Denise Powell wins Democratic primary for Nebraska's 2nd congressional district

NPR | By Jason Breslow

Published May 13, 2026 at 6:59 PM MDT

Denise Powell, candidate for the Democratic nomination to the House of Representatives in Nebraska's second district, right, hugs pollster Madeline Conway during an election night watch party Wednesday in Omaha, Neb.

Political organizer Denise Powell has defeated State Sen. John Cavanaugh to win the Democratic primary in the race for Nebraska's second congressional district, according to a race call by the Associated Press on Wednesday.

With the race too close to call as polls closed Tuesday night, Powell ultimately defeated Cavanaugh by about 2 percentage points with 89 percent of votes counted so far, according to estimates from the AP Wednesday evening. That margin could change as the remaining ballots in the race are counted.

Powell will go on to face the Republican nominee Brinker Harding who is endorsed by President Trump.

The race for the state's second congressional district is closely watched because the ultimate winner could help decide which party controls the narrowly divided U.S. House after this year's midterm elections.

The Democratic primary attracted more than $5.6 million in outside ad spending, according to a review of Federal Election Commission filings by Nebraska Public Media.

The second district, which includes the Omaha area, is known as the "blue dot" because it was the lone Nebraska district to vote for Kamala Harris in 2024 and Joe Biden in 2020. It is currently represented by Republican Don Bacon, who is retiring. Democrats see the seat as a prime pickup opportunity.

Powell's win helps avoid a scenario that some Nebraska Democrats had been dreading. Had Cavanaugh won, the state's Republican governor would have been able to appoint a replacement to finish his term, which ends in 2028.

Republicans already hold a supermajority in the Nebraska legislature, but some Democrats worried that losing a seat in a reliable district would have helped the GOP change how the state awards its electoral votes for president.

Nebraska is one of two states, the other being Maine, that does not use a winner-take-all approach when awarding electoral votes. Rather, it awards an Electoral College vote to the winning presidential candidate in each individual congressional district. In a close race, many Democrats fear the loss of the blue dot could prove pivotal.