(Picture credit Matt Johnson)
OMAHA — With early voting already underway, the Douglas County Republican Party held a rally Sunday evening ahead of a watch party for the first debate between CD2 candidates Brinker Harding and Denise Powell. Candidates including U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts, Attorney General Mike Hilgers, and Secretary of State candidate Scott Petersen spoke to guests in an effort to help get out the vote ahead of Election Day.
Blue Waves and Out-of-State Influence
The 2026 midterms are largely expected to be an uphill climb for Republicans, something that did not go unnoticed by Ricketts.
“Look, in this CD2 race, Brinker Harding’s got a tough race,” Ricketts said. “Denise Powell’s not from here. You know she’s from Florida, right? And they spent nearly $6 million in the primary getting her elected. Out-of-state Democrat money spent $6 million here to get her to win.”
Betting markets currently give Powell over a 90% chance of flipping the seat.
Influence from outside Nebraska was a focal point for several speakers, with Ricketts taking a direct shot at his opponent, Dan Osborn.
“Ninety-five percent of Democrat Dan’s money came from New York, Washington, D.C., or California,” Ricketts said. “Why do you think all those New York people and California liberal coastal elites are sending Democrat Dan money? Because they are trying to buy a Senate seat for New York or California.”
Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine specifically mentioned large, high-level donors giving to his opponent, Makayla Danner, including $75,000 from Barbara Weitz, $75,000 from Democracy Nebraska, and $50,000 from “State + Local Election Alliance,” a Washington, D.C., PAC.
“They’re trying to influence everything that we do. And one of the most important things on our side of the ledger is law enforcement,” Kleine said.
Kleine’s race is turning into one of the most expensive local races this year. His campaign has spent over $150,000 this year according to filings with the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission (NADC) while Danner has spent nearly $200,000.
Turnout and VoterTree
Turnout was a key focus for candidates. Ricketts told guests to “vote ten times”—a joke he frequently uses to urge voters to bring nine friends and family members to the polls.
Petersen told guests about VoterTree, a platform that his campaign developed to put this practice into motion.
“I’ve been using VoterTree as a concept for 10 or 12 years. I finally got a couple guys on my team—they’re good little programmers—and they put it into an online tool,” Petersen said. “It helps you organize your friends and family, and get them to promise to vote. It’s a little process.”
The tactic known as relational organizing, where campaigns and groups contact family and friends rather than general lists of voters, is a newer tactic to many Republican campaigns. Progressive groups in Nebraska have been using similar tools and tactics for nearly a decade.
Petersen said the VoterTree platform is being used by several active campaigns in Nebraska, including those of Mike Flood and Brinker Harding, as well as by Zach Lahn, who is running for governor of Iowa.
Law Enforcement and Cooperation With ICE
Sheriff Aaron Hanson emphasized the need for strong law enforcement, speaking on an incident a week earlier in which an illegal immigrant named Jose Ortega-Romero ran a red light in Irvington and killed a man.
Hanson told The Plains Sentinel that Ortega-Romero had an ICE detainer, and that Douglas County Corrections notified ICE shortly after midnight Monday that the agency had four hours to take him into custody or he would be released.
“I know ICE has been taking a hit lately across the country,” Hanson said. “But when someone who is not supposed to be in this country runs a red light in Irvington and kills a 70-year-old man, you’re damn right I’m gonna work with ICE and make sure they know that he’s in our custody.”
Hanson also told the audience that the victim, 70-year old Christopher Szalkowski, was an immigrant himself, having first immigrated to the United States 40 years ago and becoming a citizen five years later.
Mark Martinez, who is running against Sheriff Hanson, has stated that his department would “not divert personnel, time, or tax money to assisting, collaborating or working with ICE.”
Hanson took issue with this stance.
“In 2025, there were 42 of those criminals who were released by Douglas County Corrections who had ICE detainers,” Hanson said. “And I looked over the data: we’re talking drug dealers, we’re talking repeat DUI offenders, we’re talking domestic violence offenders, we’re talking individuals that committed sexual assault. We have to put common sense and public safety first, folks, not politics.”
Gov. Jim Pillen has entered into a 287(g) agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), deputizing members of the Nebraska State Patrol to carry out immigration enforcement within the state.
“Thank God for the Nebraska State Patrol and Governor Pillen for entering into an agreement with ICE where they transport criminals,” Hanson said. “We’re not talking about civil ICE issues—we’re talking about criminals, people who have committed crimes, been booked into Douglas County Corrections. The Nebraska State Patrol will pick them up and take them to ICE custody, because Douglas County Corrections won’t hold them.”
Hanson’s NADC filings reveal he has spent over $150,000 on his reelection campaign this year while Martinez has spent over $235,000.
On to the Debate
Other candidates who spoke or attended included Attorney General Mike Hilgers, State Treasurer Joey Spellerberg, and local candidates including State Sen. Rick Holdcroft (LD-36), Christian Mapes for OPPD, Tim Donahue for Douglas County Board, Jill Wolfe for the University of Nebraska Board of Regents, and Linda Vermooten for the Learning Community.
Guests stayed to watch the CD2 debate between Brinker Harding and Denise Powell, who answered questions on KETV 7 about tariffs, the cost of living, conflict overseas, and negative campaign ads.
— Matt Johnson is a freelance reporter with The Plains Sentinel.