Independent Nebraska Senate candidate Dan Osborn departs an election night watch party at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Omaha La Vista Hotel & Conference Center in La Vista, Nebraska, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. Bonnie Ryan via Associated Press
Democratic Primary Result
Nebraska Democrats nominated a candidate who has promised to drop out of the race for U.S. Senate, and that is exactly the outcome they wanted. The Associated Press called the primary for Cindy Burbank, a retired pharmacy technician, not long after polls closed on Tuesday night. Burbank, who ran with the party's endorsement, won 89% of the vote and has promised to drop out of the race to clear the way for independent candidate Dan Osborn.
Her opponent was William Forbes, a pastor who supported President Donald Trump in the past. Forbes was seen as a GOP plant who hoped to win the nomination and pull votes away from Osborn to help incumbent GOP Sen. Pete Ricketts.
Osborn's Campaign
Osborn, a union mechanic who mixes conservative views on social issues with economic populism and has promised not to caucus with either party, is seen as the state's best chance of ousting a Republican senator. Osborn has raised nearly $3.9 million for his campaign, and only lost to the state's other GOP senator, Deb Fischer, by 7 percentage points, even as Trump won the state by 21 percentage points.
A Democratic poll released Tuesday found Osborn with a 46% to 42% edge over Ricketts, with 12% of voters undecided. Republicans played hardball to try to secure the nomination for Forbes, with the state's GOP secretary of state trying at one point to kick Burbank off the ballot. The Nebraska Supreme Court blocked his attempt and restored Burbank to the ballot.
