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Nebraska Democrat Kara Eastman Within Striking Distance of Rep. Don Bacon, Poll Finds

Omaha District is Democrats’ best takeover opportunity in the state

Kara Eastman, Democratic candidate for Nebraska’’s 2nd District. (Courtesy Kara Eastman for Congress)
Kara Eastman, Democratic candidate for Nebraska’’s 2nd District. (Courtesy Kara Eastman for Congress)

A poll conducted for Democrat Kara Eastman found she was within four points of incumbent Don Bacon in the race for Nebraska’s 2nd District, her campaign said Thursday. 

Eastman had 45 percent of the vote compared to 49 percent for Bacon, according to the survey of 400 likely voters conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research. However, Bacon’s lead falls within the poll’s margin of error. Six percent of voters were undecided. 

Eastman, the founder of a public health non-profit, is part of the Democratic Congressional Committee’s Red to Blue Program, which funnels support to candidates it considers capable of flipping Republican seats. 

The district, which encompasses Omaha and contains some of Nebraska’s few pockets of Democratic strength, represents the best pick-up opportunity in the state. Republicans have held it for the better part of the last quarter century — barring two years Democrat Brad Ashford was in office from 2014 to 2016. President Trump carried the district by 3 points in 2016.

Bacon, a retired Air Force brigadier general and first-term House member, led by 9 points in a New York Times live poll of the district conducted Sept. 23-26. That poll found Bacon had 51 percent and Eastman had 42  percent, with a margin of error of +/- 4.5 percent.

The Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research was conducted September 27-30 via telephone and had a +/- 4.9 percentage point margin of error.

Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates the 2nd District race Leans Republican.

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