- Monday is the last day ahead of the primary election
- Democratic candidates for Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District make their final push to voters
- Winner of the Democratic primary will face Republican Brinker Harding; replacing Rep. Don Bacon
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) – Democratic candidates for Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District seat in the U.S. House are making a final push ahead of Tuesday's primary election to determine who will be the party's nominee for the swing seat in Congress.
Candidates Kishla Askins, John Cavanaugh, Denise Powell, Crystal Rhoades and Melanie Williams are running for the seat. The winner will face Omaha City Councilmember Brinker Harding – the only Republican running for the seat – in the general election in November. Rep. Don Bacon, who currently holds the seat, is retiring from Congress.
Cavanaugh and Powell spent the final day of the race canvassing neighborhoods – Powell spent the morning in Little Italy and Cavanaugh spent the early afternoon in Fairacres – and attending campaign events in Omaha.
"The amount of energy on the ground has been incredible — the amount of people who are paying attention to this race, who see the opportunity. People get it," Powell said.
"It's rewarding to see all of the connections and hard work of reaching out to voters paying off on this final day before the election," Cavanaugh said.
The two candidates spoke to voters about their top priorities.
"People are excited about having somebody represent them in Congress who actually will fight for them every single day and deliver on those accountability of Donald Trump and lowering costs," Kavanaugh said.
"Women in our state and around the country deserve to have options," Powell said about abortion access.
In the campaign's final weeks, voters have been bombarded by ads. One accuses Powell of leaning on dark money. Another tells voters that Cavanaugh's election would allow Gov. Jim Pillen, a Republican, to appoint Cavanaugh's replacement in the state legislature. That could allow Republicans to erase the blue dot and restrict abortion access.
"These dark money groups that are spending so much money to try to stoke fear on this issue," Cavanaugh said.
"It's a distraction from the issue that is really on the table here. It's a distraction from the blue dot," Powell said.
Campaign managers for Askins and Rhoades said they are out canvassing as well. Melanie Williams said she will be making videos to inform voters.
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