Overview
- Democratic voters in Nebraska’s 2nd District, which decides the state’s lone swing Electoral College vote, cast primary ballots Tuesday in a costly, ad-heavy fight that will set up a November race for an open U.S. House seat.
- State Sen. John Cavanaugh, activist Denise Powell, and court clerk Crystal Rhoades lead the Democratic field, while Omaha City Council member Brinker Harding runs unopposed for Republicans with an endorsement from President Donald Trump.
- Powell and allied groups argue that sending Cavanaugh to Congress would let Gov. Jim Pillen appoint a Republican to his legislative seat, which critics say could make it easier to scrap Nebraska’s district-by-district electoral system and tighten abortion and transgender policies.
- Cavanaugh rejects that warning as political, pointing to chances for Democratic gains in the unicameral Legislature, even as AdImpact tracks more than $6 million in outside ads and mail that have turned the primary into a national proxy fight.
- In the Senate race, Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts is favored in his primary as Democrats back independent Dan Osborn for November, with Democrat Cindy Burbank on Tuesday’s ballot after the Nebraska Supreme Court reinstated her candidacy despite her pledge to step aside so Osborn can run one-on-one.