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OMAHA — Nebraskans and the country will have to wait a bit longer to know who won the Democratic nomination to face Republican Brinker Harding in the state’s Omaha-based 2nd Congressional District.
At last count late Tuesday, political action committee co-founder Denise Powell led with roughly 39% of the vote, followed by State Sen. John Cavanaugh at 37%. Douglas County District Court Clerk Crystal Rhoades came in third with 14%.
Retired U.S. Navy veteran Kishla Askins had received nearly 6% of the vote, and self-described Democratic Socialist Melanie Williams got nearly 4%. Omaha native James Leuschen, who dropped out in March, received less than 1%. Former immigration attorney Evangelos Argyrakis received less.
Cavanaugh, early returns
Cavanaugh held a significant advantage in the first wave of early voting returns. Powell chipped away at his lead with Election Day voting all night.
Cavanaugh, in a nod to his union support and roots, told the people attending his watch party that his campaign was built for working people.
Decision Desk HQ called the race for Powell around 10:45 p.m., but the Associated Press and others have not, partly because Douglas County, home to the most Democrats in Nebraska, counts the early voting ballots people return on late Monday and Election Day on the Friday after the election.
The county has 9,600-9,800 early ballots still to count, Douglas County Election Commissioner Danielle Jensen said. The candidate split of results from those ballots tend to follow a similar pattern to early ballots returned earlier in the election, which means they could tilt toward Cavanaugh.
The Democrats’ six-person primary became heated, bitter and costly in the closing weeks, with two of the top candidates attacking each other and a lot of attack ads running, particularly from outside groups. The top two polling candidates said Tuesday they still see a path to the nomination.
The race’s early favorite, Cavanaugh, faced a barrage of attacks from Democrats running against him and from groups aligned with national Republicans through the last stretch of the race. Powell benefited from a political cavalry of outside groups spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on ads that backed her and attacked Cavanaugh. Cavanaugh’s campaign then attacked Powell, labeling her “Dark Money Denise.”
Powell led fundraising
Powell led in fundraising for most of the primary. Her campaign relentlessly advertised and texted voters. She said she ran because she is tired of seeing folks struggle to make ends meet while President Donald Trump “makes life harder for working people.”
Cavanaugh has said he ran to fight against Trump and what he described as “chaos and corruption” in Washington, D.C., while aiming to “lower costs for Nebraskans.”
The Cavanaugh watch party at the Underwood Bar in Dundee was in high spirits for much of the night but shifted near the end. His campaign manager Katie Bartizal said there are still votes to be counted.
Powell danced up to the podium around 11:42 p.m. amid a chanting crowd that grew after she took the lead late. She told supporters, some of whom came from other watch parties, that there were still votes to be counted and she would let “the Democratic process work its way through.”
“But we feel so good,” she said to loud cheers.
Powell said she had prepared one speech for the night — win or lose, and remarked about how campaigns can “get a little bit heated.”
“At the end of the day, we are all rooting for Nebraska … and we are all rooting for courage and for common sense to prevail.”
She urged everyone, no matter the outcome, to “keep pushing back. This country and this state are worth fighting for.”
The mood changed at both the Powell and Cavanaugh parties just before 11 p.m.. At Powell’s party, joyful shouts rang out as the numbers turned.
Powell’s dad, Joaquin Blaya sat with a smiling group of family and friends. He said he was proud of his daughter, and was grateful for supporters who lifted her.
“Hillary had it right,” he said. “It takes a village.”
He said it had been “a long night” but that it was “very exciting.”
Among those attending Powell’s party: Nebraska state senators Margo Juarez and Dunixi Guereca, Justin Wayne, a former state senator and a candidate for Douglas County Clerk of the District Court, Preston Love Jr., a North Omaha advocate and former U.S. Senate candidate, and Kimara Snipes of the Omaha Public Schools Board.
Rhoades, ground game
Rhoades had banked on her ground game and voter outreach to help her underfunded campaign compete. She has a history of helping local Democrats win elections as a political consultant, including a key role in helping John Ewing Jr. become Omaha’s first Democratic mayor in a dozen years.
Ewing attended her gathering at Primo’s Mexican Restaurant in Omaha, as did a number of candidates who have hired Rhoades as a political consultant over the years.
Rhoades said of the results, “I am a good Democrat, and I wish the Democratic nominee all the best.”
At the Nebraska Republican watch party at the Scott Conference Center at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, State Sen. Kathleen Kauth of Omaha set the stage for the general election fight to come, saying there is no “such thing as a moderate Democrat in this political environment.”
“There’s no difference between John Cavanaugh, Denise Powell or any of them,” Kauth said.
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen said, “CD-2 is really, really important … not just for Nebraska but for the United States.”
“It doesn’t matter what the other side brings … We’re winning and you can take that to the bank,” Pillen said.
The ultimate winner of the Democratic primary could benefit from positive headwinds nationally for Democrats. Democrats in Nebraska and nationally view the seat as a possible pick-up, which could be crucial for the party to retake control of the U.S. House.
Nebraska Democrats are hoping this is the year the party can win the Omaha area’s slightly right-leaning but swing 2nd District, a goal that has eluded them for about a decade. Republican U.S. Rep. Don Bacon announced last year that he wasn’t running for reelection.
Whoever moves on to the general election will face Harding, with Eric Michael Foreman running as a Libertarian. The general election is Nov. 3.
Examiner Reporter Erin Bamer and Editor-in-chief Aaron Sanderford contributed to this report.
