Nebraska’s Democratic Nominee for Its Only Swing Seat Once Urged Supporters to the Capitol in “Protect Trans Kids” Shirts.
Denise Powell won the Democratic nomination in Nebraska’s 2nd District — the state’s only competitive congressional seat — in May. Old posts from 2023, resurfaced by Fox News this week, show her opposing a Nebraska law restricting gender treatments for minors and encouraging supporters to protest it at the state Capitol.
The law she opposed, LB 574, does two distinct things: it bans gender-transition surgery for anyone under 19, and it separately regulates — without banning — puberty blockers and hormone therapy. Powell’s own 2023 posts never isolate the surgery provision or use the word “surgery” at all; she consistently described the law as banning “gender-affirming care” broadly. That distinction matters for what she’s actually on record saying, even as critics argue opposing the whole law necessarily means opposing the surgery ban inside it.
- NE-02 the only competitive U.S. House district in Nebraska — the seat Powell is running for — NBC News
- 2023 when Powell's cited social-media posts opposing LB 574 were made, three years before this race — Fox News
- 0 responses from Powell's campaign as of publication, per Fox News's own reporting — Fox News
Denise Powell, founder of a women’s political-empowerment organization now called The Bellwether Initiative Nebraska, won a six-way Democratic primary on May 12, 2026 over State Sen. John Cavanaugh to run for the open seat left by retiring Rep. Don Bacon (R). NE-02, covering Omaha and its suburbs, is routinely described by NBC News and the Nebraska Examiner as the top House flip opportunity in the state and one of the most competitive districts in the country.
Her opponent is Omaha City Council Vice President Brinker Harding (R), endorsed by Trump on April 14, 2026 and by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on July 18, 2026.
In February 2023, as Nebraska’s legislature debated LB 574, Powell posted on TikTok: “Aaaand we’re back, this time to oppose LB 574, a bill that would make it illegal for kids to access gender-affirming care.” The following month, a post on the Bellwether Initiative Nebraska Facebook page — which Powell administers — called the bill “discriminatory and hateful,” urged followers to contact lawmakers, and invited them to join at the Capitol in “Protect Trans Kids” shirts: “Trans people belong in Nebraska and everywhere and we will never ever stop fighting for their right to exist and thrive.”
On March 31, 2023, she shared TikTok footage of roughly 300 students walking out of Omaha Central High School and Lincoln Southeast in protest of the bill, with a caption saying supporters “are here for it!”
LB 574, the “Let Them Grow Act,” was signed by Gov. Jim Pillen (R) on May 22, 2023. Per the bill’s own text and the governor’s office, it does two separate things: it bans gender-transition surgery outright for anyone under 19, effective October 1, 2023, and it separately regulates — through a chief-medical-officer review framework, not an outright ban — puberty blockers and hormone therapy for minors. Powell’s posts oppose the law as a whole and never isolate the surgical provision.
That is the gap between the Fox News headline and Powell’s own words: NRCC spokesman Zach Bannon characterized her position to Fox as support for “sex change surgeries for kids” — his paraphrase of opposing LB 574, not a quote from Powell herself. Reasonable readers can disagree about whether opposing the whole law implies opposing the surgery ban inside it. What she is on record saying is opposition to “gender-affirming care” restrictions generally.
Earlier in July, the NRCC and the Daily Wire separately reported that Powell serves on the board of EducateUS, a national sex-education advocacy nonprofit, citing her LinkedIn profile and financial disclosures. That reporting is about a different issue — sex-ed curriculum, not gender-affirming care — and is a distinct thread from the LB 574 posts covered here.
American Principles Project senior adviser Jon Schweppe gave Fox the story’s sharpest line: “NE-2 is a swing district known for electing moderates, but Denise Powell is about as radical as it gets. Not only has she been an advocate for transgender sex changes for kids, but she served on the board of an organization which opposes parental rights in education.”
Fox News reported reaching Powell’s campaign multiple times for comment; no response was included in its published story, and none has surfaced independently as of this writing. Trump’s endorsement of her opponent predates this story by months and isn’t a reaction to it — but it underscores what’s at stake in a district both parties consider genuinely competitive.
Complete and Total Endorsement of Brinker Harding for Congress in Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District.
Paraphrased commentary · not a verbatim post
Trump's endorsement predates the resurfaced posts; included here as race context, not a reaction to this story.
Denise Powell is on record, in her own words, opposing a 2023 Nebraska law restricting gender treatments for minors and urging supporters to protest it. She is not on record using the word “surgery.” In a district decided by a few points, both the posts and the precision of what they actually say will matter to voters weighing which version of her record to believe.
