Douglas County counts last early ballots; Powell still wins NE-02 (the Blue Dot)
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Cavanaugh concedes race immediately after county’s updated results come in
By: Aaron Sanderford and Zach Wendling - May 15, 2026 12:43 pm
OMAHA — Nebraska’s most populous area, Douglas County, finished counting the final day and a half of early voting ballots Friday that voters had returned on Monday afternoon and on Election Day.
The count confirmed the result in Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District Democratic primary that the Associated Press and others have called: Denise Powell beat State Sen. John Cavanaugh of Omaha.
New Douglas County Election Commissioner Danielle Jensen, a former staffer for retiring U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., who has represented that congressional district since 2017, had said the county had 9,712 early ballots to count on Friday.
The ballots changed some margins of races up and down the ballot, but no results flipped. Democrats outnumbered Republicans almost 2-to-1 on those last-arriving ballots and nonpartisans made up 1,768 of them.
FULL story: https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/05/15/douglas-county-counts-last-early-ballots-powell-still-wins-ne-02/