Republicans just got a warning shot from this Midwest city: column

One Midwestern city just delivered a blow to Republicans in what The Nation's publisher, Katrina vanden Heuvel, is calling a "lesson" for both sides.

Writing on Thursday, she drew attention to the municipal elections in Omaha, where the city elected its first Black mayor: John Ewing Jr.

Current Mayor Jean Stothert was seeking a fourth term after holding office for 12 years, but Ewing won the race by nearly 13 points. Vanden Heuvel noted it was a significant shift from her last race, where she won by 30 points.

ALSO READ: 'Second biggest scandal': Trump accused of new grift that puts Qatari plane in shade

"The results in Omaha are meaningful not for the scale of the city but for how it may reflect the country as a whole," she wrote. "Omaha’s congressional seat—Nebraska’s second—is a true swing district, one of only three in the country that voted for Kamala Harris in 2024 while also electing a Republican to Congress. It’s a diverse, medium-size, Midwestern city—and if that isn’t enough to convey its heartland status, it’s nearly in the geographic center of the contiguous United States."

Ewing ran what she called a "highly localized race," while Stothert tried to nationalize it and make it about transgender people.

"Ewing refused to take the bait and kept his focus on tangible municipal issues—such as housing, street paving and even a struggling streetcar project," wrote vanden Heuvel.

She cited a Nebraska Democratic Party message hitting Stothert for being "focused on potties," while "John is focused on fixing potholes.”

As the 2026 midterm elections approach, she urged Democrats to decline to "debate on Republican terms" and focus instead on "improving their constituents’ lives."

Read her full column here.