Denise Powell
Won the May 12, 2026 Democratic primary
Denise Powell is a working mother, small-business owner, and reproductive-rights advocate who has spent roughly a decade organizing on healthcare and public-education issues in Nebraska. She is running on lowering costs, protecting reproductive healthcare, and opposing what she describes as abuses of executive power.[2][3]
Basic profile — the most important sourced facts we found.
Positions on the issues
- SupportsProtect legal access to abortion
Supports restoring nationwide abortion rights and expanding access to contraception and fertility treatments.[3]
“Protect abortion rights for Nebraska women by fighting to restore Roe v. Wade into law nationwide.”
- SupportsExpand public health coverage
Supports creating a Medicare-like public option and letting Medicare negotiate more prescription-drug prices.[3]
“Work to create a Medicare-like public option that gives every American the choice of affordable coverage while protecting private insurance for those who want it.”
- SupportsStricter gun laws
Supports universal background checks and red-flag laws.[3]
“Save lives from gun violence by ensuring universal background checks to prevent convicted felons and gang members from obtaining guns, red flag laws to keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers, and fund community violence intervention programs.”
- MixedBroad tariffs on imported goods
Opposes broad tariffs on consumer goods but supports targeted tariffs on specific imports like beef and soybeans to protect farm prices.[3]
“Stop Trump's illegal tariffs to help bring down the costs of items Nebraska families need every day... Work to use tariffs to protect American farmers by targeting specific imported goods (like beef and soy beans) to boost domestic prices.”
- MixedExpand immigration enforcement and deportations
Supports border security investment paired with a bipartisan pathway to citizenship for long-term immigrants and Dreamers.[3]
“Invest in the people and technology needed to keep our borders safe, while also advocating for common sense, bipartisan immigration reform that provides legal pathways to citizenship for hardworking people.”
In their words — priorities
- Lowering costs for families on groceries, energy, housing and childcare.[3]
- Protecting and expanding access to reproductive healthcare, including abortion, contraception and IVF.[3]
- Protecting Social Security and Medicare, including opposing benefit cuts and raising the retirement age.[3]
- Congressional oversight of the executive branch and ethics reform, including banning congressional stock trading and term limits.[3]
Background
- Describes herself as a working mother and small-business owner.[3]
- Says she has spent the past decade advocating in Nebraska for reproductive healthcare access and strong public schools, and has advocated for Nebraska schools for 16 years.[3]
- Says she helped rally physicians and patients against a proposed total abortion ban in Nebraska and collected signatures for a ballot measure to protect abortion access.[3]
Campaign money
Raised $2.7M · spent $1.7M · $997K cash on hand (through 2026-06-30) FEC filing ↗