electoral vote, making her the first woman of color in the state to cast an Electoral college ballot.[11] [12] On August 17, 2024, Nebraska native and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz campaigned in the district to win it over once again. [13]
According to the APM Research Lab's Voter Profile Tools[14] (featuring the U.S. Census Bureau's 2019 American Community Survey), the district contained about 473,000 potential voters (citizens, age 18+). Of these, 80% are White, 9% Black, and 6% Latino. Immigrants make up 5% of the district's potential voters.The median income among households (with one or more potential voters) in the district is about $73,400, while 8% of households live below the poverty line. As for the educational attainment of potential voters in the district, 40% hold a bachelor's or higher degree.
During redistricting in 2011, state lawmakers removed the city of Bellevue — an area with a large minority population — and Offutt Air Force Base from the district, and moved it to Omaha's Republican-heavy suburbs in western Sarpy County. The move was criticized by Democrats as a gerrymander meant to dilute the urban vote due to its support of Obama in 2008.[15]
Following its support of Joe Biden in the 2020 election, State Senator Lou Ann Linehan proposed a new map that would again dilute the Democratic vote by splitting the city of Omaha into two separate districts, and adding heavily Republican-leaning Sarpy and Saunders Counties.[16] [17] State Senator Justin Wayne proposed an alternative map that would restore the map to its pre-2011 movement by adding Bellevue back to the district and remove areas that lean Republican. Linehan's congressional redistricting plan passed the committee 5-4 on a party-line vote, but failed a cloture vote following a filibuster; both maps received bipartisan criticism for splitting Douglas and/or Sarpy counties. The legislature ultimately passed a map that kept Douglas County intact, while retaining rural parts in Western Sarpy County and adding the rural Saunders County. The resulting maps have again been criticized as gerrymanders, and both Linehan's and the final maps have again been characterized as diluting urban voters.[18]
| Year | Office | Results |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | President | George H.W. Bush 48% – Bill Clinton 32% |
| 1996 | President | Bob Dole 53% – Bill Clinton 38% |
| 2000 | President | George W. Bush 57% – Al Gore 39% |
| 2004 | President | George W. Bush 60% – John Kerry 38% |
| 2008 | President | Barack Obama 50% – John McCain 49% |
| 2012 | President | Mitt Romney 53% – Barack Obama 46% |
| 2016 | President | Donald Trump 48% – Hillary Clinton 46% |
| 2020 | President | Joe Biden 52% – Donald Trump 46% |
| 2022 | Governor | Jim Pillen 48.2% – Carol Blood 48.1% |
| Member | Party | Years of Service | Cong ress | Electoral history | Counties | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| District established March 4, 1883 | |||||||
| align=left | James Laird | Republican | March 4, 1883 – August 17, 1889 | Elected in 1882. Re-elected in 1884. Re-elected in 1886. Re-elected in 1888. Died. | 1883–1893: Cass, Douglas, Gage, Johnson, Lancaster, Otoe, Pawnee, Richardson, Sarpy, Saunders, Washington | ||
| align=left | Gilbert L. Laws | Republican | December 2, 1889 – March 3, 1891 | Elected to finish Laird's term. Retired. | |||
| align=left | William A. McKeighan | Populist | March 4, 1891 – March 3, 1893 | Elected in 1890. Redistricted to the . | |||
| align=left | David Henry Mercer | Republican | March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1903 | Elected in 1892. Re-elected in 1894. Re-elected in 1896. Re-elected in 1898. Re-elected in 1900. Lost re-election. | 1893–1943: Douglas, Sarpy, Washington | ||
| align=left | Gilbert M. Hitchcock | Democratic | March 4, 1903 – March 3, 1905 | Elected in 1902. Lost re-election. | |||
| align=left | John L. Kennedy | Republican | March 4, 1905 – March 3, 1907 | Elected in 1904. Lost re-election. | |||
| align=left | Gilbert M. Hitchcock | Democratic | March 4, 1907 – March 3, 1911 | Elected in 1906. Re-elected in 1908. Retired to run for U.S. senator. | |||
| align=left | Charles O. Lobeck | Democratic | nowrap | March 4, 1911 – March 3, 1919 | Elected in 1910. Re-elected in 1912. Re-elected in 1914. Re-elected in 1916. Lost re-election. | ||
| align=left | Albert W. Jefferis | Republican | March 4, 1919 – March 3, 1923 | Elected in 1918. Re-elected in 1920. Retired to run for U.S. senator. | |||
| align=left | Willis G. Sears | Republican | March 4, 1923 – March 3, 1931 | Elected in 1922. Re-elected in 1924. Re-elected in 1926. Re-elected in 1928. Lost renomination. | |||
| align=left | H. Malcolm Baldrige | Republican | March 4, 1931 – March 3, 1933 | Elected in 1930. Lost re-election. | |||
| align=left | Edward R. Burke | Democratic | March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1935 | Elected in 1932. Retired to run for U.S. senator. | |||
| align=left | Charles F. McLaughlin | Democratic | January 3, 1935 – January 3, 1943 | Elected in 1934. Re-elected in 1936. Re-elected in 1938. Re-elected in 1940. Lost re-election. | |||
| align=left | Howard Buffett | Republican | January 3, 1943 – January 3, 1949 | Elected in 1942. Re-elected in 1944. Re-elected in 1946. Lost re-election. | 1943-1963: Cass, Douglas, Otoe, Sarpy, Washington | ||
| align=left | Eugene D. O'Sullivan | Democratic | January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1951 | Elected in 1948. Lost re-election. | |||
| align=left | Howard Buffett | Republican | January 3, 1951 – January 3, 1953 | Elected in 1950. Retired. | |||
| align=left | Roman Hruska | Republican | January 3, 1953 – November 8, 1954 | Elected in 1952. Resigned when elected U.S. Senator. | |||
| align=left | Jackson B. Chase | Republican | January 3, 1955 – January 3, 1957 | Elected in 1954. Retired. | |||
Glenn Cunningham | Republican | January 3, 1957 – January 3, 1971 | Elected in 1956. Re-elected in 1958. Re-elected in 1960. Re-elected in 1962. Re-elected in 1964. Re-elected in 1966. Re-elected in 1968. Lost renomination. | ||||
| 1963-1969: Cass, Douglas, Sarpy, Washington | |||||||
| 1969-1983: Burt, Cass, Douglas, Sarpy, Washington | |||||||
| align=left | John Y. McCollister | Republican | nowrap | January 3, 1971 – January 3, 1977 | Elected in 1970. Re-elected in 1972. Re-elected in 1974. Retired to run for U.S. Senator. | ||
| align=left | John J. Cavanaugh | Democratic | January 3, 1977 – January 3, 1981 | Elected in 1976. Re-elected in 1978. Retired. | |||
Hal Daub | Republican | January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1989 | Elected in 1980. Re-elected in 1982. Re-elected in 1984. Re-elected in 1986. Retired to run for U.S. Senator. | ||||
| 1983-1993: Burt, Cass, Douglas, Sarpy, Washington | |||||||
Peter Hoagland | Democratic | January 3, 1989 – January 3, 1995 | Elected in 1988. Re-elected in 1990. Re-elected in 1992. Lost re-election. | ||||
| 1993-2003: Part of Cass, Douglas, Sarpy | |||||||
| align=left | Jon L. Christensen | Republican | January 3, 1995 – January 3, 1999 | Elected in 1994. Re-elected in 1996. Retired to run for Governor. | |||
Lee Terry | Republican | January 3, 1999 – January 3, 2015 | Elected in 1998. Re-elected in 2000. Re-elected in 2002. Re-elected in 2004. Re-elected in 2006. Re-elected in 2008. Re-elected in 2010. Re-elected in 2012. Lost re-election. | ||||
| 2003–2013: Douglas, Part of Sarpy | |||||||
| 2013–2023: Douglas, Part of Sarpy | |||||||
| align=left | Brad Ashford | Democratic | January 3, 2015 – January 3, 2017 | Elected in 2014. Lost re-election. | |||
Don Bacon | Republican | January 3, 2017 – present | Elected in 2016. Re-elected in 2018. Re-elected in 2020. Re-elected in 2022. | ||||
| 2023–present: Douglas, Part of Sarpy, Saunders | |||||||