Denise Powell, a political activist, will win the Democratic primary in Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District, CNN projects, a race that is poised to become one of the nation’s most competitive contests this fall that could help determine control of Congress.
Powell held a roughly 1,000-vote lead over State Sen. John Cavanaugh on Wednesday. CNN projected the race after election officials confirmed that there were only a few thousand ballots left to count in Douglas County. To win, Cavanaugh would need to carry those outstanding votes by a much larger margin than he’s had in any vote report from Douglas thus far.
“This country and Nebraska are worth fighting for – and I’m ready to spend the next six months working for every vote and sharing my vision for Nebraska so we can finally have a representative in Congress who will serve us,” Powell said in a statement. “It’s time to be brave.”
It’s been a decade since Nebraska sent a Democrat to Congress, but Rep. Don Bacon’s decision to retire turned his Omaha-area district into a key November battleground. Bacon was one of only three Republicans in the country who won in a district that Kamala Harris also carried in 2024.
Yet talk of picking up a Republican seat in November largely took a back seat to a spirited Democratic primary over which candidate would protect – or imperil – the so-called blue dot, a feature of the state’s unique method of awarding electoral votes in presidential elections.
