For the first time in 10 years, Nebraska voters in the Omaha-based 2nd Congressional District will decide an open election for Congress.
Longtime incumbent Republican Rep. Don Bacon has held the seat since winning election in 2016, but announced last year he would not seek reelection in 2026. Now, on the Nov. 3 ballot, voters will decide between Republican Brinker Harding and Democrat Denise Powell.
Harding, 65, is a City Councilman for District 6 in west-central Omaha. He was elected to the position in 2017. Harding works as a commercial real estate broker with the real estate firm Colliers. He also served as chief of staff to former Mayor Hal Daub from 1995 to 2000.
On his campaign website, Harding says the country needs to “look less like the failed policies of California and New York and more like its Heartland,” stating his two planks as “affordability” and “accountability.”
The councilman’s stated platform is generally in line with the national Republican platform, with a few exceptions. Harding says he wanted to protect social programs like Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare, with the caveat of “not for illegal immigrants or able-bodied adults.” He supports more stringent voter ID laws, “to ensure only American citizens can vote,” he says, while also “taking on Big Pharma” and cracking down on alleged “waste and fraud” in government spending.
Read more on Harding’s policy positions here.
Powell, 47, is a political strategist who co-founded the Women Who Run political action committee (PAC), which is focused on electing more women to public office. She narrowly advanced through a competitive and expensive primary election for Omaha Democrats in May.
On her campaign website, Powell says she’s running for Congress to “stand up to President Donald Trump’s abuse of power” and “deliver for working people, not special interest groups.”
Powell lists some of her key priorities in Washington as defending reproductive rights and “restoring Roe v. Wade into law nationwide,” reining in war powers and tariff authority from the White House while also investing in national security, and getting “dark money out of politics once and for all” by overturning Citizens United—a 2010 US Supreme Court decision stating that political spending is protected free speech, allowing unlimited money to flow into US elections.
Read more on Powell’s policy positions here.
The race has captured national attention, with the outcome inviting plenty of speculation. Nebraska’s unusual method of dividing electoral college votes by congressional district has given NE-02 a unique political identity—often called the “Blue Dot”—as the district delivered a lone electoral college vote for Democratic candidates in 2008, 2020, and 2024.
NE-02 encompasses all of Douglas County and the vast majority of Omaha, the state’s largest city. The district also stretches into Saunders and western Sarpy counties. According to May 2026 voter registration data, of the district’s more than 421,000 registered voters, Republicans make up about 38%, Democrats 34%, nonpartisans 26%, Libertarians 1.5%, and Legal Marijuana NOW voters 1.1%.
Outgoing Rep. Bacon’s ability to hold the seat for a decade is often attributed to his center-right persona in Washington, called by some a “maverick” for occasionally breaking with Republican Party leadership. This complex identity of the district is what Harding and Powell will try to appeal to on the Nov. 3 ballot.
Election Day for the 2026 midterms is Nov. 3, with early voting beginning on Oct. 5. The last day to register to vote is Oct. 16. Check your voter registration status below.
