Republican former Nebraska state Senator Brett Lindstrom on Friday announced he’s throwing the towel in on the race to succeed retiring Congressman Don Bacon, one of just three House Republicans repping a district won by former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.

“After careful reflection, prayer, and thoughtful consideration over the past few weeks, Brett Lindstrom announced today that he is stepping away from the race for Congress. ‘This was not an easy decision,’ Lindstrom said. ‘Over the past several weeks, I’ve taken time to reflect, pray, and have honest conversations with my family about where I can best focus my time and energy. Right now, my priority needs to be my family and continuing to make a difference here in Omaha and across Nebraska – not in Washington, DC,'” said the very ChatGPT-ish first half of the press release.

Then it gets interesting, even kind of tantalizing for those who crave anecdotal evidence of a pending Blue Wave: “Lindstrom emphasized that the decision is not due to a lack of confidence in his campaign or its support. ‘I was confident that we were on a strong path to winning the nomination,’ he said. ‘However, when looking ahead to what would be an exceptionally brutal general election, I felt it was the responsible decision to pause this campaign and step back at this time.'”

According to the Nebraska Examiner, Lindstrom had a 1 percent lead over Omaha City Councilman Brinker Harding in the most recent polling among NE-2’s Republican primary voters, polling they say indicated some vulnerability for Brinker on certain issues. On the other hand Brinker was expected to show a significant money advantage over Lindstrom in upcoming FEC fundraising reports.

That aside though, who the fuck pre-quits a race they’re confident enough that they can win, even if it was going to be a hard fought slog? Yes, Tim Walz probably still would have won a third term. Look no further than that Amy Klobuchar jumped into the race in just three weeks. But Walz plainly meant what he said about not being able to govern and campaign at the same time given all the MAGA bullshit about the state’s Somali community, even if Republicans nominated Mike Lindell.

Lindstrom doesn’t have the same headaches. He’s not currently serving in any elected office. So quibble with the noise in the statement all you want, it’s the signal that you can take his word on: He thinks Nebraska’s 2nd is a lost cause. It’s purely pragmatic, no invocation of principle like the one from Chris Madel, the top-three contender Minnesota Republican who quit the gubernatorial race made – sincerely or not – in his announcement on Monday after Alex Pretti’s murder.

Worth raising whether a teenage girl getting hit by an SUV with a MAGA flag on it during a protest in front of her high school was similarly the final straw for Lindstrom. Impossible to avoid noticing the timing of it – or to imagine that he watched that 15-second clip and immediately thought “Nope. No fucking way. I’m not dead enough inside yet to claim that she’s a Soros-paid domestic terrorist who jumped in front of the car on purpose. It’s just not going to fly in this town, this year. I’m out.”

Either way, a Republican candidate just more or less said a seat currently held by a Republican is unwinnable and acted accordingly. Whatever else you might think, it’s not at all insignificant.