The city of Nebraska has changed 43 points to elect John Ewing Jr. Democrats should study the model he adopted.
In recent months, the reckless use by the Trump administration of executive power, commercial policy, the evisceration of federal agencies and the defect of judicial orders has become largely uncontrolled. National Democrats have limited means of opposition – so that the best hope of responsibility will be electoral responsibility.
This can help explain why the results of last Tuesday elections in the 41st largest American city have generated such an excessive excitement of progressives. John Ewing Jr., longtime county treasurer, was elected the first black mayor of Omaha, defeating president in president Jean Stothert, who was looking for a fourth term after having occupied this office since 2013. More than that, Ewing won Gros, almost 13 points, marking a huge change after Stothert won his last race by 30.
Ewing has led a substantial and highly localized campaign that relied on decades of credibility which he has won as a civil servant – applied by the long -standing work of the Democratic Party of Nebraska to build coalitions in a traditionally deep state. By swinging this 43-point race, they both inspired the hope that political winds could change and provided a model to the Democrats to succeed in 2026 and beyond.
The results in Omaha are significant not for the city scale, but for the way it can reflect the country as a whole. The siege of the Omaha Congress – the second in Nebraska – is a real swing district, one of the only three in the country which voted for Kamala Harris in 2024 while electing a republican at the Congress. It is a diversified and average city of Midwest – and if that is not enough to transmit its heart status, it is almost in the geographic center of the contiguous United States.
For all these reasons, it is instructive for the Democrats to understand the strategy of the president of the Democratic Party of Nebraska, which is now president of the association of State Democratic Committees (ASDC) and Vice-President of the DNC: Jane Kleeb. At a time when so much media attention focused on the internal procedural drama surrounding certain other vice-presidents, Kleeb and the Democratic Party of Nebraska have continued to focus on daily work.
In the decreasing days of Omaha mayors’ elections, Stothert tried to negatively polarize the voters against Ewing by nationalizing the race – and, in particular, to hammer the target of the favorite corner problem in the GOP lately: Trans People. Like my colleague John Nichols spoke of last week for The nationIt didn’t work. Instead, Ewing refused to bait and kept the emphasis on tangible municipal problems, such as housing, street paving and even a tram project in difficulty. In a simple graphic published three days before the elections, the Democratic Party of Nebraska proudly said: “Jean focuses on the soups. John focuses on fixing the nests-de-poule. ”
Current number
While thousands of democrats across the country are looking for elections at the top and bottom of the voting bulletin in 2026, they could also refuse to debate republican terms and carry out relentless campaigns have focused on improving the life of their voters.
As successful as this campaign has been, it is also based on efforts on the level of the state of the Democratic Party of Nebraska to compete in unfavorable territory. Kleeb has long pleaded for Democrats to carry out direct awareness towards rural voters – and it is not the same thing as pandering. Instead, this means recognizing real problems which, say, farmers live and offer practical solutions.
Depending on his words: “In rural and small cities, we cannot use the word” climate change “in the first five sentences, but all that we do is protect the earth and water.”
And the progressives of Nebraska are experiencing one or two on the value of avoiding toxic political labels. When the veteran of the navy, the mechanic and the chief of the Union Dan Osborn led a populist and independent campaign for the Senate last year, the Democratic Party of Nebraska has moved away and chose not to direct a candidate. While Osborn and the State party had their differences – and it finally lost – this unorthodox strategy has shown seriously upwards. Osborn got closer to the defeat of the outgoing republican than any other challenger in cycle 2024; Now he looks at a 2026 race in much more favorable circumstances.
With lessons to learn from success at Nebraska, it is encouraging that Kleeb is now occupying a leading leadership position in the National Democratic Party – the same role as Ken Martin occupied before becoming president. As ASDC chief, Kleeb is well placed to work with the 50 state chairs to get them the resources they need – and it will be the 50, because it and the DNC have recently announced that the national organization will contribute more to the parties of state within the framework of a strategy of 50 United States.
But even if Kleeb’s ancestry only meant that the Democratic Party improved in competition in Nebraska, this could prove to be decisive. Given that the house is currently held by the Republicans by a handful of seats (give or take any resignation in disgrace at the moment and next November), the race of the second district of the Nebraska could very well be the tilting point for control of the lower room. The representative Don Bacon, who has retained his seat by less than two points during the last cycle, may well retire before having a chance to lose.
Whether the race for congress in 2026 comes down to Omaha herself or somewhere like her, democratic victories will depend on a national effort to invest as deep in local concerns as Kleeb and Ewing. This strategy can be summed up with a mantra that Kleeb has repeated over and over again – what you can call Jane’s chorus: “When we organize ourselves everywhere, we can win anywhere!
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