Powell’s win in the Democratic primary in Omaha-area Nebraska puts her in line to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Don Bacon’s open seat after Bacon announced he would retire, according to Associated Press reporting on Wednesday.
AP said the contest centered on the district’s status as a “blue dot” in presidential elections: Nebraska splits its electoral votes, and the 2nd District has voted for Democratic presidential candidates three of five times since 2008. AP also described the district as a national focus every four years because of that split. The AP reporting said the 2nd District backed Democrat Kamala Harris in 2024 while electing a Republican representative.
Powell, a political activist, defeated state Sen. John Cavanaugh and other Democratic primary candidates. AP said the race remained too close to call on Tuesday, with Powell and Cavanaugh in a tight contest. As of Wednesday, AP said Powell led Cavanaugh by 2.1 percentage points—1,080 votes—out of more than 51,000 ballots counted.
AP said it called the Democratic primary after Douglas County election officials reported there were 5,125 outstanding mail-in ballots in the Democratic primary and 830 provisional ballots from all political parties. AP reported that even if all those remaining ballots were counted in the Democratic primary, Cavanaugh would have to win them by about 18 percentage points over Powell to close the gap—something Powell’s margin did not suggest based on vote updates Douglas County provided up to that point.
AP said Cavanaugh trailed in all three counties in the district, with Douglas County accounting for about 93% of the votes. AP also noted that concerns had been raised among some Democratic critics that a Cavanaugh primary victory could jeopardize the district’s “blue dot” status because he would have to leave his state legislative seat, which critics said could make it easier for Republicans in the Nebraska Legislature to change the law that allows the state to split its electoral votes.
Powell is expected to face Brinker Harding in November. AP said Harding is an Omaha City Council member endorsed by President Donald Trump and ran unopposed in Tuesday’s Republican primary. With that setup, AP reported the matchup between Powell and Harding is expected to be among this fall’s most competitive House races as Democrats try to win control of the chamber for the second half of Trump’s term.
In a statement after the primary outcome, Powell said: “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,” adding, “It’s time to be brave.” AP also reported that the Nebraska GOP said it was ready to fight back against a “radical left” that has poured money into the state, quoting Nebraska GOP chairman Mary Jane Truemper saying, “The left wants Nebraska, and we are going to make sure they don’t get it.”
AP said Powell, who is Latina, co-founded Women Who Run Nebraska, a political action committee that supports progressive female candidates, and has a decade of Democratic political activism. AP reported that she had backing from EMILY’s List and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus’ campaign operation, and that she has never held elected office. AP also said Powell argued that her connections have helped her with independents and third-party voters, which AP described as making up nearly 30% of the district’s electorate.