DCCC Poll Shows Eastman Leading Bacon
Last night, Kara Eastman won the NE-02 Democratic primary, setting up a rematch with incumbent Republican Congressman Don Bacon. In 2018, Eastman came within just under 5,000 votes of victory over Bacon.
This time around, Eastman is gearing up to finish the job.
A DCCC poll conducted from May 7-10 of 448 likely November voters showed Eastman leading Bacon 48-47. This poll also showed Biden with an 11 point lead over Trump (52-41), which spells trouble for Bacon who’s voted alongside the President nearly 95% of the time.
Check out some of the coverage of the Eastman-Bacon rematch below:
Omaha World-Herald: Kara Eastman vs. Don Bacon: With primary decided, what happens next?
…Democrats are heavily motivated to oust Trump, which could drive Democratic turnout in the swing district. And this time Eastman will have the support of the national Democratic establishment, which failed to jump in with both feet to help her when she lost narrowly two years ago…
“He’ll say that I’m too extreme when he has voted 95% of the time with Donald Trump,” Eastman said. “He is the definition of extreme.”
KETV: Kara Eastman wins Democratic nomination for 2nd Congressional District
Eastman said she plans to run a stronger campaign than 2018. KETV NewsWatch 7 asked her what that would look like.
“We’re going to talk to everybody and listen to everybody. People are frustrated. Their unemployment is through the roof. And people have not only lost their jobs, but also their health care. And they’re afraid that their loved ones are going to get sick. They’re afraid that they might get sick and die,” Eastman said.
The Hill: GOP’s Don Bacon and challenger neck-and-neck in Democratic poll
“In 2018, Kara Eastman came within inches of unseating Congressman Don Bacon, and this time around she’s ready to finish the job. While Kara has been an independent voice working to serve her community in Omaha for nearly two decades, Congressman Don Bacon has focused only on doing whatever Donald Trump asks, relentlessly pursuing Republicans’ out-of-touch agenda of dismantling our current health care system, undermining protections for pre-existing conditions, and raising taxes on middle class homeowners,” said DCCC Chairwoman Cheri Bustos (D-Ill).
Democrats’ hopes may be buoyed there, with the poll showing former Vice President Joe Biden leading President Trump by 11 points (52-41 percent) in the district. The district is far more competitive than the rest of the state, which Trump won by 25 points in 2016.
Politico: Morning Score
We have a 2018 rematch in this Omaha-area House seat. Kara Eastman trounced Ann Ashford in the Democratic primary and will once again face off against GOP Rep. Don Bacon in November. Eastman narrowly lost to Bacon in 2018, in a race that attracted a chunk of outside spending from mainstream Republican groups but left Eastman infamously largely fending for herself. A sign that Democrats may have more support for Eastman for the second go-around? The DCCC promoted an internal poll showing a tight race between Eastman and Bacon in the district.
Roll Call: Kara Eastman gets rematch with Rep. Don Bacon in Nebraska
Two years ago, Eastman came within 2 points of unseating Bacon, a retired Air Force brigadier general, in the swing Omaha-area district. Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates the November race Lean Republican.
Since then, Eastman, a progressive, has worked to appeal more to independent voters, largely ignoring her primary opponents and focusing instead on tying Bacon to President Donald Trump, who carried the district by just 2 points in 2016.
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