Nebraska District 2

NE-02 • 2026 Election
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Primary

Democratic Primary

Held May 12, 2026.

CandidateVotes%
Denise Powell 22,516 38.8%
John Cavanaugh 21,115 36.4%
Crystal Rhoades 8,180 14.1%
Kishla Askins 3,499 6.0%
Melanie Williams 2,222 3.8%
James Leuschen 320 0.6%
Van Argyrakis 152 0.3%

Republican Primary

Held May 12, 2026.

CandidateVotes%
Brinker Harding 39,689 100.0%

Libertarian Primary

Held May 12, 2026.

CandidateVotes%
Eric Foreman 388 100.0%

Full calendar and every race: Nebraska primary guide

Race Overview

Incumbent
OPEN (Don Bacon)
Party
Republican
Current Rating
Lean R expert avg
Open Seat
Yes
Cook PVI
R+3

Race Ratings

Cook Political Report

Lean R

Inside Elections

Lean R
Changed from Toss-up on Feb 1

Sabato's Crystal Ball

Leans R
Changed from Lean R on Feb 1

Candidates

Denise Powell

Denise Powell Nominee

Democrat
Total Raised: $2,668,287
Cash on Hand: $997,390

Brinker Harding Nominee

Republican
Total Raised: $2,034,386
Cash on Hand: $1,070,769

Eric Foreman Nominee

Libertarian

Average reflects all polls from the last 30 days; table shows the most recent 30 days or the newest 3 polls, whichever is more. How accurate is each pollster? →

No polls in the last 90 days.

Questions About This Race

Is the 2026 NE-02 House race competitive?

Yes — the expert consensus rates it Lean R: Republicans are favored, but the race is competitive.

When is the 2026 NE-02 House race decided?

Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, 2026.

How is the PollingSource average calculated?

The PollingSource average is the unweighted mean of every scientific public poll of the race from the last 30 days — we do not exclude pollsters. Each race page lists the individual polls behind the average with pollster, field dates, sample size, and margin of error. Full details: pollingsource.com/methodology.

Independent Expenditures Updated 4 hours ago

$6,321,421
Total IE Spending
$3,951,022
Support
$2,370,399
Oppose

Top Spenders

Full outside-spending research — every committee, every race →

Race News

No news coverage yet for this race.