Nebraska Democrat Wins Primary, Then Steps Aside for Osborn Senate Bid

Nebraska Democrats have made a rare strategic wager in a Senate race: win the primary, then clear the field for an independent who they believe can draw the state’s anti-incumbent vote without splitting it.

Cindy Burbank defeated anti-abortion pastor Bill Forbes in the Democratic primary on May 12 and was expected to drop out almost immediately to back Dan Osborn’s challenge to Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts. The move reflects a deliberate effort to consolidate voters around the strongest anti-Ricketts alternative in a state that has not elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 2006.

The calculation is straightforward. Osborn, a former union steamfitter and organizer, ran a surprisingly competitive Senate race in 2024, losing to Deb Fischer by 7 points even as Donald Trump carried Nebraska by 20 points. He is now running again and says he does not plan to caucus with either party if elected, a posture that gives him room to appeal to disaffected Democrats, independents and some Republicans without being folded into Washington’s party machinery.

Burbank’s path to that role was unusually complicated. Nebraska’s GOP secretary of state removed her from the ballot after she said she did not intend to run in November, and she later sued to restore her ballot access. Once back on the ballot, she became the vehicle for a Democratic strategy aimed less at building a traditional nominee and more at preserving ballot access until the primary was over.

Forbes, who drew intense scrutiny during the race, is a Trump-supporting anti-abortion pastor. Nebraska Democrats accused him of being a Republican plant designed to siphon votes from Osborn, while Ricketts denied any connection to Forbes. That dispute underscored how much of this race has been shaped not by ideology alone but by the mechanics of vote splitting in a closely watched statewide contest.

Ricketts won the Republican primary, leaving Osborn to face him in November with Burbank expected to step aside. Political observers are now left with a broader question: whether Nebraska Democrats have uncovered a one-off workaround for a difficult Senate map, or whether clearing the lane for an independent could become a model for challenging entrenched incumbents in other states.