Centrist Republican’s Retirement Poses Risk to GOP’s Slim House Majority

Congressional Republicans have lost a strong contender to help them retain their majority in the House of Representatives with the announcement of the retirement of Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb.

According to the House Press Gallery, Republicans current hold a 220 to 212 majority in the House. There are currently three vacancies in the chamber due to three Democrats having died in office. 

Bacon, who has represented Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District since 2017, announced June 30 that he would not be running for reelection in 2026. The congressman’s district includes Omaha, the Democrats’ blue bastion in an otherwise red state, and is seen by some Democrats as a pickup prospect to help them reclaim the House majority in the 2026 midterms.

Omaha ousted its Republican three-term incumbent Mayor Jean Stothert in favor of Democrat John Ewing Jr., the Douglas County treasurer, in May. 

The Cook Political Report has moved the district into the “Lean Democrat” category from its prior “Toss Up” designation after Bacon’s retirement announcement. His district was won at the presidential level by Joe Biden in 2020 and Kamala Harris in 2024.

Several Democrats have already announced bids to replace the five-term lawmaker. They include Denise Powell, a self-described small business owner and public school champion, and Nebraska state Sen. John Cavanaugh.

Bacon, who is a retired Air Force brigadier general, cited spending more time with his family as the reason for leaving Congress.

“After three decades in the Air Force and now going on one decade in Congress, I look forward to coming home in the evenings and being with my wife and seeing more of our adult children and eight grandchildren, who all live near my home,” Bacon said in a statement. 

While the Nebraska congressman put his family front and center of his rationale for leaving federal legislative office, it was no secret that Bacon, who is seen as a moderate Republican, had a sometimes contentious relationship with President Donald Trump.

In April, Bacon sponsored legislation to end President Donald Trump’s tariffs after 60 days unless the president received approval from Congress. That prompted the president to allude to him as a “rebel Republican.”

Bacon also crossed party lines to vote to codify same-sex marriage into federal law and in 2018 sponsored legislation to increase the punishments for straw gun purchases; that is, buying firearms on behalf of others. 

“I have a love for national security, and I’ll always be a proponent for old-fashioned Ronald Reagan conservative values. It has been an honor to serve the 2nd District of Nebraska and the nation, and I thank our constituents for trusting me to represent them,” Bacon said in his retirement announcement.

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