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OMAHA — After missing the original deadlines, Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District Republican nominee Brinker Harding submitted his financial disclosures to the Clerk of the U.S. House late last week.
Republican CD2 nominee Brinker Harding misses filing deadlines for personal financial disclosures
Harding, the Omaha City Councilman, has faced criticism from national and Nebraska Democrats over not submitting the form, which is meant to show a person’s assets and sources of income.
All candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives who raise or spend more than $5,000 are required to file a personal financial disclosure with the Clerk of the House within 30 days of announcing their candidacy, or by May 15, whichever comes first. Incumbent U.S. House members also are required to file personal financial disclosure reports, and all of Nebraska’s are up to date.
“As I have said since the beginning of this process, I have nothing to hide. My financial disclosure confirms just that. I’ve spent my life living, working, and raising my family in Nebraska,” Harding said in a statement.
Harding has 85 assets, according to the forms. He receives “earned income” from commissions from Pacific Realty Commercial LCC, a spouse’s salary from TACK Architects, and a salary from the City of Omaha. In the same form, he reported a “liability” with an office building mortgage.
The 2nd District Democratic nominee, Denise Powell, criticized Harding for owning “drug company stock” while backing President Donald Trump’s push to roll back “Medicare’s ability to negotiate lower drug prices.”
Harding’s spouse has a stake in the drugmaker Pfizer, Exxon Mobil, and Lockheed Martin Corporation through a Schwab Brokerage Account, according to the forms.
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Trump rescinded an executive order issued by former President Joe Biden aimed at finding new models for lowering drug costs in the early days of his presidency, but the order didn’t affect the caps on seniors’ drug costs or Medicare price negotiations that Biden signed into law, according to FactCheck.org
“He spent months breaking ethics rules to improperly hide it from voters,” Powell said of Harding’s disclosure. “This is yet another reason we don’t need another career politician like Brinker Harding in Washington.”
Powell has 52 assets, according to her form. Powell receives “earned income” through a salary from She’s Electable Nebraska LLC and a spouse’s salary from LinkedIn Corporation.
Harding, in his statement, said Powell “must answer” for working with and accepting “thousands of dollars from dark money organizations funded by foreign billionaires” and that are currently under “investigation by Nebraska’s Attorney General.”
Powell has received at least $10,000 in consulting fees from Sixteen Thirty Fund and New Venture Fund, according to her personal financial disclosure.
They are two of the six national nonprofits that are being sued by the State Attorney General, who has alleged they financed ballot initiatives with “foreign money.” Sixteen Thirty Fund and New Venture Fund deny any wrongdoing.
The Powell campaign told Politico that her work focused on organizing and communications for ballot measures, not on fundraising for the entities.
The campaign also said Powell would not know the funding sources of the entities she worked for.
Meg Mandy, senior advisor to the Powell campaign, told the Examiner, “While Denise personally had absolutely nothing to do with this lawsuit and was not involved, she’ll never back down from this fight and won’t be intimidated by MAGA extremists’ efforts to weaponize the legal system.”
Libertarian Eric Michael Foreman is also running for the 2nd District seat. The general election is Nov. 3
