Nebraska · U.S. House · District 02 · 2026

Nebraska District 02 House race

General election in 51 days · Nov 3, 2026

The read · Nebraska District 02 House race

Don Bacon ranks No. 4 in money raised.

Candidates in the Nebraska District 02 House race, 2026 report raising $8.2M between them. Denise Powell reports $2.7M and Brinker Harding reports $1.6M, a gap of $1M. Of what Denise Powell reports, 86% came from individuals and 12% from PACs. Outside groups spent against BACON, DONALD J ($17,532).

Public campaign-finance filings, 2026 cycle. Candidate rows are filers on record, not final ballot lists. Totals are rounded to whole dollars.

Every candidate on file

Ranked by money raised. Each row shows the campaign money mix and a plain-English read.

Denise Powell

D · challenger

Small-donor heavy. 86% from individuals and 12% from PACs.

86% individuals12% PACs2% other

$2.7M

raised

Brinker Harding

R · challenger

Still has cash to spend. $1.1M on hand from $1.6M raised.

84% individuals16% PACs0% other

$1.6M

raised

John Cavanaugh

D · challenger

Small-donor heavy. 87% from individuals and 12% from PACs.

87% individuals12% PACs1% other

$1.4M

raised

Don Bacon

RIncumbent

R · incumbent

Incumbent leans on PAC money. 54% from PACs and 42% from individuals.

42% individuals54% PACs4% other

$970K

raised

Kishla Askins

D · challenger

44% from individuals, 6% from PACs, and 50% from other sources.

44% individuals6% PACs50% other

$870K

raised

James Leuschen

D · challenger

Small-donor heavy. 92% from individuals and 5% from PACs.

92% individuals5% PACs3% other

$394K

raised

Crystal Rhoades

D · challenger

77% from individuals, 10% from PACs, and 13% from other sources.

77% individuals10% PACs13% other

$183K

raised

Brett Lindstrom

R · challenger

Small-donor heavy. 96% from individuals and 4% from PACs.

96% individuals4% PACs0% other

$138K

raised

Show 2 more candidates

Mark Johnston

D · challenger

52% from individuals, 0% from PACs, and 48% from other sources.

52% individuals0% PACs48% other

$10K

raised

Melanie Williams

D · challenger

28% from individuals, 0% from PACs, and 72% from other sources.

28% individuals0% PACs72% other

$2K

raised

Where the money came from

$0 in itemized outside money is on file for this cycle. Candidate fundraising is shown separately below.

Small donors & unclassified$39K

Health & Pharma$17K

Labor / Unions$15K

Transportation$10K

Ideological / Leadership$5K

Real Estate & Construction$5K

Insurance$5K

Biggest itemized outside spenders

AMERICAN HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION PAC · pac$10K
FOREVER YOUTH ORGANIZATION UTILIZING A NEW GENERATION PAC · pac$10K
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SHEET METAL, AIR, RAIL AND TRANSPORTATION WORKERS POLITICAL ACTION LEAGUE · pac$10K
THE EYE OF THE TIGER POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE · pac$10K
NATIONAL ACTIVE AND RETIRED FEDERAL EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION POLITICAL ACTION COM (NARFE-PAC) · pac$8K
POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF ORTHOPAEDIC SURGEONS--PAC OF AAOS · pac$7K
GREATER TOMORROW POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE · pac$6K
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVT. EMPL. POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE · pac$5K

PACs vs the people

This split is from the candidates' own reported fundraising.

16%76%

16% PACs76% individuals8% other

The incumbent's record

Don Bacon is the linked incumbent for this race.

Net worth (2025)

$1.1M

$97K - $2.2M. up $547K since 2017.

Stock trades

None on file

No disclosed individual stock transactions.

Committees

Current full committee seats on file.

Where they sit

House Committee on Agriculture
House Committee on Armed Services

Who funds them

This is the incumbent's own funding by donor sector for the cycle.

Small donors & unclassified$39K

Health & Pharma$17K

Labor / Unions$15K

Transportation$10K

Ideological / Leadership$5K

Real Estate & Construction$5K

Full profile: net worth, donors, trades, and votes ->

The tale of the tape

Money, side by side. Green marks the leader on each line.

Denise Powell D · challenger DP	vs	BH Brinker Harding R · challenger
$2.7M	Raised	$1.6M
$997K	Cash on hand	$1.1M
12%	From PACs	16%
86%	From individuals	84%
Too few to rank	Top donor sector	Too few to rank
No	Incumbent	No