Nebraska’s blue dot district chooses Democrat Denise Powell in primary

Denise Powell won Nebraska’s Democratic primary in the Omaha-based 2nd Congressional District, capturing 39% to state Sen. John Cavanaugh’s 37% with about 90% of the expected vote counted. Her victory sets up a general election against Omaha City Council member Brinker Harding, who won the Republican nomination without opposition.

The race carried far beyond one House seat. Nebraska is one of only two states that splits its Electoral College votes by congressional district, and the 2nd District’s lone electoral vote went to Joe Biden in 2020 and Kamala Harris in 2024. It is also one of just three House districts won by a Republican in 2024 that Harris carried, making the Omaha seat one of Democrats’ sharpest pickup opportunities nationally.

That importance sharpened after Don Bacon said on June 30, 2025, that he would not seek reelection and would retire at the end of the 119th Congress. Bacon had held the district since 2017, winning all five of his campaigns by margins of just 1 to 5 percentage points. The open seat turned what had been a toss-up into a race that the Cook Political Report later shifted to lean Democratic.

Nebraska’s 2nd District includes all of Douglas and Saunders counties and the western part of Sarpy County, a region where Omaha’s suburbs and exurbs have repeatedly decided close statewide contests. Powell’s win keeps Democrats focused on a district they see as central not only to the battle for House control, but also to the next fight over Nebraska’s presidential vote.

The primary itself was bruising and expensive. Democratic candidates and allied groups spent more than $5 million on television ads, and Powell and Cavanaugh traded attacks over dark money, abortion rights, public-school funding and the political fallout if Cavanaugh left the Legislature for Congress. Powell, viewed as the more moderate candidate, was backed by EMILY’s List, the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus BOLD PAC and Elect Democratic Women. Cavanaugh, a progressive, was endorsed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, the Nebraska AFL-CIO and nearly a dozen local unions.

The stakes in Lincoln were just as intense. If Cavanaugh had won the House seat, Republican Gov. Jim Pillen could have appointed his replacement in the Nebraska Legislature, where Republicans hold a 33-16 edge over Democratic-leaning members despite the body’s official nonpartisan structure. That prospect raised alarms among Democrats who feared the loss of enough votes to sustain a filibuster.

The broader electoral fight is not over. Some Republicans want to change Nebraska’s law to winner-take-all, which would likely hand the GOP an additional presidential electoral vote. Powell’s victory leaves Democrats with a nominee in a district that has already proved decisive in presidential politics and may again shape the balance of power far beyond Omaha.