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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 Omaha, as well as the suburban areas of the western part of Sarpy County. It has been represented in the United States House of Representatives since 2017 by Don Bacon, a member of the Republican Party. In the 2020 presidential election, it was one of nine districts to vote for Joe Biden while being won or held by a Republican.

Nebraska's 2nd congressional district
Nebraska's 2nd congressional district since January 3, 2013
Representative	Don Bacon R–Papillion
Distribution	97.86% urban 2.14% rural
Population (2021)	706,307
Median household income	$74,098[1]
Ethnicity	73.4% White 10.7% Hispanic 9.8% Black 3.1% Asian 2.4% Two or more races 0.6% other
Cook PVI	R+1[2]

This district is known as a swing district; it was one of two districts with a margin of less than 5% in all five elections after the 2010 Census. It has also backed the electoral winner of many presidential elections since 2000, except for when it voted for the losing candidate Mitt Romney over Barack Obama in 2012. In 2011, Nebraska lawmakers changed the district to excise Offutt Air Force Base and the city of Bellevue — an area with a large minority population — and moved the borders to include the Republican-heavy Omaha suburbs in western Sarpy County. The move was expected to dilute the city's urban Democratic vote, which Democrats criticized for gerrymandering.[3]

In 2021, Republicans proposed a new map for district 2 which encompasses southern Douglas County, Sarpy, and Saunders counties. Another map backed by Democrats would keep Douglas County whole but move Bellevue, in Sarpy County, back into the 2nd District, where it was located prior to the Legislature’s 2011 redistricting. The Democratic plan would also remove suburban areas of the 2nd District that lean Republican.[4] The Republican congressional redistricting plan passed the committee 5-4 on a party-line vote but was stopped by a filibuster 29-17 on September 17th.[5] The legislature ultimately passed a compromise map instead.

Demographics

According to the APM Research Lab's Voter Profile Tools[6] (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. Median income among households (with one or more potential voter) 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.

Election results from statewide races

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%

Nebraska and Maine are the only two states in the United States which distribute their electoral votes for president based on presidential candidates' performance in their respective congressional districts in addition to their statewide performance. The statewide popular vote winner for president receives two electoral votes, and the winner of each of Nebraska's congressional districts—there are currently three such districts—receives an electoral vote from the respective district.

While the rest of the state's electorate tends to be solidly Republican, the 2nd district is much more closely divided between the two main parties—Republican and Democratic. 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.[7] He won the district's electoral vote by a margin of 3,325 votes over his chief general election opponent, Republican John McCain.[8] However, McCain won Nebraska's statewide popular vote, as well as the district-wide popular vote for the other two Nebraska congressional districts, thus receiving four electoral votes from Nebraska.[8] Obama's victory in the 2nd district meant that Nebraska's electoral delegation was split for the first time ever. It also marked the first Nebraskan electoral vote for a Democrat since 1964.[8] By contrast, in 2012 and 2016, Republican presidential nominees Mitt Romney and Donald Trump won the 2nd district, as well as the overall statewide vote and the electoral votes of the first and third districts.[9] The district flipped back to the Democratic Party in 2020, giving its one electoral vote to Joe Biden.

List of members representing the district

Member	Party	Years of Service	Cong ress	Electoral history	Counties
District created March 4, 1883
James Laird	Republican	March 4, 1883 – August 17, 1889	48th 49th 50th	Elected in 1882. Re-elected in 1884. Re-elected in 1886. Re-elected in 1888. Died.	Cass, Douglas, Gage, Johnson, Lancaster, Otoe, Pawnee, Richardson, Sarpy, Saunders, Washington
Gilbert L. Laws	Republican	December 2, 1889 – March 3, 1891	51st	Elected to finish Laird's term. Retired.	Cass, Douglas, Gage, Johnson, Lancaster, Otoe, Pawnee, Richardson, Sarpy, Saunders, Washington
William A. McKeighan	Populist	March 4, 1891 – March 3, 1893	52nd	Elected in 1890. Redistricted to the 5th district.	Cass, Douglas, Gage, Johnson, Lancaster, Otoe, Pawnee, Richardson, Sarpy, Saunders, Washington
David Henry Mercer	Republican	March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1903	53rd 54th 55th 56th 57th	Elected in 1892. Re-elected in 1894. Re-elected in 1896. Re-elected in 1898. Re-elected in 1900. Lost re-election.	Douglas, Sarpy, Washington
Gilbert M. Hitchcock	Democratic	March 4, 1903 – March 3, 1905	58th	Elected in 1902. Lost re-election.	Douglas, Sarpy, Washington
John L. Kennedy	Republican	March 4, 1905 – March 3, 1907	59th	Elected in 1904. Lost re-election.	Douglas, Sarpy, Washington
Gilbert M. Hitchcock	Democratic	March 4, 1907 – March 3, 1911	60th 61st	Elected in 1906. Re-elected in 1908. Retired to run for U.S. senator.	Douglas, Sarpy, Washington
Charles O. Lobeck	Democratic	March 4, 1911 – March 3, 1919	62nd 63rd 64th 65th	Elected in 1910. Re-elected in 1912. Re-elected in 1914. Re-elected in 1916. Lost re-election.	Douglas, Sarpy, Washington
Albert W. Jefferis	Republican	March 4, 1919 – March 3, 1923	66th 67th	Elected in 1918. Re-elected in 1920. Retired to run for U.S. senator.	Douglas, Sarpy, Washington
Willis G. Sears	Republican	March 4, 1923 – March 3, 1931	68th 69th 70th 71st	Elected in 1922. Re-elected in 1924. Re-elected in 1926. Re-elected in 1928. Lost renomination.	Douglas, Sarpy, Washington
H. Malcolm Baldrige	Republican	March 4, 1931 – March 3, 1933	72nd	Elected in 1930. Lost re-election.	Douglas, Sarpy, Washington
Edward R. Burke	Democratic	March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1935	73rd	Elected in 1932. Retired to run for U.S. senator.	Douglas, Sarpy, Washington
Charles F. McLaughlin	Democratic	January 3, 1935 – January 3, 1943	74th 75th 76th 77th	Elected in 1934. Re-elected in 1936. Re-elected in 1938. Re-elected in 1940. Lost re-election.	Douglas, Sarpy, Washington
Howard Buffett	Republican	January 3, 1943 – January 3, 1949	78th 79th 80th	Elected in 1942. Re-elected in 1944. Re-elected in 1946. Lost re-election.	Cass, Douglas, Otoe, Sarpy, Washington
Eugene D. O'Sullivan	Democratic	January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1951	81st	Elected in 1948. Lost re-election.	Cass, Douglas, Otoe, Sarpy, Washington
Howard Buffett	Republican	January 3, 1951 – January 3, 1953	82nd	Elected in 1950. Retired.	Cass, Douglas, Otoe, Sarpy, Washington
Roman Hruska	Republican	January 3, 1953 – November 8, 1954	83rd	Elected in 1952. Resigned when elected U.S. Senator.	Cass, Douglas, Otoe, Sarpy, Washington
Jackson B. Chase	Republican	January 3, 1955 – January 3, 1957	84th	Elected in 1954. Retired.	Cass, Douglas, Otoe, Sarpy, Washington
Glenn Cunningham	Republican	January 3, 1957 – January 3, 1971	85th 86th 87th 88th 89th 90th 91st	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.	Burt (91st), Cass, Douglas, Otoe (85th–87th), Sarpy, Washington
John Y. McCollister	Republican	January 3, 1971 – January 3, 1977	92nd 93rd 94th	Elected in 1970. Re-elected in 1972. Re-elected in 1974. Retired to run for U.S. Senator.	Burt, Cass, Douglas, Sarpy, Washington
John J. Cavanaugh	Democratic	January 3, 1977 – January 3, 1981	95th 96th	Elected in 1976. Re-elected in 1978. Retired.	Burt, Cass, Douglas, Sarpy, Washington
Hal Daub	Republican	January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1989	97th 98th 99th 100th	Elected in 1980. Re-elected in 1982. Re-elected in 1984. Re-elected in 1986. Retired to run for U.S. Senator.	Burt, Cass, Douglas, Sarpy, Washington
Peter Hoagland	Democratic	January 3, 1989 – January 3, 1995	101st 102nd 103rd	Elected in 1988. Re-elected in 1990. Re-elected in 1992. Lost re-election.	Burt (101st–102nd), Cass, Douglas, Sarpy, Washington (101st–102nd)
Jon L. Christensen	Republican	January 3, 1995 – January 3, 1999	104th 105th	Elected in 1994. Re-elected in 1996. Retired to run for Governor.	Part of Cass, Douglas, Sarpy
Lee Terry	Republican	January 3, 1999 – January 3, 2015	106th 107th 108th 109th 110th 111th 112th 113th	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.	Part of Cass (106th–107th), Douglas, Sarpy
Brad Ashford	Democratic	January 3, 2015 – January 3, 2017	114th	Elected in 2014. Lost re-election.	Douglas, Part of Sarpy
Don Bacon	Republican	January 3, 2017 – present	115th 116th 117th	Elected in 2016. Re-elected in 2018. Re-elected in 2020. Re-elected in 2022.	Douglas, Part of Sarpy

Election history

2006

2006 Nebraska's 2nd congressional district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Lee Terry (Incumbent)	99,475	54.7%	−6.4%
	Democratic	Jim Esch	82,504	45.3%	+9.1%
	Republican hold		Swing
Turnout			181,979

2008

2008 Nebraska's 2nd congressional district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Lee Terry (Incumbent)	142,473	51.9%	−2.8%
	Democratic	Jim Esch	131,901	48.1%	+2.8%
	Republican hold		Swing
Turnout			274,374

2010

2010 Nebraska's 2nd congressional district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Lee Terry (Incumbent)	93,840	60.8%	+8.9%
	Democratic	Tom White	60,486	39.2%	−8.9%
	Republican hold		Swing
Turnout			154,326

2012

2012 Nebraska's 2nd congressional district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Lee Terry (Incumbent)	133,964	50.8%	−10.0%
	Democratic	John Ewing	129,767	49.2%	+10.0%
	Republican hold		Swing
Turnout			263,731

2014

2014 Nebraska's 2nd congressional district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Brad Ashford	83,872	49.0%	−0.2%
	Republican	Lee Terry (Incumbent)	78,157	45.7%	−5.1%
	Libertarian	Steven Laird	9,021	5.3%	+5.3%
	Democratic gain from Republican		Swing
Turnout			171,050

2016

2016 Nebraska's 2nd congressional district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Don Bacon	141,066	48.9%	+3.2%
	Democratic	Brad Ashford (Incumbent)	137,602	47.7%	−1.3%
	Libertarian	Steven Laird	9,640	3.3%	−2.0%
	Republican gain from Democratic		Swing
Turnout			288,308

2018

2018 Nebraska's 2nd congressional district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Don Bacon (Incumbent)	126,715	51.0%	+2.1%
	Democratic	Kara Eastman	121,770	49.0%	+1.3%
	Republican hold		Swing
Turnout			248,485

2020

2020 Nebraska's 2nd congressional district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Don Bacon (Incumbent)	171,071	50.8%	-0.2%
	Democratic	Kara Eastman	155,706	46.2%	-2.8%
	Libertarian	Tyler Schaeffer	10,185	3%	+3%
	Republican hold		Swing
Turnout			336,962

Historical district boundaries

See also

• Nebraska's congressional districts
• List of United States congressional districts

References

• Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
• Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
• Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present

External links

• Rep. Don Bacon's official House of Representatives website

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