Former President Joe Biden told a crowd of Omaha Democrats Friday evening that, “Tuesday was a good start.”
Biden, who spoke as part of the Nebraska Democratic Party’s annual Ben Nelson Gala, was referring to nationwide elections Tuesday that saw Democrats win a number of key races, including the New York City mayor’s race and governor’s races in Virginia and New Jersey.
“The Democratic Party’s back. That’s not hyperbole,” said the former president, who spent most of the roughly 30-minute speech criticizing President Donald Trump and his policies.
But he reserved a few minutes to talk about elections, both the one that happened Tuesday and the one that will occur in November 2026.
“You have an election coming up soon, an open seat for Congress right here in Omaha, statewide races up and down the ballot,” Biden said. “Folks, we can’t be afraid to dream big, not small. We’re getting back up in Nebraska and all America in 2026, so Democrats, let’s get up. Get up. Get up. It’s about to change again.”
Biden’s speech marked a rare public appearance for the 46th president, who has largely stayed out of the spotlight during his post-presidency while receiving treatment for prostate cancer.
Nebraska Democratic Party Chair Jane Kleeb said she was able to get Biden to come to Omaha due to his special connection to the state party. Kleeb also serves as the Democratic National Committee’s Vice Chair.
“At first, President Biden wasn’t really traveling and doing a lot of political events, but we made the strong case, and I’ve made the case to other state parties that President Biden gave 60 years to public service and to our party, and that he is deeply loved by the base of our party,” she said.
Nebraska Democratic Party Executive Director Precious McKesson was an elector for Biden in 2020 after he won Nebraska’s Omaha-centric 2nd Congressional District, due to Nebraska’s unique system of allocating electoral votes.
Biden joined a speaker lineup of prominent Democrats at the gala, including Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and U.S. Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn, who served during the Jan. 6 capitol attack.
The theme for the evening was “Diverse, Strong and Ready.” Kleeb said that Democrats in Nebraska are diverse not only racially but also geographically and ideologically.
“We really wanted to start making sure that the message is very clear to voters that you can be a progressive or a moderate and be very much welcomed in our party,” she said. “With the Republican Party, if you are not on Trump’s page and that page only, you get pushed out of the party, like we saw with Don Bacon.”
Bacon, a Republican Congressman who has represented Nebraska’s 2nd District since 2016, was censured by the Sarpy County GOP in 2024 for passing “irresponsible spending bills” and his votes on immigration and social issue legislation.
Bacon announced plans to retire from Congress earlier this year.
While the event came on the heels of major election victories for Democrats Tuesday, Kleeb said the earliest signs of momentum for Democrats came six months earlier in Nebraska.
“The blue tsunami that happened on Tuesday started in May of 2025 in Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska,” she said. “We were one of those first states that had major electoral wins and started to show the DNC that this wasn’t going to be a normal election cycle in 2025.”
Democrat John Ewing Jr. defeated three-term Republican incumbent Jean Stothert, while in Lincoln, Democrat-affiliated candidates won all three city council at-large seats.
