Sharp divisions are shaping an increasingly messy Democratic primary for a purple House seat in a ruby-red state.

The May 12 Democratic primary for Nebraska’s open 2nd District features labor-backed progressive John Cavanaugh and political action committee co-founder Denise Powell. 

Several other Democrats are also on the ballot, including Douglas County District Court Clerk Crystal Rhoades and Navy veteran Kishla Askins. Although both Rhoades and Askins have secured some high-powered endorsements, they trail in fundraising and face a more arduous path to the nomination.

The Democratic winner will take on Republican Brinker Harding, an Omaha City council member who does not face a primary opponent. Both parties say the fall contest will be crucial to determining control of the House.

The Omaha-centered district is a rare battleground district closely split between Republicans, Democrats and unaffiliated voters: Kamala Harris won it by 5 points in 2024, yet voters here have repeatedly sent Republican Rep. Don Bacon back to the House. (Bacon won a fifth term by less than 2 points in 2024 before announcing his retirement last year.)

For House Democrats, Bacon’s exit has fueled fresh optimism that they can finally win Nebraska’s “blue dot,” which they’ve held for just a single term over the past three decades. Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates this year’s race Tilt Democratic.

Powell has cast herself as a pragmatist who can capture the support of the district’s independent-minded electorate.

“We’ve got a lot of free thinkers in Nebraska,” she said. “We have to win over all of our Democrats, but we’ve also got a win over the Republicans and the independents [who] are also genuinely worried right now and feeling like they have been betrayed by the [Trump] administration.”

Cavanaugh, a state senator, says pushing back against the Trump agenda is the key issue facing Democrats in the midterm elections. 

“We need to stop him, and we need to make reforms to stop any future Trumps,’’ said Cavanaugh, heir to a respected Omaha political dynasty. (His father once held the 2nd District seat he hopes to win, and his sister serves alongside him in the state Senate.) 

The Democratic primary is among the first this year to test the strength of the party’s left flank. In blue and purple districts across the nation, Democratic primary contests are being shaped by a number of factors, including age and ideology — as well as competing approaches to how aggressively the party ought to fight President Donald Trump.

Cavanaugh has the support of the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC and several prominent labor groups, while Powell is backed by the center-left New Democrat Coalition Action Fund. The daughter of Chilean and Cuban immigrants has also been endorsed by the campaign arm of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, EMILY’s List and The Bench, which backs what it describes as the “next generation” of party leaders. 

Cavanaugh has downplayed the ideological contours of the campaign. 

“For me, the goal has always been to pursue policy that actually improves people’s lives,’’ he said, “It’s not about labels.”

Powell has been the fundraising leader in the Democratic primary, bringing in $1.5 million this cycle, compared with $1 million for Cavanaugh. She ended March with $458,000 banked, while Cavanaugh finished with $345,000. 

In the run-up to the primary — early in-person voting began April 13 — outside groups and super PACs are spending heavily, and both campaigns have gone negative. Cavanaugh has begun running an attack ad targeting Powell as “Dark Money Denise,” alleging that she built a career as a political operative “orchestrating secret donations from special interests and billionaires.”

Powell and her allies have accused Cavanaugh of jeopardizing Nebraska’s “blue dot” with his campaign for Congress. Under Nebraska law, the state awards presidential electoral votes by congressional district — a system state Republicans are trying to change. Should Cavanaugh win, Republican Gov. Jim Pillen would appoint his replacement in the state legislature, potentially handing the GOP a key vote in their push to shift to a more typical “winner take all” method of apportioning presidential electoral votes.

“Don’t let John Cavanaugh give away our blue dot,’’ says a new ad paid for by an outside group that backs candidates supported by the New Democrat Coalition.

Cavanaugh dismissed such concerns, asserting Democrats in Nebraska will pick up more than enough legislative seats in November to offset the potential loss of his vote.

Republicans are also meddling in the race. American Action Network, a conservative group allied with the House GOP super PAC Congressional Leadership Fund, has been funding ads praising Cavanaugh. 

One mailer lauds him for “working to enact Trump’s policy right here in Nebraska.” Cavanaugh backed a measure in the Nebraska legislature similar to the president’s “no tax on tips and overtime” proposal, saying it would help working people.

The spots appear to suggest Republicans are trying to damage Cavanaugh’s standing among the Democratic electorate by linking him to an unpopular president. But Powell’s camp says it’s evidence that Republicans would rather face her opponent because they view him as the weaker candidate.

Despite the divide between Cavanaugh and Powell, Republicans are already trying to portray both as out of step with the district’s centrist underpinnings. 

“While the midterm cycle gives Brinker Harding a hard challenge, he is a great candidate with a great team,” Bacon, who is supporting his fellow Republican to succeed him, said in an email. “The leading Democrats are Bernie Sanders, far-left liberals who don’t compete well” in the 2nd District.