STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Let's focus now on Nebraska, where Democrats are seeking to flip a congressional seat held by Republicans for a decade. Five-term Republican Congressman Don Bacon is retiring, and last night, the two candidates fighting for his seat faced off. Here's Nebraska Public Media's Molly Ashford.
MOLLY ASHFORD, BYLINE: The race to represent Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District started off as a toss-up. It's a unique seat, since Don Bacon was able to hold on to power even as a majority of the district voted for Democratic candidates in the last two presidential elections. Now ratings from organizations like the Cook Political Report and Inside Elections are increasingly confident in a victory for Democrat Denise Powell. Both candidates emphasized bipartisanship during Wednesday's debate even as they sparred on issues like immigration, healthcare and outside PAC spending. They also tried to paint one another as too extreme, with Republican Brinker Harding saying Powell was too far left.
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BRINKER HARDING: My opponent has endorsed AOC twice. That's the queen of socialism. That's not what America is. That's not what I'm going to let America become.
ASHFORD: Harding faces the challenge of finding a middle ground between embracing President Donald Trump and carving out a moderate lane in an increasingly Democratic district. The district encompasses the Omaha area and parts of surrounding, more rural counties. Last night, Powell tied Harding to Trump. Trump endorsed Harding back in April.
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DENISE POWELL: My opponent is endorsed by Trump. He says Trump is doing great things. He thinks the tariff policy is great. He was supportive of this war in Iran, and it is crushing our neighbors.
ASHFORD: Powell previously ran a political action committee at the state level and worked on progressive campaigns across Nebraska. Harding is the vice president of the Omaha City Council. Super PACs for both Democrats and Republicans have scaled back their ad spending in the district in recent weeks and reallocated that money to other races. Powell's campaign sees that as a sign that she has a strong lead. Though Democrats are feeling optimistic, polls and predictions have been wrong in the district before. The race was rated as leaning Democratic in 2024, and Bacon's Democratic challengers often pulled ahead of him. But Bacon still held on to his seat.
For NPR News, I'm Molly Ashford in Lincoln, Nebraska.
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