Denise Powell

Denise Powell is an Omaha business owner and mother who co-founded Women Who Run Nebraska, a political action committee that supports women running for office, and has advocated on public-education and healthcare issues. She has not previously held public office and won the May 12, 2026 Democratic primary for the open 2nd District seat. She is running on lowering costs, protecting reproductive healthcare, and opposing what she describes as abuses of executive power.[1][2][3][4][5]

Powell describes herself as a working mother and small-business owner, and a local news report says she lives in Central Omaha with her husband and two children.[2][3] According to Ballotpedia, she is a former corporate communications director and partner at an architecture firm, and the Nebraska Examiner describes her as a business and nonprofit consultant.[1][4]

Powell says she has spent the past decade advocating in Nebraska for reproductive healthcare access and strong public schools, and that she has advocated for Nebraska schools for 16 years.[2] She co-founded Women Who Run Nebraska in 2017 after attending the Women's March in Washington, D.C.; the group is a political action committee that recruits and supports women running for office, and she later led it.[5][3][1] She 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.[2] She has spoken publicly about a near-fatal ectopic pregnancy about 14 years ago, which she says shapes her views on reproductive healthcare.[5]

Powell announced her candidacy for Nebraska's 2nd District saying she had never served in public office.[3] She won the May 12, 2026 Democratic primary with 38.8% of the vote, ahead of State Sen. John Cavanaugh (36.4%) and Douglas County District Court Clerk Crystal Rhoades (14.1%).[1][4]

Researched from the cited sources on 2026-10-21.