Nebraska
Vargas leads Bacon in campaign cash after Q2 in U.S. House race • Nebraska Examiner
OMAHA — Democratic donors in and beyond Nebraska’s borders are focusing more money and attention this year on the Omaha-area rematch race for the U.S. House.
From April 1 to June 30, Democratic challenger State Sen. Tony Vargas of Omaha outraised the four-term Republican incumbent, U.S. Rep. Don Bacon of Papillion.
Vargas reported raising $1.36 million in the second quarter, with $2.5 million in cash on hand. That’s more than double his cash on hand at this point in 2022, campaign finance filings show.
Bacon raised $970,000 for his campaign, plus another $80,000 for his Bacon PAC, the filings show. He listed $2.2 million in cash on hand, more than double his campaign’s tally in July 2022.
Contrast that with the second quarter of 2022, when Bacon raised $409,000 and listed $1.2 million in cash on hand and Vargas raised $550,000 and listed $533,000 in cash on hand.
Vargas outpacing 2022 tallies
Vargas appears to have held onto his local Democratic donors and expanded his reach with national donors, with much of his money coming to his campaign through online donations portal ActBlue.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said recently it would steer donors to spend more money on a smaller number of races this year, including Nebraska’s 2nd District.
The Vargas campaign has said donors also see that Bacon is coming off a primary in which nearly 40% of Republican voters chose another candidate, Dan Frei, who raised and spent very little.
“Nebraskans across all political parties are making it clear they’re fed up with Don Bacon hurting middle class families and siding with his party bosses, just to protect his political career,” Vargas said in a statement. “That’s why my campaign is seeing more grassroots support and momentum than ever before.”
Bacon ahead of schedule, too
Bacon, like most long-term incumbents, raised much of his money from groups and people with business before Congress. He also appears to have maintained his support with local GOP donors.
To date, Bacon has raised and spent the most on this election cycle, because he was fending off a primary challenger, which forced him to spend funds earlier on advertising and door-knocking.
In all, Bacon has raised $4.3 million this cycle and spent $2.1 million, according to OpenSecrets.org, which tracks congressional campaign spending. Vargas has raised $3.5 million and spent $1.1 million. Vargas did not face a primary challenger.
The National Republican Congressional Committee has been ramping up its support for Bacon and other targeted GOP incumbents. It has pledged that Bacon will have all the support he needs.
Bacon, in a statement, thanked his supporters for “putting our campaign in its strongest-ever position to win this fall.” He has said his voting record matches the district and its values better than Vargas.
“We had a competitive primary. Tony Vargas didn’t,” said Matthew Zacher, Bacon’s campaign manager, who pointed out that the district retains a slight GOP lean. “We have been outraised three of four election cycles and won each time.”
Looking ahead to November
Bacon beat Vargas by about 3 percentage points in 2022.
Polling touted by both campaigns has shown the race within the surveys’ margin of error, with each side highlighting a result that shows their candidate leading.
Many political observers expect the race to take on a harder edge than in 2022. That year, more than $18 million was spent on the race, including more than $11 million from outside groups.
Other House races
In eastern Nebraska’s 1st Congressional District, U.S. Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., raised $283,000 and listed $501,000 in cash on hand, federal campaign finance records show.
His Democratic opponent, State Sen. Carol Blood of Bellevue, raised $23,000 and listed $20,000 in cash on hand.
In Nebraska’s PAC-MAN-shaped, largely rural 3rd District, one of the most conservative districts nationally, Republican U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith continues to outraise Democratic opponents.
Smith raised $296,000 and listed $1.1 million in cash on hand at the end of June. His Democratic opponent, Daniel Ebers, had not filed a campaign finance form with the Federal Election Commission. Candidates must file if they raise $5,000 or more.
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The Nebraska baseball season has come to a close.
Oklahoma routed Nebraska in an elimination game of the Chapel Hill Regional Sunday afternoon, 17-1. The Sooners improve to 37-21 and advance to face host North Carolina Sunday evening, while the Huskers see their season come to a close at 33-29.
The trouble began from the very beginning. A walk, error, and single loaded the bases for Oklahoma with no outs. The Sooners would score three runs, thanks in part to a trio of Husker errors.
The Big Red would commit five errors before the game was through.
Oklahoma blew the game open in the third inning. Easton Carmichael hit a leadoff home run, which was followed by a single, two doubles, and a triple before Nebraska could record an out. The Sooners hit for the cycle as a team, scoring six runs on seven hits to lead 9-0.
Nebraska finally got on the board in the sixth inning. After giving up five more runs in the top of the frame, Dylan Carey singled to score Riley Silva and prevent the shutout.
Will Walsh got the start on the hill, giving up seven runs, five earned, on six hits over just 2.0 innings. The next four Huskers to pitch all gave up at least a run. TJ Coats pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning.
The Sooners finished with 18 hits on the day. The Huskers managed six, led by the 2-for-5 effort from Silva.
This the tenth-straight regional that Nebraska has failed to advance out of. The last time the Big Red won a regional was in 2005, when the team made the College World Series.
Despite not advancing in the postseason, 2025 gives Nebraska its best run of conference championships – three in five years – since Dave Van Horn and Mike Anderson combined to give the Huskers conference titles in four out of five years from 1999-2003.
Stay up to date on all things Huskers by bookmarking Nebraska Cornhuskers On SI, subscribing to HuskerMax on YouTube, and visiting HuskerMax.com daily.
Fitter and Faster Swim Camps is the proud sponsor of SwimSwam’s College Recruiting Channel and all commitment news. For many, swimming in college is a lifelong dream that is pursued with dedication and determination. Fitter and Faster is proud to honor these athletes and those who supported them on their journey.
Jadeon Carter from Lincoln, Nebraska, has flipped his commitment and will now stay in-state as he has committed to Nebraska-Omaha. Carter originally committed to Missouri in August 2024.
Carter just finished his senior year at Lincoln East High School and does his club swimming with Lincoln Select.
This past spring, Carter swam to a Nebraska High School state title in the 500 freestyle. He swam to a season best 4:39.09 but was faster in prelims with a 4:36.66. He finished 2nd in the 200 free in a season best of a 1:41.45.
In March, Carter swam to numerous lifetime bests at Sectionals in Columbia, Missouri. There he swam a 1:49.61 200 back for 15th as well as a 4:05.92 in the 400 IM for 21st. He also notched a personal best of a 51.96 in the 100 back.
Carter’s best SCY times are:
- 200 free: 1:41.20
- 500 free: 4:34.01
- 100 back: 51.96
- 200 back: 1:49.61
The Nebraska-Omaha men finished 4th out of seven teams at the 2025 Summit League Championships. They scored 507.5 points finishing just behind 3rd place South Dakota State that scored 544 points. Owen Hoak led the way for Omaha with 29.5 individual points including 4th place finishes in the 50 and 100 freestyles.
Based on his best times, Carter would have made the conference ‘B’ final in the 200 back and finished 12th overall. It took a 1:48.53 to make the 200 back ‘A’ final. His 200 free also would have made the conference ‘B’ final.
Carter will arrive this fall as a member of the class of 2029 along with Brady Wainionpaa (breaststroker), Mason Zadina (fly/sprint free), and Carson Agnew (breaststroker).
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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Malachi Witherspoon pitched six scoreless and got plenty of offensive support in Oklahoma’s 7-4 victory over Nebraska in the nightcap of the Chapel Hill Regional on Friday.
Witherspoon (4-8) allowed three hits and struck out nine batters.
No. 2 regional seed Oklahoma (36-20) will play regional host North Carolina on Saturday. No. 3 Nebraska (32-28) faces a loser-out game against No. 4 Holy Cross. North Carolina defeated Holy Cross 4-0 earlier Friday.
Oklahoma took a 3-0 lead on Drew Dickerson’s two-run home run in the second and Easton Carmichael’s leadoff home run in the third.
Trey Gambill made it 4-0 with an RBI single in the fifth and Kyle Branch delivered a two-run single in Oklahoma’s three-run seventh inning.
Max Buettenback laced a bases-loaded triple in Nebraska’s four-run eighth inning.
The game started 2 1/2 hours late after a rain delay.
Jackson Brockett (4-4) took the loss.
Dylan Crooks earned his 15th save.
Oklahoma is making its 42nd appearance in the NCAA tournament. Nebraska, which won the Big Ten Tournament as the eighth seed, is making its 19th NCAA appearance.
Find more college sports coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
Find more Oklahoma coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
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