better funded campaign raised $3,106,288.30 and spent $3,084,768.22. 2016 On December 16, 2015, Ashford endorsed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination. He faced no opposition in the Democratic primary. Although The Cook Political Report had predicted that Nebraska's 2nd congressional district would lean Democratic and Ashford had received more funding than his opponent Ashford narrowly lost to Republican nominee Don Bacon. Ashford was the first incumbent representative in the 2nd congressional district to lose reelection after one term in office since Eugene D. O'Sullivan in the 1950 election. During his victory speech Bacon praised Ashford as "an honorable man" and stated that he cried during Ashford's concession speech. In 2018, Ashford accused Russian agents of hacking his emails during the 2016 election, after twelve indictments were announced by Robert Mueller. He stated that all of his email correspondence with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee was obtained by Russian hackers, but he did not believe that any information was given to Bacon or his campaign. 2018 Ashford considered running against Bacon again after he voted for the American Health Care Act of 2017 which would have partially repealed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. In June 2017, Ashford announced that he would seek the Democratic nomination to run against Bacon for another term. On September 20, Ashford formally announced his campaign at the Old Mattress Factory in Omaha, Nebraska, and filed to run in the election on January 30, 2018. During the campaign he received organizational and fundraising support from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee as a member of the Red to Blue program. Ashford was also endorsed by Giffords, a gun control advocacy organization that was founded by former Representative Gabby Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly. However, in the Democratic primary he was narrowly defeated by Kara Eastman, who criticized him for having been a member of the Republican Party in the past, despite having outraised her with $571,000 to her $356,000. In the general election Eastman was narrowly defeated by Bacon. Committee assignments Committee on Agriculture Subcommittee on Nutrition Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management Committee on Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces Subcommittee on Intelligence, Emerging Threats and Capabilities Later life and death In February 2017, Ashford was selected to serve as the head of Midtown 2050, an Omaha development group, but resigned in April as he felt that