Independent populist Dan Osborn, whose insurgent Senate campaign seriously threatened one of Nebraska’s Republicans from securing a third term last year, is now taking on GOP Sen. Pete Ricketts — one of the wealthiest members of Congress.
Osborn's news comes as Elon Musk is moving to create a third party. The candidate told POLITICO he’s not interested in ditching an independent bid to join the Tesla and SpaceX CEO's aspirational “America Party,” but would be open to his financial support.
Osborn, who has already met with state Democrats, announced his candidacy against the former Nebraska governor Tuesday via campaign video.
A Navy veteran and mechanic by trade, Osborn is aware he won’t be able to duplicate the out-of-nowhere grassroots campaign he deployed last cycle, when he outperformed Vice President Kamala Harris significantly in the state.
“There is no element of surprise [this time],” Osborn told POLITICO, adding that he expects Ricketts and his allies to “come out with a lot of money and go very negative right from the beginning.”
Ricketts was appointed to the seat following the retirement of Sen. Ben Sasse and easily won a special election in 2024 to serve the remaining two years of the term. Ricketts is the son of the billionaire founder of TD Ameritrade and his family owns a majority stake in one of American sports most storied professional franchises, the Chicago Cubs, making it easy for him to inject funds into his campaign if needed.
But Osborn said he enjoys other advantages.
“We're starting off in a much better place with a tried-and-true set of volunteers across the state,” Osborn said of the name ID he gained by coming within single digits of Sen. Deb Fischer. He believes the grassroots operation he built last year coupled with a growing push of voters to upend status quo politics will help him break the GOP unanimous control of Nebraska’s congressional delegation.
That Osborn came as close as he did to capturing the seat last year underscored voters’ dissatisfaction with both major parties. His latest Senate bid comes as tech Musk threatens to scramble politics by launching the “America Party.” But Osborn, who aligns with President Donald Trump on some issues, doesn't see himself as part of Musk's nascent movement.
“I'm not interested in that. I'm an independent. I've been an independent from the time I could vote,” he said.
“It's an interesting idea, for sure, and he certainly has the money to do something like that,” he said of Musk, before making clear his chief goal if elected is to help take big money out of politics. But to do that, he’s got to first vanquish Ricketts.
“I welcome donations from anyone, whether you're a Republican, Democrat, Independent, Libertarian, America Party, doesn't matter to me,” Osborn added.
Fischer survived her 2024 reelection after a late infusion of cash by Republicans and 11th-hour help from Trump. Republicans privately acknowledged they were slow to take him seriously, a mistake they are vowing not to repeat this time.
“Senator Ricketts has consistently worked for and voted to secure the border and cut taxes for Nebraska workers, families, and seniors,” said Will Coup, a Ricketts campaign spokesperson. “Dan Osborn is bought and paid for by his liberal, out-of-state, coastal donors. Dan Osborn will side with Chuck Schumer over Nebraska families and vote with Democrats to open the border, hike taxes, and stop the America First agenda.”
National polling hints at a growing discontent among independents, Democrats and some Republicans over Trump’s policies, including the passage of his megabill last week that critics predict will add trillions to the national deficit and boot millions off Medicaid.
Where Trump’s standing will be in 2026 among Nebraska's largely conservative electorate is a wild card. But Ken Schilz, a former Republican state senator from Nebraska suggested the race will come down to how well Ricketts defines Osborn early on.
“Fischer's campaign really didn't even just scratch the surface on opposition research on Osborn,” said Schilz. “Ricketts will spend the money to go out and attack Osborn. He won't wait around. For his political operatives, it’s kind of what they live for.”
Trump endorsed Ricketts earlier this year in a Truth Social post as Osborn flirted with a Senate run and called Osborn a “radical left open border extremist.”
Osborn made a blatant play for Trump voters in 2024, including vowing to help the president build the U.S.-Mexico border wall, and started a “conservatives for Osborn” fundraising offshoot. To win statewide, Osborn will need to flip disenchanted GOP voters in the state's western half.
“I think Nebraska has a real, real chance of being the center of a lot that goes on this political season,” Schilz added, pointing to the recent retirement announcement from longtime Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), whose district includes the state’s so-called “blue dot” of Omaha.
National Democrats kept their distance from Osborn in 2024, but privately viewed him as an ally despite him demurring on plans to caucus with them.
As POLITICO reported in November, Chuck Schumer touted the race in a virtual rally days before the election. The Senate Democratic campaign arm and its main allied super PAC also made late donations to Osborn or groups supporting him. Democrats didn’t recruit a candidate into the race last year and aren’t planning to do so next year either, giving Osborn a chance to carry Democrats and the state’s many independent voters, according to Nebraska Democratic Party chair Jane Kleeb.
She met with Osborn last week, in part to discuss whether he would have supported Trump’s “big beautiful bill.” He answered in the negative. The two were at odds, at times, during the 2024 race, as Kleeb and other party Democrats questioned if they were helping elect the next Kyrsten Sinema, a reference to the Democrat-turned-independent who frustrated the party’s base.
Kleeb said for Osborn to win, he’ll have to make up ground in Nebraska’s 3rd Congressional District, which broke heavily for Fischer last cycle. She said it's possible.
“We just think that there is so much anger at what is happening with all of the cuts, in particular in rural communities, that if there was ever an opening to win statewide, [2026] is the year.”
But Osborn vows to remain independent, saying: “I have no problem sitting at lunch by myself.”
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