US House Speaker Mike Johnson says Brinker Harding is ‘common sense’ candidate for NE-02

OMAHA —  U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson told a crowded cafe how important for Republicans to elect GOP nominee Brinker Harding and keep one of Nebraska’s most-watched congressional races in the red column. 

The campaign event at WheatFields Eatery and Bakery in Omaha focused on the no-tax-on-tips provision from the Trump administration’s tax and spending law, known as the “One Big Beautiful Act.” 

Johnson used the event to paint Democratic nominee Denise Powell as out of step with the slightly right-leaning swing district and “the mainstream” and to say this year’s midterm elections will be a contrast between “common sense and crazy.”

Johnson asked the audience of roughly 100 people in the cafe if they wanted the “next chapter of America” to be like New York under the city’s Mayor Zohran Mamdani — the crowd yelled “no.”  

“I would rather it be like the heartland,” Johnson said. 

Harding is defending the seat from Democrats’ latest attempt at winning the Omaha area for Congress. The race is open after Republican U.S. Rep. Don Bacon announced he wouldn’t run again. Johnson came to Omaha in 2024 and 2023 to campaign with Bacon. The House speaker was in Iowa earlier this week to warn Iowa Christian conservatives that Republicans are facing “a spiritual battle” in November.

Harding, who has earned the endorsement of President Donald Trump, attacked Powell by saying she will only represent Democrats in the district and not the entire district.

“I work for everyone, Republicans, Democrats, Independents alike. That’s how I worked on the City Council,” Harding said, “That’s the same way I will treat my term in Congress.”

Johnson’s visit was the second high-profile political visit in the race for the state’s 2nd Congressional District this week, after former Biden Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg showed up Tuesday to back Powell. 

Midterm elections like this year’s don’t usually go the way of the party that controls the White House. But it’s hard to predict what will happen in the slightly red-leaning 2nd District. 

Like in other cycles, election analysts view the district as a top pick-up opportunity for Democrats. The 2nd District includes all of Douglas and Saunders Counties, and a significant portion of suburban and rural Sarpy County. It also includes the state’s largest concentration of Democrats, even after it was redrawn after the last census to include a larger swath of Republican-leaning rural voters in Wahoo and surrounding areas.

Johnson told the crowd that Republicans will defy the odds and make gains in Congress in the midterms. 

Meg Mandy, senior advisor to the Powell campaign, said: “It’s not surprising that Brinker would bend over backwards to welcome Mike Johnson to Nebraska.”

“Nebraskans have made it very clear that they are tired of this kind of political nonsense and that come November, they’re ready to send Denise Powell, a hardworking, fired-up mom with a track record of bringing people together to deliver change that actually makes people’s lives better, to represent them in Congress,” Mandy said.

Powell, during her event with Buttigieg, said Harding will try to convince voters in the district that he is a different kind of Republican but has embraced the “MAGA label,” pointing to Trump’s endorsement of Harding. 

Libertarian Eric Michael Foreman is also running for the 2nd District seat. There is a nonpartisan candidate, Christopher J. Feuerbach, trying to get on the ballot for the race, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.  

The general election is Nov. 3.