Mark Johnston (Nebraska)

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Mark Johnston

Democratic Party

Education

M.D.

Dalhousie University, 1980

Graduate

University of Western Ontario, 1986

Personal

Profession

Ophthalmologist

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Mark Johnston (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District. He will not appear on the ballot for the Democratic primary on May 12, 2026.

Johnston completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Mark Johnston earned an M.D. from Dalhousie University in 1980 and a graduate degree from the University of Western Ontario in 1986. Johnston also attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His career experience includes working as an ophthalmologist.

Elections

2026

See also: Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District election, 2026

General election

The primary will occur on May 12, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Nebraska District 2

The following candidates are running in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Nebraska District 2 on May 12, 2026.

		Candidate
	Submit photo	Evangelos Argyrakis
		Kishla Askins
		John Cavanaugh
		James Leuschen
		Denise Powell
		Crystal Rhoades

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	There are no incumbents in this race.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Mark Johnston (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Nebraska District 2

Brinker Harding is running in the Republican primary for U.S. House Nebraska District 2 on May 12, 2026.

		Candidate
		Brinker Harding

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Brett Lindstrom (R)
• Don Bacon (R)

Endorsements

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Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Mark Johnston completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Johnston's responses.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Retired Eye Surgeon

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Justice For All
• Represent all the voters in CD2
• Working together for a better future.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Respect and dignity for the individual.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

My parents

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

The Bill of Rights and the Constitution

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Honesty

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

Hard worker. Enjoying being around people.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Working to improve the lives of all

What legacy would you like to leave?

To have made the lives of those around me better.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

John Kennedy being elected President.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

Grew up working on our family farm.

What qualities does the U.S. House of Representatives possess that makes it unique as an institution?

Diversity of it’s membership.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for representatives to have previous experience in government or politics?

Politicians should be highly qualified and experienced in their areas of expertise.

What do you perceive to be the United States’ greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

Continue to have a dynamic educational system.

Do you believe that two years is the right term length for representatives?

Yes

What are your thoughts on term limits?

Moderate restrictions

Is there a particular representative, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?

John Quincy Adams

Both sitting representatives and candidates for office hear many personal stories from the residents of their district. Is there a story that you’ve heard that you found particularly touching, memorable, or impactful?

Long term residents afraid of being separated from their families.

Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

Finding the best solutions is often hard work.

The Constitution says that all bills for raising revenue must originate in the House. What role would this power play in your priorities if elected?

Congress, like families and businesses, must be fiscally responsible.

How should the U.S. House use its investigative powers?

Yes

What committees interest you?

Health Care and Agriculture

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

Fiscal responsibility.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign finance summary

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Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

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Mark Johnston campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2026*	U.S. House Nebraska District 2	Withdrew primary	$10,147	$9,299
Grand total			$10,147	$9,299
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete

See also

2026 Elections

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Government

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Newsletters

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External links

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Candidate

U.S. House Nebraska District 2

Website

Facebook

Footnotes

[show]

Nebraska's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Deb Fischer (R)

Pete Ricketts (R)

Representatives

District 1

Mike Flood (R)

District 2

Don Bacon (R)

District 3

Adrian Smith (R)

Republican Party (5)