Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District election, 2016

2018 → ← 2014

Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District

General Election Date November 8, 2016

Primary Date May 10, 2016

November 8 Election Winner: Don Bacon

Incumbent prior to election: Brad Ashford

Race Ratings Cook Political Report: Toss-up Sabato's Crystal Ball: Lean D Rothenberg & Gonzales: Toss-up/Tilt D

Nebraska U.S. House Elections District 1 • District 2 • District 3

2016 U.S. Senate Elections

2016 U.S. House Elections

The 2nd Congressional District of Nebraska held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 8, 2016.

Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District was a battleground district in 2016. Don Bacon (R) defeated Democratic incumbent Brad Ashford and Steven Laird (L) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Bacon defeated Chip Maxwell to win the Republican primary, while Laird defeated Andy Shambaugh and Jeffrey Lynn Stein to win the Libertarian nomination. The primary elections took place on May 10, 2016.

HIGHLIGHTS

Incumbent Brad Ashford (D) was the first Democratic member of the U.S. House from Nebraska since 1994.

Ashford defeated incumbent Lee Terry (R) to win the seat in 2014 and was one of the vulnerable Democrats heading into 2016.

Heading into the election, incumbent Brad Ashford (D) had a roughly $1,000,000 lead in fundraising over Don Bacon (R) and a small lead in polling.

Candidate Filing Deadline	Primary Election	General Election
March 1, 2016	May 10, 2016	November 8, 2016

Primary: A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. In Nebraska, participation rules for primaries vary by the office up for election. State legislative primaries use a nonpartisan top-two primary system in which any voter can participate. Congressional primaries are partisan, but any voter may vote in the congressional primary of their choice. For all other statewide offices, a state party can determine if it will allow unaffiliated voters to vote their primary ballot.

As of September 2025, the Democratic Party held a semi-closed primary in which registered party members and unaffiliated voters could participate, and the Republican Party held a closed primary in which only registered party members could participate.

Incumbent: Heading into the election, the incumbent was Brad Ashford (D), who was first elected in 2014.

As of the 2010 redistricting cycle, Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District was located in the eastern portion of the state and included Douglas County and part of Sarpy County.

Election results

General election

U.S. House, Nebraska District 2 General Election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Don Bacon	48.9%	141,066
	Democratic	Brad Ashford Incumbent	47.7%	137,602
	Libertarian	Steven Laird	3.3%	9,640
Total Votes				288,308
Source: Nebraska Secretary of State

Primary election

U.S. House, Nebraska District 2 Republican Primary, 2016

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Don Bacon	66%	32,328
Chip Maxwell	34%	16,677
Total Votes		49,005
Source: Nebraska Secretary of State

U.S. House, Nebraska District 2 Libertarian Primary, 2016

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Steven Laird	46.2%	108
Andy Shambaugh	38%	89
Jeffrey Lynn Stein	15.8%	37
Total Votes		234
Source: Nebraska Secretary of State

Candidates

General election candidates:

Brad Ashford
Don Bacon a
Steven Laird

Primary candidates:

Democratic

Brad Ashford - Incumbent a

Republican

Don Bacon a
Chip Maxwell

Third Party/Other

Steven Laird (Libertarian) a
Andy Shambaugh (Libertarian)
Jeffrey Lynn Stein (Libertarian)

Race background

Incumbent Brad Ashford was one of the initial 14 members of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's Frontline Program. The program was designed to help protect vulnerable Democratic incumbents heading into the 2016 election.

Don Bacon was a member of the NRCC's Young Guns Program in 2016. The Young Guns program "supports and mentors challenger and open-seat candidates in races across the country."

Endorsements

Brad Ashford (D)

• U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Don Bacon (R)

• Gov. Pete Ricketts

Polls

Nebraska's 2nd District - Brad Ashford vs. Don Bacon
Poll	Brad Ashford	Don Bacon	Margin of Error	Sample Size
Global Strategy Group (D) September 14-18, 2016	50%	40%	+/-4.9	402
Note: A "0%" finding means the candidate was not a part of the poll. The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org

Media

Brad Ashford

Support

"Won't Compromise" - Ashford's first ad, released August 2016

"Small Businesses" - Ashford campaign ad, released September 2016

"Keeping Us Safe" - Ashford campaign ad, released September 2016

Opposition

"Speak" - NRCC ad opposing Ashford, released September 2016

"Reality Check" - NRCC ad opposing Ashford, released September 2016

"He's With Them" - NRCC ad opposing Ashford, released October 2016

Don Bacon

Support

"Everybody Loves Bacon!" - Bacon campaign ad, released April 2016

"Angie" - Bacon campaign ad, released September 2016

"Oath" - Bacon campaign ad, released October 2016

Opposition

"Planners" - House Majority PAC ad opposing Bacon, released October 2016

"Retirement Party" - House Majority PAC ad opposing Bacon, released October 2016

DCCC

The DCCC released the following ad against Chip Maxwell prior to the Republican primary in an attempt to appeal to Republican primary voters. The ad calls Maxwell "a self-professed tea party conservative" and his opponent, Don Bacon, "the hand-picked candidate of the Washington political establishment."

"2016 DCCC Maxwell ad"

Campaign themes

Don Bacon

“	Don will be a proactive leader in the fight to win the war on terror: We need to defeat ISIS with assertive leadership, our superior airpower, and special forces. Iraq and other regional partners should be the lead with ground forces. Our regional partners will do this with strong American leadership, and it is clear that leading from behind will not get the job done. The current policy is allowing Iran to be the dominant power in Iraq. We are barely containing ISIS, and this is a recipe for future disaster. Don supports a strong national defense: I believe in peace through strength. Our military combat capability has been reduced by two-thirds since I gave my first oath back in 1985, but yet we maintain worldwide commitments, which is stretching us to the breaking point. The military budget has been reduced by 15 percent in last 6 years, and the sequester cuts fell in an unbalanced way on the military. We need to retool our military with the latest technology, reduce the massive headquarters’ staffs, and reform our acquisition processes. Don is pro-life and will defend traditional family values: I’m 100% pro-life, endorsed by Nebraska Right to Life, and committed to support policies that protect the unborn and build a culture of life across our nation and the world. There are practical policy positions that members of both parties can find consensus on and immediately address in Congress. I strongly support the 5-month abortion ban and prohibiting abortion when a fetus feels pain. Don is committed to reducing taxes and simplifying the tax code: We need a simpler, flatter tax code that has lower rates with fewer deductions. Everyone knows that 73,000 pages of tax law is ridiculous, and it undermines our competitiveness. Furthermore, since government at all levels spends 42 cents on every dollar earned in this country, it is clear that we have a spending problem. Therefore, I’m committed to not raising your taxes. Don will repeal Obamacare and work to reduce health-care costs with free market solutions: Individuals and families should have more options and be the primary voice with their own healthcare. The primary government authority should be at the state level, and not the federal government. States can then create market-based solutions and better respond to their citizens’ needs. The one size fits all, cookie cutter approach from Washington, D.C. will fail our nation when it comes to healthcare.	”
—Don Bacon's campaign website, http://www.donbacon2016.com/issues/

Campaign contributions

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Source: This graphic was generated using data from the FEC.

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Source: This graphic was generated using data from the FEC.

Brad Ashford

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Source: This graphic was generated using data from the FEC.

Don Bacon

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Source: This graphic was generated using data from the FEC.

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The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may not represent 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, and 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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District history

2014

See also: Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District elections, 2014

The 2nd Congressional District of Nebraska held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. Brad Ashford (D) defeated incumbent Lee Terry (R) and Steven Laird (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, Nebraska District 2 General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Brad Ashford	49%	83,872
	Republican	Lee Terry Incumbent	45.7%	78,157
	Libertarian	Steven Laird	5.3%	9,021
Total Votes				171,050
Source: Nebraska Secretary of State

2012

See also: Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District elections, 2012

The 2nd Congressional District of Nebraska held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012. Incumbent Lee Terry won re-election in the district.

U.S. House, Nebraska District 2 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	John Ewing	49.2%	129,767
	Republican	Lee Terry Incumbent	50.8%	133,964
Total Votes				263,731
Source: Nebraska Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

Important dates and deadlines

See also: Nebraska elections, 2016

The calendar below lists important dates for political candidates in Nebraska in 2016.

Dates and requirements for candidates in 2016
Deadline	Event type	Event description
December 1, 2015	Ballot access	Filing period for both incumbents and non-incumbents running in the primary election opens
December 1, 2015	Ballot access	Filing period for both incumbents and non-incumbents running in the general election opens
February 16, 2016	Ballot access	Filing period for incumbents running in the primary election closes
March 1, 2016	Ballot access	Filing period for non-incumbents running in the primary election closes
April 11, 2016	Campaign finance	First primary statement due
May 2, 2016	Campaign finance	Second primary statement due
May 10, 2016	Election date	Primary election
June 20, 2016	Campaign finance	Post-primary statement due
July 15, 2016	Ballot access	Filing period for incumbents running in the general election closes
August 1, 2016	Ballot access	Filing period for non-incumbents running in the general election closes
October 10, 2016	Campaign finance	First general statement due
October 31, 2016	Campaign finance	Second general statement due
November 8, 2016	Election date	General election
January 17, 2017	Campaign finance	Post-general statement due
Sources: Nebraska Secretary of State, "Candidate Filings Information – 2016 Election," accessed July 1, 2015 Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission, "2016 Election Year – Candidate Brochure," June 2015

See also

• United States House of Representatives elections in Nebraska, 2016
• United States House of Representatives elections, 2016

Footnotes

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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)