On Thursday, 2018 Democratic nominee Kara Eastman announced that she would seek a rematch with GOP Rep. Don Bacon in Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District, an Omaha seat that backed Trump 49-47. Bacon fended off a challenge from Eastman 51-49, which turned out to be a surprisingly close showing since national Democrats never ran any ads here (the DCCC said after the election that they’d spent “almost $100,000” to help Eastman pay to air a commercial) while the conservative Congressional Leadership Fund deployed a hefty $1.4 million against Eastman.
Eastman surprised the political world in May when she won the primary by successfully running to the left of moderate former Rep. Brad Ashford, who had the backing of national Democrats. However, she may face another primary against the Ashford family. Attorney Ann Ferlic Ashford, who is the former congressman’s wife, said last month that she was seriously considering getting in and planned to decide in the winter or early spring. On Thursday, after Eastman made her announcement, News Channel Nebraska's Joe Jordan wrote that Ashford was “expected to run,” though there’s also no quote from her.
Ashford, who identified as a Republican for most of her life, said back in November that she firmly believed that “Democrats must reach out to moderates,” and that she thinks she could be someone “who can represent the entirety of the district.” That could be the wrong approach in a primary, though, as her husband found out against Eastman the hard way.
Other local Democrats may also be interested. Last month, the Omaha World-Herald’s Roseann Moring mentioned state Sens. Tony Vargas and Justin Wayne as possible candidates. Wayne didn’t quite rule anything out, saying he hadn’t thought about seeking higher office and had “big legislative agenda this year,” while Vargas didn’t comment. We haven’t heard anything since then from either legislator, who both backed Eastman in her primary campaign against Brad Ashford.