Cindy Burbank resigned and pledged to support populist independent Dan Osborne. Pollsters say the former union president has a good chance of unseating the Republican incumbent.
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Former pharmacy technician Cindy Burbank, 62, won the Democratic Senate primary in Nebraska on May 12, making it an unusual race for incumbent Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts.
The weird part? Burbank vowed that if he wins but doesn’t see a clear path to victory, he will withdraw from the November election and support Dan Osborn, a populist independent who is within 7 percentage points of winning the 2024 Senate race in a solidly Republican state.
Osbourne, 51, finished significantly better than the 21 points former Vice President Kamala Harris got from President Donald Trump in the Cornhusker State.
Burbank defeated William Forbes with about 90% of the vote, according to the Associated Press. CNN reported on March 30 that Forbes, a 79-year-old pastor, is a registered Democrat but has voted for Trump three times and attended a Republican training event earlier this year.
The Nebraska Democratic Party denounced his last-minute candidacy as an example of Republican interference in the primary in a plan to siphon votes from Osborne in the fall.
Democratic candidate Burbank faced similar pushback from Nebraska Republicans. State Republicans have criticized Burbank’s bid as an unfair and systematic ploy by Democrats to support Osborne, an independent.
Burbank, Osborne and Forbes did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the top results.
According to the Associated Press, Ricketts, who was appointed to the Senate in 2023 with the support of President Trump, won the Republican nomination with 80% of the vote.
The Nebraska Republican thanked his supporters in a statement, but quickly signaled he was preparing for a tough fight against Osborne in November. Someone who draws support from outside the state.
“Our work is not done yet. Out-of-state liberal donors will pour millions of dollars into Nebraska this fall,” Ricketts said in a statement, urging people to donate to his campaign. “Send a message to them: Nebraska elections will not be bought.”
Osborne, a former union president and military veteran, first caught fire among progressives during a 77-day strike at a Kellogg cereal factory in 2021. As president of Omaha’s local labor union, he led the fight over pay and benefit issues, including the loss of premium health care and reductions in retirement benefits.
The clash catapulted Osborne onto the national stage. His unique political views include support for gun rights, legalizing medical marijuana, expanding reproductive rights, and making it easier for labor unions to organize.
Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, said a consistent theme in several Democratic primaries this year has led candidates to align more with working-class voters than with corporate donors.
That means building a consensus to defeat Ricketts outside of the traditional Democratic primary system, which has consistently failed to produce strong candidates in general elections. Nebraska hasn’t had a Democratic senator in nearly 15 years.
“Osborne is a perfect example of someone who is a culturally attuned working-class populist who can avoid some of the baggage associated with the Democratic Party brand that needs to be addressed in the medium to long term but doesn’t have time in the short term,” Greene said.
Osborne has promised not to caucus with either major party, telling USA TODAY that voters in the state are tired of politicians of both parties and are “looking to corporate interests to finance their campaigns.” Instead, he said, he wants elected leaders who support the average working people who “run this state,” including farmers, ranchers and small business owners.
“We are stuck in a destructive two-party loop, and the rest of us are all paying the price,” he said in a statement. “I’m running to disrupt the status quo of partisan politics in Nebraska because this system isn’t working for any of us.”
