Election 2022: Bacon, Vargas make final push to voters
Don Bacon headed to Wahoo; Tony Vargas continue knocking on doors
OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - On the eve of Election Day, candidates in one of the closest-watched U.S. House races in the country are making their closing arguments to voters.
Monday is more about getting the voters to the polls, or making sure they turn in their mail-in ballot.
The community of Wahoo has never played a role in voting in Nebraska’s Dist. 2 race for Congress; redistricting added Saunders County to Douglas County and the western part of Sarpy County to the house seat.
“It takes me back to my roots,” Republican Congressman Don Bacon said. “I was raised on a farm.”
He opened an office in downtown Wahoo. He didn’t need it for the three previous elections.
Bacon spent Election Day eve talking to voters and having lunch with Wahoo’s mayor.
“Saunders County folks are very ag-dependent,” Bacon said. “They’re excited that I get to advocate for them on the farm bill coming up, the infrastructure bill — they have the highest number of bridges in all the counties that need to be replaced.”
His challenger, Democrat Tony Vargas, handled the day before polls open by getting out the vote — personally, not far from Millard South.
“Since Friday night, I’ve knocked on 1,000 doors by myself,” he said. “My wife has been doing the same. Even my mom is making calls.”
He believes his door-to-door campaign is how you break through the noise when it comes to negative TV ads and mailers. A face-to-face conversation, in his view, shows voters your truth.
“One of the people I just talked with — my message is, I want to make sure we are listening to people,” he said. “Times are tough. We need to make sure we have someone in Congress who is fighting to lower costs of health-care access and making sure they are providing the middle class with meaningful tax relief.”
The 2nd District is a race that’s seen millions of dollars poured into it, much of it outside money.
Now, it’s up to the voters.
“We think we have an advantage now, but we don’t want to take it for granted,” Bacon said Monday. “Voters decide that, not polls.”
“We’re going to talk to people until 8 p.m. tomorrow night,” Vargas said.
Copyright 2022 WOWT. All rights reserved.
