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Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District election, 2024 (May 14 Republican primary)

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Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District
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Democratic primary
Republican primary
General election
Election details
Filing deadline:
February 15, 2024 (incumbent)
March 1, 2024 (non-incumbent)
Primary: May 14, 2024
General: November 5, 2024
How to vote
Poll times: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Central time zone); 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (Mountain time zone)
Voting in Nebraska
Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Lean Democratic
DDHQ and The Hill: Lean Democratic
Inside Elections: Tilt Democratic
Sabato's Crystal Ball: Lean Democratic
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds
U.S. House battlegrounds
Federal and state primary competitiveness
Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2024
See also
Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District
U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd
Nebraska elections, 2024
U.S. Congress elections, 2024
U.S. Senate elections, 2024
U.S. House elections, 2024

A Republican Party primary took place on May 14, 2024, in Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District to determine which Republican candidate would run in the district's general election on November 5, 2024.

Incumbent Don Bacon advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Nebraska District 2.

All 435 seats were up for election. At the time of the election, Republicans had a 220 to 212 majority with three vacancies.[1] As of June 2024, 45 members of the U.S. House had announced they were not running for re-election. To read more about the U.S. House elections taking place this year, click here.

In the 2022 election in this district, the Republican candidate won 51.3%-48.7%. Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Joe Biden (D) would have defeated Donald Trump (R) 52.2%-45.8%.[2]

Candidate filing deadline Primary election General election
(date not yet available)
May 14, 2024
November 5, 2024


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, a top-two primary system is used for the nonpartisan legislature and some other statewide races. All other primaries are semi-closed.[3]

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

This page focuses on Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District Republican primary. For more in-depth information on the district's Democratic primary and the general election, see the following pages:

Candidates and election results


Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Nebraska District 2

Incumbent Don Bacon defeated Dan Frei in the Republican primary for U.S. House Nebraska District 2 on May 14, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Don Bacon
Don Bacon
 
62.0
 
35,748
Image of Dan Frei
Dan Frei Candidate Connection
 
38.0
 
21,946

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 57,694
Candidate Connection = 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.

Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.

Don Bacon

Image of Don Bacon

WebsiteFacebookTwitterYouTube

Party: Republican Party

Incumbent: Yes

Political Office: U.S. Representative, NE-02 (Assumed office: 2017)

Biography:  Prior to his election to the U.S. House, Bacon served in the U.S. Air Force from 1985 to 2014. He retired as a Brigadier General. Bacon served as an assistant professor at Bellevue University, where he taught courses on leadership and American values.


Key Messages

The following key messages were curated by Ballotpedia staff. For more on how we identify key messages, click here.

Bacon campaigned on his effectiveness in Congress. He said he was "honored to be ranked the most effective Republican in Congress, with 30 bills signed into law."

Bacon said the "cost of living has increased by 20% since Biden took office in January 2021. I am working to reign in spending and cut taxes for working Americans struggling with inflation."

Bacon advocated for more protection on the border. "The open southern border is unacceptable," he said. "I believe immigration is an essential part of our nation’s history and our economic growth, but it has to be done legally."

Show sources

Sources: X, "Don Bacon on X," July 13, 2024Facebook, "Don Bacon on Facebook," July 1, 2024Don Bacon 2024 campaign website, "Issues," accessed July 20, 2024; Don Bacon Official U.S. House website, "Biography," accessed July 20, 2024

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House Nebraska District 2 in 2024.

Dan Frei

Image of Dan Frei

WebsiteFacebookTwitterYouTube

Party: Republican Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Submitted Biography:  "Dan Frei is known as a leader in everything he does, from business to church, and charity. He possesses a servant’s heart, finding time to help others whether on a mission trip to another country, serving his church, or serving his community. Dan has lent his time and resources to serving at local missions, coaching various youth sports, and helping with community outreach. Dan and Sallie, who have a son who served in the Marines, have also volunteered with other United States Marine Corps families at USMC events. Dan and his wife Sallie have been married for thirty-eight years, have raised five children, and are blessed with three sons-in-law and ten grandchildren. The Frei’s have a deep commitment to faith in God, their family, and in serving others. Dan and Sallie strive to secure a brighter future for the next generation. Dan and his family are committed to the principles of faith, family, and freedom. Dan Frei’s business background includes executive leadership positions where he was praised as a solid communicator, an effective manager, and an outstanding leader. He has been successful in building teams, challenging the status quo, and running operations on a limited budget. When Dan sees a problem, he gets involved and leads by example. He served on the Douglas County and Nebraska Republican Party Central Committees where he was instrumental in challenging others to ask the tough questions and hold elected officials accountable. In Nebraska’s 2014 Primary e"

Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

The United States has a proud tradition of welcoming immigrants and refugees from economically distressed parts of the world. I fully embrace that tradition, and I believe America’s generosity in this regard is what makes our country a beacon of hope and freedom for the world. Our nation should continue to welcome more legal immigration through an expedited and well-regulated system that focuses on what is in the best interest of our nation. A nation that does not secure its borders invites illegal drugs, unrestrained violence, human trafficking, terrorism, and a public health catastrophe. It is the responsibility of the United States to fortify and secure our borders to ensure the safety and sovereignty of our nation.

Our nation is more than 34 trillion dollars in debt. The current course of excessive borrowing and spending is unsustainable. The House of Representatives must craft a timely budget that responsibly addresses the needs of the American people. The irresponsible practice of budget busting deficits and the endless string of continuing resolutions must stop. In fiscal 2023, the government took in revenue of 4.5 trillion dollars, the government spent 6.1 trillion dollars. The American people are not taxed too little, the government is spending too much. It is well past time to get spending under control and work towards a balanced budget.

The cultural decline in our community is undeniable. It's time to send unrelenting leadership to Washington DC that will put the woke mob of the left on notice that their days are over. We're no longer accepting their progressive agendas and the diversity, equity, and inclusion programs are done in our schools, our workplaces, or the military.

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House Nebraska District 2 in 2024.

Voting information

See also: Voting in Nebraska

Election information in Nebraska: May 14, 2024, election.

What was the voter registration deadline?

  • In-person: May 3, 2024
  • By mail: Postmarked by April 29, 2024
  • Online: April 29, 2024

Was absentee/mail-in voting available to all voters?

N/A

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot request deadline?

  • In-person: May 3, 2024
  • By mail: Received by May 3, 2024
  • Online: May 3, 2024

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot return deadline?

  • In-person: May 14, 2024
  • By mail: Received by May 14, 2024

Was early voting available to all voters?

N/A

What were the early voting start and end dates?

April 15, 2024 to May 13, 2024

Were all voters required to present ID at the polls? If so, was a photo or non-photo ID required?

N/A

When were polls open on Election Day?

8:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. (CT)


Campaign finance

Name Party Receipts* Disbursements** Cash on hand Date
Don Bacon Republican Party $6,358,739 $6,174,541 $198,434 As of December 31, 2024
Dan Frei Republican Party $84,825 $30,650 $54,175 As of March 31, 2024

Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2024. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee."
** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.

District analysis

Click the tabs below to view information about voter composition, past elections, and demographics in both the district and the state.

  • District map - A map of the district in place for the election.
  • Competitiveness - Information about the competitiveness of 2024 U.S. House elections in the state.
  • Presidential elections - Information about presidential elections in the district and the state.
  • State party control - The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation and state government.


Below was the map in use at the time of the election. Click the map below to enlarge it.

2023_01_03_ne_congressional_district_02.jpg
See also: Primary election competitiveness in state and federal government, 2024

This section contains data on U.S. House primary election competitiveness in Nebraska.

Nebraska U.S. House primary competitiveness, 2014-2024
Office Districts/
offices 		Seats Open seats Candidates Possible primaries Contested Democratic primaries Contested Republican primaries % of contested primaries Incumbents in contested primaries % of incumbents in contested primaries
2024 3 3 0 11 6 1 3 66.7% 3 100.0%
2022 3 3 1 15 6 3 3 100.0% 2 100.0%
2020 3 3 0 14 6 2 2 66.7% 2 66.7%
2018 3 3 0 11 6 2 1 50.0% 1 33.3%
2016 3 3 0 6 6 0 1 16.7% 0 0.0%
2014 3 3 0 11 6 1 3 66.7% 3 100.0%

Post-filing deadline analysis

The following analysis covers all U.S. House districts up for election in Nebraska in 2024. Information below was calculated on March 31, 2024, and may differ from information shown in the table above due to candidate replacements and withdrawals after that time.

Eleven candidates ran for Nebraska’s three U.S. House districts, including four Democrats and seven Republicans. That’s 3.7 candidates per district, lower than the 5.3 candidates that ran in 2022 and the 4.7 in 2020

Incumbents filed to run in every district.

Five candidates—two Democrats and three Republicans—ran for the 3rd Congressional District, the most candidates who ran for a district in 2024.

Four primaries—one Democratic and three Republican—were contested in 2024. Six primaries were contested in 2022, four primaries were contested in 2020, and three were in 2018.

All incumbents faced primary challenges in 2024. The last year all incumbents faced primary challengers was in 2014.

Candidates filed to run in the Republican and Democratic primaries in all three districts, meaning no seats are guaranteed to either party.

Partisan Voter Index

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

Heading into the 2024 elections, based on results from the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was EVEN. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were about the same as the national average. This made Nebraska's 2nd the 209th most Democratic district nationally.[4]

2020 presidential election results

The table below shows what the vote in the 2020 presidential election would have been in this district. The presidential election data was compiled by Daily Kos.

2020 presidential results in Nebraska's 2nd based on 2024 district lines
Joe Biden Democratic Party Donald Trump Republican Party
52.2% 45.8%

Inside Elections Baselines

See also: Inside Elections

Inside Elections' Baseline is a figure that analyzes all federal and statewide election results from the district over the past four election cycles. The results are combined in an index estimating the strength of a typical Democratic or Republican candidate in the congressional district.[5] The table below displays the Baseline data for this district.

Inside Elections Baseline for 2024
Democratic Baseline Democratic Party Republican Baseline Republican Party Difference
49.2 48.9 R+0.3

Presidential voting history

See also: Presidential election in Nebraska, 2020

Nebraska presidential election results (1900-2020)

  • 6 Democratic wins
  • 25 Republican wins
Year 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020
Winning Party R R D D D R R R D D R R R R R R D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R
See also: Party control of Nebraska state government

Congressional delegation

The table below displays the partisan composition of Nebraska's congressional delegation as of May 2024.

Congressional Partisan Breakdown from Nebraska
Party U.S. Senate U.S. House Total
Democratic 0 0 0
Republican 2 3 5
Independent 0 0 0
Vacancies 0 0 0
Total 2 3 5

State executive

The table below displays the officeholders in Nebraska's top four state executive offices as of May 2024.

State executive officials in Nebraska, May 2024
Office Officeholder
Governor Republican Party Jim Pillen
Lieutenant Governor Republican Party Joe Kelly
Secretary of State Republican Party Bob Evnen
Attorney General Republican Party Mike Hilgers

State legislature

Nebraska State Senate

Party As of February 2024
     Democratic Party 16
     Republican Party 32
     Independent 0
     Vacancies 1
     Other 0
Total 49

Trifecta control

The table below shows the state's trifecta status from 1992 until the 2024 election.

Nebraska Party Control: 1992-2024
Seven years of Democratic trifectas  •  Twenty-six years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Governor D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R
Senate - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Ballot access

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. House candidates in Nebraska in the 2024 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Nebraska, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. House candidates, 2024
State Office Party Signatures required Filing fee Filing deadline Source
Nebraska U.S. House Ballot-qualified party N/A $1,740.00 2/15/2024 if incumbent; 3/1/2024 if non-incumbent Source
Nebraska U.S. House Unaffiliated 20% of registered voters in the district who voted for president in 2020, or 2,000, whichever is less $1,740.00 8/1/2024 Source

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ A majority in the U.S. House when there are no vacancies is 218 seats.
  2. ↑ Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' 2020 presidential results by congressional district, for new and old districts," accessed September 15, 2022
  3. ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures Website, "State Primary Election Types," accessed April 18, 2023
  4. ↑ Cook Political Report, "The 2022 Cook Partisan Voting Index (Cook PVI℠)," accessed January 10, 2024
  5. ↑ Inside Elections, "Methodology: Inside Elections’ Baseline by Congressional District," December 8, 2023


Nebraska's current delegation to the United States Congress
Senators
Deb Fischer (R)
Pete Ricketts (R)
Representatives
District 1
District 2
Don Bacon (R)
District 3
Republican Party (5)


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