2026-05-09T09:00:50.950Z / 美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）
作者：杰夫·泽莱尼
2小时前
发布于：2026年5月9日，美国东部时间上午5:00
2024年10月24日，人们在内布拉斯加州奥马哈市一座人行天桥上向晚高峰车流挥舞“蓝点”标语牌。
马里奥·塔马/盖蒂图片社/档案照片
奥马哈或许是红州内布拉斯加中的一颗蓝点，但这份政治自豪感却在民主党内部引发了激烈分歧，这场对决也将成为全美最受关注的国会选区选举之一。
在本周二举行的内布拉斯加州初选中，为接替共和党众议员唐·培根而展开的民主党竞选活动，已演变为一场代理战争，核心争论在于哪位民主党候选人能够捍卫——或是危及——该州独特的总统选举人团投票分配方式。
作为2024年大选 Kamala Harris 拿下的选区中，仅有的三位共和党籍联邦众议员之一的培根宣布退休，这创造了一个开放选区，也为民主党提供了绝佳契机，助力他们在11月的国会控制权争夺中拿下席位。
这场初选的两位领跑民主党候选人——约翰·卡瓦诺和丹尼斯·鲍威尔——已互撕数周，双方投放对抗性广告、分发庭院标语，甚至在社区引发激烈争执。
鲍威尔认为，如果选举州参议员卡瓦诺进入国会，他将无法再对抗共和党未来修改州选举法、将内布拉斯加州变为全美其余48州那样的“胜者全拿”选举人团制度的企图。而该州第二国会选区也正是人们俗称的“蓝点”所在，这一制度的存续将因此受到威胁。
“我们为公平代表、为我们的蓝点、为保留这份选举力量奋斗至今，”鲍威尔周五在一份声明中表示，“我们承受不起一位让共和党人有机可乘、将我们的选区随意划分直至彻底消失的候选人。”
2026年4月16日，丹尼斯·鲍威尔在内布拉斯加州奥马哈市的一场筹款活动上发言。
玛杰里·A·贝克/美联社
2026年4月10日，内布拉斯加州参议员约翰·卡瓦诺在内布拉斯加州林肯市的一处办公室内发言。
玛杰里·A·贝克/美联社
内布拉斯加州民主党内部围绕这一独特州内议题的争执，与全美其他竞争选区的意识形态斗争截然不同。不过，据广告追踪机构AdImpact的数据，这场初选已吸引了大量外部团体投入资金，仅广告支出就超过600万美元。
两家外部进步超级政治行动委员会已在奥马哈的电视广播中投入超100万美元，用以放大鲍威尔的论点：如果卡瓦诺当选国会众议员并辞去州议员职务，共和党州长吉姆·皮伦将任命一位支持废除“蓝点”制度的人士填补其州参议院席位。
作为回应，卡瓦诺也投放了自己的广告，将对手称为“暗钱丹尼斯”。
他的竞选团队和盟友在该选区内分发庭院标语，承诺“对抗特朗普，捍卫蓝点”。上个月，六位同僚州参议员联名致选民公开信，称这类攻击具有误导性，民主党完全有可能在其他州参议院选举中获胜。
“我们支持约翰·卡瓦诺，因为我们既能捍卫蓝点和现有的堕胎权，又能派出一位强大且经验丰富的立法者前往国会，”参议员们在信中表示，“将内布拉斯加民众的命运归结于某一个人，这是不真诚的。”
为何“蓝点”对民主党至关重要
内布拉斯加州和缅因州是全美仅有的两个按国会选区分配选举人团选票的州，而非采用全州范围内“胜者全拿”的规则。
根据该制度，全州范围内的获胜者将获得两张选举人票，其余选票则按各选区的领先者分配，每个选区分配一张。
2016年和2020年，总统唐纳德·特朗普在蓝州缅因州受益于这一制度：尽管他在全州范围内落败，但仍拿下了该州的一张选举人票。而在红州内布拉斯加州，情况则相反：2020年特朗普仅拿下了该州五张选举人票中的四张。
在2024年大选的最后几周，特朗普及其盟友发起最后一搏，试图修改内布拉斯加州的选举法，因为他们担心选举人团可能出现269票对269票的平局。当然，这种担忧最终并未成真，特朗普最终以312票对226票击败了哈里斯。
为了让选民意识到单张选举人票在胶着选战中的重要性，特朗普在2024年曾致电内布拉斯加州共和党议员，鼓励他们为即将到来的选举修改规则。
但由于卡瓦诺等少数议员的反对，皮伦未能争取到足够支持来修改这项已有30年历史的内布拉斯加州法律。他曾承诺，如果能争取到全美唯一一院制州议会的支持，他将再次尝试推动改革。该议会名义上无党派，但目前共和党议员占33席，形成绝对多数，民主党议员通常为16席，构成反对阵营。
2025年7月8日，内布拉斯加州州长吉姆·皮伦在华盛顿特区农业部的一场新闻发布会上发言。
曼努埃尔·巴尔塞·塞纳/美联社
奥马哈出现罕见的席位空缺
当培根宣布打算从国会退休时，民主党抓住了这一机会，在横跨内布拉斯加州东部奥马哈地区的选区内争夺开放席位。在过去十年里，培根成功击退了所有民主党挑战者。
奥马哈市议员布林克·哈丁在该席位的共和党初选中无人对手。
民主党竞选活动最初聚焦于民众熟悉的议题，如生活成本上涨、特朗普政府的移民打压政策，以及近期的伊朗局势。如今，初选的核心争论已转向如何捍卫该州唯一一张民主党倾向的选举人票。
关于“蓝点”岌岌可危的说法，最初由道格拉斯县地区法院书记员克里斯托··罗兹提出，她也是本次初选的六位民主党候选人之一。但鲍威尔及其包括艾米丽名单在内的州外盟友，很快通过耗资数百万美元的广告宣传放大了这一论点。
这场对决充斥着针对卡瓦诺的电视广告，其中包括支持鲍威尔的超级政治行动委员会“新民主党多数派”投放的一则广告。
“内布拉斯加州的众议院席位若落入民主党之手，可能会让民主党输掉总统大选，”旁白说道，“别让约翰·卡瓦诺拱手让出我们的蓝点。”
曾运营名为“女性参选内布拉斯加”政治行动委员会的鲍威尔，此番是首次参选公职。在广告中，她将自己描述为“一位愤怒的母亲”。
卡瓦诺出身奥马哈的知名民主党家族。他的父亲曾在1977年至1981年间担任第二国会选区的联邦众议员。他的姐姐玛凯拉目前在州参议院任职。
除了投放自己的电视广告，卡瓦诺还在竞选网站上开设专题页面，反驳“他当选国会众议员会危及蓝点”的说法。他表示，如果当选，他将不会在1月新参议员就职前辞去州议员职务。
“内布拉斯加州的民主党人有信心，他们将在11月的选举中拿下足够多的席位，足以弥补约翰的空缺，”他在竞选网站上解释道。他补充道：“内布拉斯加州的民主党人不必在对抗特朗普和保护我们的蓝点之间二选一。”
Nebraska’s ‘blue dot’ becomes the center of a closely watched Democratic primary fight
2026-05-09T09:00:50.950Z / CNN
By Jeff Zeleny
2 hr ago
PUBLISHED May 9, 2026, 5:00 AM ET
People wave “Blue Dot” signs from a pedestrian bridge over rush hour traffic in Omaha, Nebraska, on October 24, 2024.
Mario Tama/Getty Images/File
Omaha may be a blue dot in a sea of Nebraska red, but that point of political pride has sparked a bitter divide among Democrats in one of the nation’s most closely watched congressional races.
In the Nebraska primary on Tuesday, the Democratic campaign to replace Republican Rep. Don Bacon has become something of a proxy war over which Democratic candidate would protect — or risk — the state’s unique method of awarding electoral votes in presidential elections.
The retirement of Bacon, one of only three House Republicans who won in districts that Kamala Harris also carried in 2024, created an open seat and attractive terrain for Democrats to target in their effort to win control of Congress in November.
Two of the leading Democratic hopefuls in the race — John Cavanaugh and Denise Powell — have been at each other’s throats for weeks, with dueling ads, yard signs and contentious neighborhood disputes.
Powell argues that electing Cavanaugh, a state senator, to Congress would mean he could no longer fight against future Republican efforts to change state election law and make Nebraska a winner-take-all system like 48 other states. That would threaten the blue dot, as the state’s 2nd Congressional District has colloquially become known.
“We have fought so hard for fair representation, our Blue Dot, and to retain that electoral power,” Powell said Friday in a statement. “We cannot afford a candidate whose campaign hands Republicans the votes to gerrymander us into oblivion.”
Denise Powell speaks at a fundraising event in Omaha, Nebraska, on April 16, 2026.
Margery A. Beck/AP
Nebraska state Sen. John Cavanaugh speaks at an office in Lincoln, Nebraska, on April 10, 2026.
Margery A. Beck/AP
The Democratic quarreling in Nebraska over a unique state issue stands apart from the ideological fights in other competitive races across the country. Still, the primary has attracted a deluge of outside spending from interest groups, with more than $6 million in advertising alone, according to AdImpact.
Two outside progressive super PACs have invested more than $1 million on the Omaha airwaves seeking to amplify Powell’s argument: If Cavanaugh is elected to Congress and gives up his position in the state legislature, Republican Gov. Jim Pillen would fill the seat with someone who would vote to eliminate the blue dot.
In response, Cavanaugh has aired ads of his own, calling his opponent “Dark Money Denise.”
His campaign and allies have planted yard signs across the district vowing to “stand up to Trump and defend the blue dot.” Six fellow state senators signed an open letter to voters last month saying the attacks were misguided and Democrats were likely to win other legislative races.
“We stand with John Cavanaugh because we can protect the Blue Dot and existing abortion access, while sending a strong, experienced legislator to Congress,” the senators said in their letter. “It is disingenuous to boil the fate of Nebraskans down to one person.”
Why the dot matters to Democrats
Nebraska and Maine are the only two states in the country that divide Electoral College votes by congressional district rather than a statewide winner-take-all formula.
Under the system, the statewide winner receives two electoral votes, and the rest are split, one apiece, among the leading vote-getters in each district.
President Donald Trump benefited from the system in Maine, a blue state, where he won a single electoral vote in 2016 and 2020 despite losing statewide. But the opposite happened in Nebraska, a red state, where he won only four of five electoral votes in 2020.
In the final weeks of the 2024 campaign, Trump and his allies mounted a last-ditch effort to change the Nebraska law, fearful of the possibility of a 269-269 tie in the Electoral College. Those worries, of course, never materialized, as Trump defeated Harris 312-226.
Hoping to impress upon them the importance of a single electoral vote in a tight race, Trump in 2024 spoke by phone to Nebraska Republican lawmakers to encourage them to change the rules for the upcoming election.
But because of opposition from lawmakers like Cavanaugh and a handful of others, Pillen failed to rally support to change the 30-year-old Nebraska law. He has pledged to try again if he can muster support from the nation’s only unicameral legislature, which is technically nonpartisan but has 33 senators who form a Republican supermajority and 16 senators who usually make up the Democratic opposition.
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen speaks during a news conference at the Department of Agriculture in Washington, DC, on July 8, 2025.
Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
A rare Omaha opening
When Bacon announced his intention to retire from Congress, Democrats seized upon the opportunity for an open seat in a district that stretches across the Omaha area in eastern Nebraska. For the last decade, Bacon has successfully fought off all Democratic challengers.
Brinker Harding, an Omaha city councilman, is running unopposed for the Republican nomination for the seat.
The Democratic campaign was initially dominated by familiar concerns such as rising costs, the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and, more recently, the Iran war. Now, the primary race has become consumed by talk of protecting the state’s lone Democratic electoral vote.
The suggestion that the blue dot was at risk first came from Crystal Rhoades, clerk of the Douglas County District Court, who is one of six Democratic candidates in the race. But Powell and out-of-state allies, including Emily’s List, soon amplified the argument in a multimillion-dollar spending campaign.
The fight has become a resounding soundtrack of TV ads against Cavanaugh, including one from New Democratic Majority, a super PAC that supports Powell.
“It’s how a House win in Nebraska could cost Democrats the presidency,” an announcer says. “Don’t let John Cavanaugh give away our blue dot.”
Powell, who previously operated a political action committee called Women Run Nebraska, is seeking elected office for the first time. In ads, she describes herself as “one pissed-off Mom.”
Cavanaugh hails from a prominent Democratic family in Omaha. His father represented the 2nd District in Congress from 1977 to 1981. His sister, Machaela, serves in the state legislature.
In addition to TV ads of his own, Cavanaugh created a page on his campaign web site to push back on the argument that his election to Congress would imperil the blue dot. If elected, he said, he would not resign his legislative seat until January, after new senators are elected.
“Elected Democrats in Nebraska are confident that they will pick up more than enough seats in November to offset John’s vote,” he explains on his campaign site. He adds: “Nebraska Democrats do not have to choose between standing up to Trump and protecting our blue dot.”