Powell Leads Nebraska Primary Elections for Open 2nd District Seat
Nebraska primary elections on Tuesday, May 12, 2026, centered on the open 2nd Congressional District seat after Republican Rep. Don Bacon said he will retire in January. Nebraska state Sen. John Cavanaugh and political organizer Denise Powell were leading the crowded Democratic primary for the Omaha-area district.
Don Bacon Leaves Open Seat
Bacon's retirement leaves Democrats fighting for a chance to face Republican nominee Brinker Harding, an Omaha City Council member who ran unopposed in the GOP primary. The district has voted for Democrats in three of the last five presidential elections, and Trump lost it in his last two presidential elections.
Nebraska still awards most of its electoral college votes by congressional district, which gives the race broader weight than a single House seat in a close state. Powell has argued that a Cavanaugh win could help Republicans change Nebraska to a winner-take-all electoral vote system if he leaves the legislature and Gov. Jim Pillen appoints an interim replacement.
Cindy Burbank And Dan Osborn
Elsewhere in Nebraska, the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate went to Cindy Burbank, after Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen sought in March to remove her from the ballot and the Nebraska Supreme Court later reinstated her candidacy. Dan Osborn is running in November as an independent, and the Nebraska Democratic Party has endorsed him for the general election.
The Senate contest carries its own recent history. Osborn took on Republican incumbent Sen. Deb Fischer in 2024 and came up less than 7 points short, while Pete Ricketts won his race in 2024 by more than 25 points against a Democratic challenger. Nebraska has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 2006.
West Virginia Primary Results
Tuesday's voting also produced Republican primary wins for Pete Ricketts, who defeated four challengers, and Shelley Moore Capito, who fended off five challengers. In West Virginia, Democrats nominated Rachel Anderson. The results leave the Nebraska 2nd District Democratic nominee to meet Harding in November, with the seat now the main prize in the state's House race.
