New Powell Memo Sends Signal to Super PACs: Attack Cavanaugh

by Matt Johnson and John Gage

(Picture credit Matt Johnson)

OMAHA — As the Democratic primary for Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District heats up, outside spending has put apparent frontrunner John Cavanaugh in the crosshairs with both Republican and Democratic PACs taking aim at the state senator.

Denise Powell, one of the leading Democratic candidates for the seat, has released an updated memo instructing Super PACs aligned with her campaign to attack Cavanaugh.

“While the mail and digital strategy should not change from below, starting as soon as possible, voters should see on TV (at least 500 GRPS a week of broadcast) that: John Cavanaugh is jeopardizing the Blue Dot we fought so hard for … for his own political ambitions,” an updated memo posted Thursday on Powell’s website said.

“If John Cavanaugh goes to Congress, the Governor gets to fill Cavanaugh’s state senate seat with a MAGA Republican … giving Republicans the supermajority they need to complete Trump’s redistricting power grab and eliminate the blue dot, ban abortion and gut voting rights,” the memo added.

A previous Powell memo had instructed that groups should focus mainly on positive messaging through election day, with negative messaging against Cavanaugh starting six weeks after the publication of the original memo. “Voters should also begin seeing on digital and reading in the mail that John Cavanaugh is jeopardizing the Blue Dot Democrats fought so hard to save in 2024 and is putting his personal political ambitions ahead of stopping Donald Trump,” the memo reads.

Federal candidates are not allowed to coordinate directly with outside PACs, but posting campaign memos in obscure but public sections of a candidate’s website is one of the main ways federal candidates can send signals to friendly groups without running afoul of federal election laws.

Super PAC Following Powell Playbook

Powell’s memo instructions appear to be working as an outside group, Fight for Nebraska PAC, has unloaded hundreds of thousands of dollars in spending to support Powell and attack Cavanaugh by following her playbook.

The new Super PAC has reported more than $450,000 in independent expenditures supporting Democratic candidate Denise Powell and opposing Cavanaugh. The spending — which occurred mostly in March 2026 — funded mailers, television ads, and digital advertising, including thousands of dollars on Facebook and Instagram ads that began running around March 31.

The ad attacks center around claims that Cavanaugh leaving the Unicameral would compromise Democrats ability to stop Governor Jim Pillen’s agenda.

“We’re hanging on by a thread — our representation, our Electoral vote, and abortion rights are all dependent on maintaining the filibuster in the Legislature,” one Facebook ad reads. “If John Cavanaugh is elected to Congress, Governor Pillen will get to choose a MAGA Republican to replace him.”

Cavanaugh has previously responded to the concern from Democrats calling it a “loser mentality.” “I am confident that I’m going to win this house seat, and I’m confident that I’m going to do it in a way as a leader that will help Democrats win more seats at the state level,” Cavanaugh said.

With a crowded and competitive Democratic primary in a district rated Lean Democratic heading into November, this rapid injection of outside money signals an intense battle down the stretch over who will become the party’s nominee in Nebraska’s highest-stakes congressional race.

No donor information for the PAC has been disclosed yet, but the scale and speed of the spending make Fight for Nebraska a major new player in the 2026 cycle.

Democrats Warned Against Infighting

Last month, Democrats warned against candidates going negative in the CD-2 race, saying infighting would only hurt the party.

“Hearing rumors that Denise Powell is recruiting folks to film a negative commercial this weekend against other Democrats,” State Senator Machaela Cavanaugh, John Cavanaugh’s sister, said in a social media post. “That’s so sad — can’t you be positive Denise? We should be fighting Trump — not each other.”

Former Democratic Party chair Vince Powers also posted at the time, “Powell has been running an excellent campaign, she would not jeopardize it by working to help the republican win in Nov by going negative vs a dem.”

Powell never publicly responded to the rumors and did not respond to multiple attempts for comment from The Plains Sentinel.

Brinker Harding, the only Republican candidate for CD-2, said last month that he sees an opportunity in the potential Democratic infighting in the race.

“If I could, I might sit on my couch with a bowl of popcorn and watch them beat each other up and spend all their money,” Harding said Monday at an event in Omaha. “When they start at zero on May 13, with $0 in the bank account, and they’ve beaten each other so hard to get further and further to the left, that puts us in a better position to win.”

Heading into 2026, Powell raised the most cash of any of the Democratic candidates in the race with over $300,000. Cavanaugh raised just over $200,000.

Cavanaugh is seen by most political observers as the frontrunner in the Democratic primary that has six candidates, including himself, Powell, Crystal Rhoades, Kishla Askins, Van Argyrakis and Melanie Williams.

Internal polling from both Cavanaugh and Rhoades show the pair leading the race with Powell in third place.

Trump PAC ‘Backs’ Cavanaugh

This week, Cavanaugh hit back at a conservative-leaning group, the American Action Network, which recently sent a mailer and posted digital ads tying the candidate to Donald Trump. “Call Senator John Cavanaugh today and thank him for standing with President Trump and championing the MAGA Tax Agenda in Nebraska,” the flier read.

The digital ad, running on Google, claimed Cavanaugh was “working to enact Trump’s policy right here in Nebraska.”

(Picture credit John Cavanaugh’s Twitter)

Cavanaugh quickly responded online, saying it was proof he was the Democrat best poised to win in the general election. “Republicans are meddling in the #NE02 primary because they know our campaign will beat Brinker Harding in November if we win on May 12,” he stated on Twitter.

Nebraska Democratic Party Chair Jane Kleeb added: “Republicans are terrified and this mailer is hilarious. It will backfire.”

The Plains Sentinel has reached out to the Cavanaugh campaign for comment on the story.

— Matt Johnson is a freelance reporter with The Plains Sentinel.

— John Gage is the executive editor of The Plains Sentinel.