Her victory flips Omaha’s 2nd Congressional District after Don Bacon’s retirement. Powell helped establish Women Who Run Nebraska and previously worked with local education and immigrant-support organizations.
By Hola Nebraska
Unofficial vote totals as of November 4, 2026, at 5:58 a.m. CT.
Democrat Denise Powell won Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District on November 3, 2026, becoming the first Latina elected to Congress from the state and the first woman elected to represent the Omaha-area district, according to KETV. The Associated Press projected her victory over Republican Brinker Harding and Libertarian Eric Michael Foreman. Harding conceded Tuesday night.
Powell received 138,733 votes (56.4%), compared with Harding’s 100,895 (41.0%) and Foreman’s 6,310 (2.6%), according to the Nebraska Secretary of State’s preliminary results. All 334 precincts in the district had reported, giving Powell a lead of 37,838 votes. The numbers have not been certified.
Virginia Dodd Smith was Nebraska’s first woman elected to Congress
Powell’s election does not make her the first woman from Nebraska to serve in Congress. Republican Virginia Dodd Smith became the state’s first woman elected to the U.S. House in 1974. Smith represented the 3rd District from January 1975 to January 1991. Nebraska has also elected women to the U.S. Senate, including Deb Fischer.
Powell grew up in Miami and is the daughter of immigrants from Cuba and Chile. In a 2021 essay published by SHARE Omaha, she wrote about her parents’ advocacy for Latino communities and her own involvement with local nonprofit organizations. She and her husband moved to Omaha in 2009.
From community organizing to Women Who Run Nebraska
Powell worked in corporate communications and marketing before turning more of her attention to civic engagement. Her professional background includes serving as communications director for Nebraska Loves Public Schools and as a partner at Omaha-based Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture. She earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Miami, according to her Leadership Now biography.
In the SHARE Omaha essay, Powell also described serving on the boards of Omaha’s Immigrant Legal Center, Women’s Center for Advancement and Amplify Arts. Those roles linked her work to immigration legal assistance, support for survivors of violence and the local arts community.
After attending the January 2017 Women’s March in Washington, D.C., Powell and Leanne Prewitt co-founded Women Who Run Nebraska, a political action committee focused on recruiting and supporting women running for public office. The organization expanded from letter-writing and community gatherings into candidate training, voter outreach and fundraising support. Powell took a leave of absence from the organization in May 2025 to run for Congress.
Powell also cited her advocacy for a higher minimum wage and paid sick leave. Voters approved Nebraska’s minimum-wage Initiative 433 in 2022 and its paid-sick-leave Initiative 436 in 2024. Those were separate ballot campaigns, not measures adopted in the same election.
Omaha’s competitive district changes parties after Don Bacon’s retirement
Powell will succeed Republican Don Bacon, who has held the seat since 2017 and chose not to seek reelection. The 2nd District covers all of Douglas and Saunders counties and western Sarpy County, including Omaha and nearby communities.
In 2024, Bacon narrowly defeated Democrat Tony Vargas, receiving 160,198 votes (50.9%) to Vargas’ 154,369 (49.1%). The margin was 5,829 votes, according to the certified 2024 election figures. Powell will be the first Democrat to hold the seat since Brad Ashford’s term ended in January 2017.
The district has earned the nickname “blue dot” because it has backed Democratic presidential candidates in several recent elections while continuing to elect Republican House members. Nebraska, like Maine, awards some presidential electoral votes by congressional district, giving the Omaha-based seat a distinctive role in presidential campaigns.
Harding, a three-term Omaha City Council member with a background in commercial real estate, ran on his local government experience and a bipartisan message. The contest for Bacon’s open seat attracted national attention.
Health care, household costs and immigration shaped Powell’s campaign
Powell’s published campaign platform called for protecting Medicaid and Social Security, lowering health care and everyday expenses, and investing in affordable housing. These are her stated policy positions, not changes enacted as a result of the election.
On immigration, she supported border security alongside legal pathways to citizenship for certain long-term immigrants and expanded legal avenues for workers in industries such as agriculture, manufacturing and health care. She also called for stronger oversight of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Her background includes service with Omaha’s Immigrant Legal Center, but those policy proposals would still require action by Congress or federal agencies.
After the election, Powell said she would work to earn the trust of people who had not voted for her, according to News Channel Nebraska’s report on her victory statement.
Powell’s two-year House term is expected to begin in January 2027. Final vote totals and margins will be established through Nebraska’s election certification process.
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