Democrats have found a new reason for hope that Nebraska, despite its traditional Republican lean, will bring their party closer to returning to power in Washington. This mini series, The New Nebraska: Democrats eye up historic shift, explores the dynamics giving rise to that hope. In Part 2, we interviewed Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL), who rallied Nebraska Democrats in Omaha on Saturday.
OMAHA, Nebraska – Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL) urges Democrats not to wait until next year to campaign for reelection as he criss-crosses the country for a series of rallies.
In an interview, Frost said that campaign season has already begun more than a year out from the November 2026 elections, when Democrats will get their first chance to regain a foothold in GOP-controlled Washington. He’s touring with prominent figures on the Left to stoke Democratic enthusiasm, framing the early and often mentality as a template for running a successful campaign.
“The election’s already started, and doing it in the off year, I think it’s important,” Frost told the Washington Examiner in Nebraska, where he rallied with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) over the weekend.
“It’s a difference between a transactional campaign, like three weeks before ‘vote for me, OK, bye,’ and more of a transformational campaign,” he added.
Democrats will be locked out of the White House until 2029 at the earliest after President Donald Trump won a second term in November, and control of the Senate is likely to stay in the hands of Republicans next year, too. But Frost, a Gen Z Democrat elected to Congress in 2022, is one of several progressive lawmakers who believe campaigning in blue and red districts alike can help flip the House, where the GOP enjoys a razor-thin, three-seat majority.
His trip to Omaha, in particular, is part of the outreach by Democrats hoping to flip the seat of Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), a retiring centrist Republican who won five terms in a Harris-won district. He has also rallied with Sens. Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) throughout the year.
“What we do is we come here, and we help connect the dots for people from what’s going on in D.C. and what Trump is doing to like real stuff they’re feeling here,” Frost said of the rallies.
DON BACON CREDITS ‘KILLER INSTINCT FOR FIVE-TERM STREAK IN HARRIS-WON HOUSE DISTRICT
The message from Frost and other congressional Democrats has largely been about the “big, beautiful bill” Trump signed into law on July 4. Republicans hope the marquee legislation will keep them in power past the midterm elections, when the party that occupies the White House typically loses seats, and have set out to sell its more popular provisions, including its working-class tax cuts and border funding. But Democrats are betting it will remain underwater in polling due to its Medicaid reforms and have framed the bill as chiefly a handout to the rich.
“This big, beautiful bill is one of the most unpopular pieces of legislation this century,” said Frost, a co-chairman of the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee.
At the rally in Omaha, attendees cited the Medicaid changes as they expressed upset over the GOP tax law, which imposes new work requirements on the welfare program, and projected that 7.5 million people will lose coverage.
“The fortunate people really do not have any idea how the unfortunate people live, and I think that it’s become more obvious,” 70-year-old Nebraska native Mary Cannon told the Washington Examiner.
“I also have a niece with a disability, and I’m extremely concerned about Medicaid, not just young people with disabilities, but for all people with disabilities, because they really don’t have any way of making it,” she added.
Devon M., a 28-year-old who attended the event to see Warren, said the election outcome spurred her to become more politically engaged.
“After the election, I felt really motivated to be more involved,” Devon told the Washington Examiner. “I like Elizabeth Warren a lot, so it seemed like a pretty easy way to dip a toe in and start getting more involved in the community.”
OMAHA UPSET OFFERS HOUSE DEMOCRATS GLIMMER OF 2026 HOPE
Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District, where Omaha is located, is just one of the battlegrounds that will determine control of the House next year.
Democrats are generally on defense, with 41 seats rated competitive compared to the 29 marked competitive for the GOP, and Bacon cast doubt that Frost and other progressive Democrats will be persuasive messengers in swing districts.
“I think our Democrats in Nebraska are barking up the wrong tree,” Bacon told the Washington Examiner ahead of the rally. “If they think bringing in Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, who came to our district earlier, if they think those guys are going to win the swing voters, I think they’re barking up the wrong tree.”
“That’s not how you win 51% in District 2,” he added.
Still, Democrats are betting that Trump, whose approval ratings are slightly underwater, will prove unpopular with voters and believe they can outperform Republicans in voter enthusiasm next year.
Frost pushed back on Bacon’s assessment in the interview.
ELIZABETH WARREN AND MAXWELL FROST RALLY UP OMAHA DEMOCRATS
“No voters, besides maybe 1% or whatever, 2%, go into the voting booth and go, ‘Where are they on the ideological spectrum?’” he said. “They vote for people they know, they vote for people who speak to the issues they care about and vote for people that excite them.”
“People voted for Donald Trump, who is anything but a moderate. He’s incredibly radical,” Frost added.