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H6NE02208
HARDING, BRINKER Open seat
4.2
Influence Score · 2026
Modestly backed
Non-incumbent — only contributions, independent expenditures, and dark-money exposure are scored.
Lobbying, vote alignment, bundle timing, and trade direction require committee assignments and
roll-call records, neither of which exist for a non-sitting candidate. Maximum reachable score is
about 23, on a challenger-only scale — incumbents are scored 0–100 across all twelve axes, so the two
are not directly comparable. See methodology.
Score components
| Axis | Raw | Normalized (pts) | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direct contributions | $890K | 3.38 | 2026 cycle, principal committee |
| Outside spending — direct support | $0 | — | PACs that directly supported this candidate |
| Outside spending — indirect (OPPOSE against opponents) | $345K | — | OPPOSE spending against opponents in the same race, attributed proportionally |
| Outside spending — OPPOSE against this candidate | $448 | — | PACs that spent to defeat this candidate (not scored on this axis) |
| Total outside spending in favor | $345K | 0.79 | direct + indirect — drives the outside-spending axis |
| Lobbying exposure | — | — | Requires committee assignment |
| Vote alignment | — | — | Requires voting record |
| Contribution timing — money arriving near key votes | — | — | Requires recorded-vote calendar |
| Dark-money exposure | 0.0000 | 0.00 | Disclosed-vs-dark outside spending share |
| Personal trade direction | — | — | Requires STOCK Act filings |
Race matchup NE-2
| Candidate | Party | Status | Direct $ | Outside $ | Score | Tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BACON, DONALD J | REP | Inc. | $1.91M | $10.33M | 58.4 | Highly exposed |
| POWELL, DENISE | DEM | Open | $1.13M | $3.87M | 6.9 | Modestly backed |
| HARDING, BRINKER | REP | Open | $890K | $345K | 4.2 | Modestly backed |
| CAVANAUGH, JOHN | DEM | Open | $511K | $318K | 2.7 | Lightly backed |
| LINDSTROM, BRETT | REP | Open | $372K | $345K | 2.2 | Lightly backed |
| LEUSCHEN, JAMES | DEM | Open | $312K | $345K | 2.0 | Lightly backed |
| ASKINS, KISHLA | DEM | Open | $267K | $345K | 1.8 | Lightly backed |
| RHOADES, CRYSTAL | DEM | Open | $99K | $345K | 1.2 | Lightly backed |
Challenger and open-seat scores reflect contributions, outside spending, and dark-money exposure only — a maximum of about 23. They are not directly comparable to incumbent scores, which run 0–100 across all twelve axes. Compare the dollar columns (Direct $, Outside $) for a like-for-like view.