Democracy Dies in DarknessDemocrats knew they couldn’t unseat a GOP senator, so they backed an independent and fielded a candidate who promised to drop out if she won. Then it got complicated.May 13, 2026Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Nebraska) speaks to the media after casting his ballot at the Omaha Community Playhouse on May 12. (Rebecca S. Gratz/AP)Denise Powell has won the Democratic nomination for a key battleground House seat in Nebraska, the Associated Press projects, prevailing in an expensive race where she argued that electing her opponent would endanger future Democratic presidential candidates.
Takeaways from Nebraska Democratic primaries filled with plot twists
Democrats knew they couldn’t unseat a GOP senator, so they backed an independent and fielded a candidate who promised to drop out if she won. Then it got complicated.











