Dan Osborn launches independent Senate bid against Ricketts in Nebraska 

Dan Osborn, an industrial mechanic who lost a Senate bid against Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) by single digits last year, is launching another independent bid for the upper chamber — this time for Sen. Pete Ricketts’s (R-Neb.) seat. 

In his launch video, Osborn contrasts his working-class background as an industrial mechanic and military veteran with Ricketts’s family wealth, being the eldest son of TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts. 

“There’s a lot of rich guys in Washington like Pete Ricketts, but not a lot with hands like these,” Osborn says in the ad. “We fix their cars, grow their food, fight their wars.” 

“Politicians like Sen. Pete Ricketts are the problem,” he continued. “His dad worked for a living, but Petey? He got his money the fast way: his billionaire family.” 

Osborn’s ad also nods to the steamfitter’s background, where he led a major strike against Kellogg’s in Omaha in 2021, saying, “I didn’t buy my way into politics.” 

“I’m running for Senate because Congress shouldn’t just be a playground for the rich. We gotta make things more affordable, secure the border and take on corruption in Washington,” he says in the ad. 

In an interview with The Hill ahead of his announcement, Osborn said he was making another run for Senate to advocate for the working class. He surprised many last year when his long-shot Senate bid against Fischer came strikingly close; he lost to the cattle rancher by close to 7 points, while President Trump handily won the state by more than 20 points. 

He noted some of the dynamics of next year’s race would be different compared to his run against Fischer, including the fact that he’s a better-known candidate this time around and he’s running against a wealthy incumbent. 

Osborn said he wanted to show Americans and Nebraskans specifically that “there’s another way forward and create a level playing field for workers to be able to get ahead in this country and stop racing towards the bottom and wealth funneling to the top.”

Ricketts campaign spokesperson Will Coup knocked Osborn in a statement following his announcement, suggesting he was a Democrat in sheep’s clothing — criticism he also faced last cycle.

“Senator Ricketts has consistently worked for and voted to secure the border and cut taxes for Nebraska workers, families, and seniors,” Coup said.

“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.”

While Osborn made last year’s race surprisingly competitive, the election underscored the increasingly difficult political terrain for independent candidates in an ever-partisan environment. Beating Ricketts, who was appointed to the Senate in 2023 after former Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) retired early from his seat, will also be no easy feat. 

The former Nebraska governor will have a clear financial edge over Osborn. Even before Osborn made his announcement, Trump came out with a strong endorsement of Ricketts on his Truth Social platform in April while deriding the steamfitter as “a Radical Left Open Border Extremist, who will put our Country, and Safety, LAST.”

Osborn could benefit from the midterm environment, however, when the president’s party typically faces electoral headwinds.  

Despite Nebraska’s reliably Republican leanings, Osborn thinks there’s still an appetite for a middle-of-the-road candidate. 

“If you look at the end zones being the two parties, the loudest certainly sit in the end zones. And if you sit around and you either watch Fox News or MSNBC all day long, you know, you would think we’re all fighting in the streets with each other, and we hate each other,” Osborn said. 

“My world’s a different world,” he said. “I walk around and talk to people all day long, and I think most people operate within the 40-yard lines, somewhere down the middle, either left or right, but certainly, there’s a lot of things that we all agree upon no matter what side you fall on.” 

Osborn said that if he’s elected, he wouldn’t caucus with either party — something he also pledged the last time he ran. He quipped that he’s a “free agent.” a potentially enviable position in a narrowly divided Senate.

“If I have to bring a lawn chair and then pop it between the two aisles, that’s where I sit. I’ll eat lunch by myself,” he said. 

“I want to challenge the system and show people that you could be an effective senator as an independent.” 

Updated at 10:32 a.m. EDT