A Nebraska candidate whom Democrats are entrusting to help win back the House resorts to a kinky habit when having to deal with President Trump.
Denise Powell, who won her state’s Second District Dem primary on May 13, urged supporters of her Women Who Run Nebraska PAC to “read some fairy smut” to cope with Trump’s 2024 victory over Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Today, do a little something that brings you joy,” Powell said in an Instagram video post on Inauguration Day 2025. “Stop watching the news. Stop following social media. Eat a little comfort food. Go out with a friend. Watch some junk TV.”
“Read some fairy smut — I’m super into that right now — but just remember that we’re in it for the long haul, and today is just the start of something that’s going to be one hell of a ride, but we’ve survived it before,” she added. “We’ll do it again, and we’re just gonna keep showing up.”
Fairy smut is a sub-genre of “Romantasy” (romance and fantasy) where “faeries” are muscular, mythical men who have magic and powers.
The faeries tend to live in a magical city with castles and gardens while falling in love with a human girl — and having lots of sexual encounters and before becoming a fairy too.
The fairies are able to use their wings and powers to have abstract sexual encounters where they can also read each others minds, have sex mid-air, or even cause destruction.
The apparently booming sub-genre often describes wars, violence, flying dragons and near-death experiences, with very intense romance or “mating,” which can be depicted as somewhat animalistic.
It was first popularized in “A Court of Thrones and Roses” by Sarah J. Maas and “Fourth Wing” by Rebecca Yarros. Both blew up on TikTok and users made fan edits with artificial intelligence-generated characters as well.
“Fourth Wing” is now being adapted into a television show for Prime Video.
The Omaha-based Second Congressional District is known as the “blue dot,” since it’s one of just three that Harris won in the last presidential election that has a GOP member, Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), representing it.
That’s made it a top target for House Democrats to flip it in 2026, especially after Bacon announced in June 2025 that he wouldn’t be seeking re-election to a sixth term in Congress.
The non-partisan Cook Political Report has rated the contest “Lean Democrat,” as Powell prepares to face Omaha city councilman Brinker Harding in November. Harding has been endorsed by Trump.
Powell defeated state Sen. John Cavanaugh by 2.1 percentage points, or around 1,400 votes, in a primary that focused in part on how Republicans would likely do away with Nebraska’s single electoral college vote once the lawmaker exited his current office.
“With the White House and Supreme Court attacking voting and reproductive rights in our country, we need to be able to hold the line at the federal and state level in order to protect Nebraska families,” she said in May, asking Cavanaugh to “do his part by staying in his seat to defend the people of our state.”
Outside groups also shelled out more than $6 million to promote that claim.
Cavanaugh previously said that “dark money Republican groups” were supporting his Democratic primary opponent because she was seen as an easier candidate to defeat in the general election.
Powell, a participant in the 2017 Women’s March against Trump during the 45th president’s administration, has focused in her campaign on opposing “Donald Trump and MAGA extremists,” per her campaign website, especially over issues like tariffs, health care and abortion.
Reps for the Powell campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
