{"id":2478080,"date":"2025-08-24T08:41:02","date_gmt":"2025-08-24T12:41:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/don-bacon-credits-killer-instinct-for-five-term-streak-in-harris-won-house-district\/"},"modified":"2025-08-24T08:42:00","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T12:42:00","slug":"don-bacon-credits-killer-instinct-for-five-term-streak-in-harris-won-house-district","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/don-bacon-credits-killer-instinct-for-five-term-streak-in-harris-won-house-district\/","title":{"rendered":"Don Bacon credits \u2018killer instinct\u2019 for five-term streak in Harris-won House district\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdon-bacon-credits-killer-instinct-for-five-term-streak-in-harris-won-house-district%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2478080&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>the article discusses republican Congressman Don Bacon&#8217;s decision to retire after serving five terms representing Nebraska&#8217;s competitive 2nd Congressional District, which has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-panel-votes-overwhelmingly-to-advance-child-tax-credit-and-business-tax-bill\/\" title=\"House panel approves child tax credit and business tax bill\">shown increasing support<\/a> for Democrats in recent elections. Bacon attributes his electoral success to a &#8220;killer instinct&#8221; and a strong work ethic, describing each campaign as a tough battle that required full intensity.Despite the district favoring Democrats-as evidenced by Vice President Kamala Harris winning the area-Bacon managed to hold his seat consistently.<\/p>\n<p>Throughout his tenure, Bacon was known as a centrist willing to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ky-gov-signs-bipartisan-law-limiting-no-knock-warrants\/\" title=\"Ky. gov. signs bipartisan law limiting no-knock warrants\">cross party lines<\/a> and challenge former president Donald Trump on issues such as tariffs, defense appointments, and election-related legislation. He emphasized bipartisanship as essential to being effective in Congress. bacon drew inspiration from historical figures like Abraham Lincoln and George washington and described himself as an &#8220;old-school Republican.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Bacon cited a desire to spend more time with his family and a waning enthusiasm for continuous campaigning as reasons for not seeking a sixth term. His upcoming retirement opens an possibility for Democrats to flip the district, which could influence control of the House. Looking ahead, Bacon expressed interest in continuing political involvement, <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >possibly supporting candidates aligned<\/a> with traditional conservative values or even pursuing executive office himself. <br \/> <!DOCTYPE html><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Don Bacon credits &lsquo;killer instinct&rsquo; for five-term streak in Harris-won House district&nbsp;<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2203905\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p><em>Democrats have found new reason for hope that Nebraska, despite its traditional Republican lean, will bring their party closer to returning to power in Washington. This mini series, <\/em>The New&nbsp;Nebraska: Democrats eye up historic shift<em>, explores the dynamics giving rise to that hope. In Part 1, we interviewed retiring Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), a Republican giving up his seat in Nebraska&rsquo;s blue-trending 2nd District.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Rep. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3463991\/don-bacon-executive-role-governor-president\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Don Bacon<\/a> (R-NE) has a simple explanation for how he survived five terms in one of the hardest-fought <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/nebraska\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">House districts<\/a> in the country for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/house-republicans\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Republicans<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/3779529\/paxton-lead-narrows-texas-gop-senate-fight-cornyn-allies-flood-airwaves\/\">Paxton lead narrows in Texas GOP Senate fight as Cornyn allies flood the airwaves<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/3779675\/carter-touts-role-big-beautiful-bill-high-stakes-senate-race\/\">&lsquo;We delivered&rsquo;: Carter touts role in Trump&rsquo;s marquee legislation in high-stakes Senate race<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/3779622\/texas-senate-democrat-iv-infusion-catheter-filibuster-redistricting-plan\/\">Texas Senate Democrat to use catheter to filibuster redistricting plan<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>In an interview with the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>, he credited his success to a &ldquo;killer instinct&rdquo; and the willingness to outwork his Democratic competitors.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;On a scale of 0 to 100 of wanting to win, I was at 100,&rdquo; Bacon said.<\/p>\n<p>Bacon, who will retire at the end of next year, has the track record to back up that explanation. He held on to his Nebraska seat, anchored to the blue city of Omaha, last year even as Vice President Kamala Harris won the district by nearly 5 points. Each cycle, he is consistently rated as one of the most endangered House Republicans.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Every election I&rsquo;ve had has been very hard. I had to give it everything I had &mdash; it&rsquo;s like a 10-round boxing match, and I&rsquo;ve always had the intensity to do it,&rdquo; Bacon said.<\/p>\n<p>In June, Bacon announced that he would hang up the towel and not pursue a sixth term in office. He had been fueling speculation on his retirement for months with statements critical of the Trump administration and, now that he&rsquo;s made a decision, said his heart was not fully invested in campaigning every two years.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I just wasn&rsquo;t sure I was going to have the intensity for a sixth run,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>Bacon&rsquo;s retirement instantly makes his district more of a pickup opportunity for Democrats, who must net just three seats to retake control of the House next year. It could also mean one fewer centrist Republican in a chamber that continues to become more polarized.<\/p>\n<p>Bacon, who is rated as one of the most bipartisan and effective members of Congress, pointed to the Constitution and the Federalist Papers as he discussed his guiding philosophy across a decade in Washington.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;By definition, you have to be bipartisan to be effective,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;These things go hand in hand.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Part of his centrist reputation comes down to his willingness to buck Trump or his GOP colleagues in the House. Bacon pushed back on Trump&rsquo;s sweeping tariff announcement by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/3374316\/jeff-hurd-breaks-with-trump-tariffs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">introducing legislation<\/a> to reassert Congress&rsquo;s authority over levying the duties.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this year, he also became the first sitting GOP member to suggest Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth be fired over the Signalgate controversy. Separately, Bacon has criticized Trump&rsquo;s handling of Russia and was the lone Republican to vote against renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, an idea spearheaded by the president. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I take pride in the fact that I have been my own man and I&rsquo;ve gone against the grain at times, and I took a lot of heat and I survived,&rdquo; Bacon said.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Bacon said that when he decided to break with his party in Congress, the key to a compromise was to &ldquo;do it early, so you can get it fixed.&rdquo; The congressman pointed to negotiations on the Medicaid reforms in Trump&rsquo;s &ldquo;big, beautiful bill&rdquo; and the ultimate preservation of AIDS relief funding in the rescissions legislation earlier this year.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>When reflecting on why he ran for Congress in the first place, Bacon pointed to former President Abraham Lincoln as his role model, citing his resilience. He also named former Presidents George Washington, Ronald Reagan, and Dwight Eisenhower for the same trait.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I love the people who made this country great,&rdquo; said Bacon, who served in the Air Force for nearly three decades before running for office.<\/p>\n<p>As the self-proclaimed &ldquo;old-school Republican&rdquo; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3458241\/don-bacon-will-not-seek-reelection-2026-swing-district\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">heads for retirement<\/a>, Bacon said he is looking forward to a &ldquo;normal family life&rdquo; and called the ability to spend time with his wife, children, and grandchildren a major reason why he is stepping down.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s gotta be more to life,&rdquo; he added.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/3760893\/republicans-use-democratic-threat-impeachment-motivate-trump-voters\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>REPUBLICANS USE DEMOCRATIC THREAT OF IMPEACHMENT TO MOTIVATE TRUMP VOTERS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The congressman may forgo his spot in the lower chamber, but he still hopes to remain involved in a political world he says has piqued his interest since he was 13 years old. Bacon expressed interest in helping someone &ldquo;like Nikki Haley or Glenn Youngkin in a national race.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to be a voice of traditional Reagan values in our party, and I&rsquo;d like to be involved in the national elections in 2028, and I hope to do some TV and make a case for what I believe in,&rdquo; Bacon said.<\/p>\n<p>He has separately <a href=\"http:\/\/ooking%20forward%20to%20a%20%E2%80%9Cnormal%20family%20life,%E2%80%9D%20pointing%20to%20this%20as%20his%20number%20one%20reason%20for%20retirement.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">expressed interest<\/a> in executive office, including the jobs of governor or president of the United States.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Don Bacon credits &#8216;killer instinct&#8217; for five-term win<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3691,"featured_media":2478081,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/don-bacon.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[41725,61875,61876,32304,61874],"class_list":["post-2478080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-don-bacon","tag-five-term-streak","tag-harris-district","tag-house-of-representatives","tag-killer-instinct"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/don-bacon.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2478080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3691"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2478080"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2478080\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2478084,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2478080\/revisions\/2478084"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2478081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2478080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2478080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2478080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}