Nebraskans are set vote in the most unusual Senate primary campaign of the year on May 12 election, with Republicans and Democrats accusing each of other of trying to confuse voters with phony candidates.
That's because the general election features Dan Osborn, a populist independent who came within 7 percentage points of winning a 2024 Senate race in the reliably Republican state. The 51-year-old former union president and military veteran's close margin was considerably better than the 21-point thumping President Donald Trump gave former Vice President Kamala Harris in the Cornhusker State.
As a result, Nebraska Democratic officials want to throw their support behind Obsorn against Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts in November.
"It's a recognition in a red state that Democrats simply cannot compete statewide and that their only hope of having a candidate that's a little closer to them ideologically or policy wise is by supporting an independent," said Mark P. Jones, a political science professor at Rice University.
In one corner of that primary sits Cindy Burbank, 62, a retired pharmacy tech, who has promised to drop out of the general election and endorse Osborn if she wins the nomination. But the state GOP casts Burbank's bid as an unfair and coordinated ploy by Democrats to prop up the independent.
