Republican · Nebraska's 2nd District · 2026
Brinker Harding
Harding's Omaha roots reach back to a great grandfather who started an ice cream company.
Biography
Brinker Harding once put his resume on a baseball to get a sports marketing job with the Omaha Royals, reasoning that the team's new owner could hardly leave it on the table.1 He is a fourth generation Omahan, married to architect Rebecca Harding, with two grown daughters.1
His background includes business studies at the University of Kansas and the University of Nebraska at Omaha, plus work in sports marketing, city government and the commercial real estate industry.1 From 1995 through 2000, he served Mayor Hal Daub as economic development director and chief of staff.2 He later worked in commercial real estate and is a vice president at Colliers International.1
Elected to Omaha's officially nonpartisan City Council in 2017, Harding is now its vice president.1 His campaign highlights work on riverfront redevelopment, a new public library and partnerships between city government and private developers.2 He also points to three council votes lowering the city's property tax levy.2
He is running for retiring Republican Don Bacon's seat against Democrat Denise Powell and Libertarian Eric Michael Foreman.31 Harding supports banning congressional stock trading and withholding congressional pay during shutdowns.1 He also supports body cameras and identifiable uniforms for ICE agents, alongside protecting Social Security and Medicare.4
Record and controversies
Disputed business tax records
In October 2026, WOWT reported that Powell's campaign supplied records alleging tax delinquencies involving businesses in which Harding held interests; the station explicitly said it had not independently verified the documents.5 Harding said he was a minority owner without daily operational control, had not known of late payments and had paid his own property taxes on time.5 The supplied documents said the listed property tax sales were later paid or redeemed.5