Populist Campaigner Challenges Low-Profile Senator in Nebraska

Industrial mechanic Dan Osborn, an independent with a populist platform, could throw a wrench into Republican hopes of gaining control of the Senate with his campaign against Sen. Deb Fischer in Nebraska. Fischer, a Republican running for her third term, is favored but by ever-narrower margins.

Osborn, a former union leader, supports a high minimum wage, tax cuts for small businesses and the middle class, and the “right to repair” farm equipment, cars, and electronics. He’s “fundamentally in favor of the Second Amendment” and also “reasonable gun safety measures,” according to a section of his platform titled “Keep government out of our private lives.”

Fischer, a rancher who served on the local school board and in the state legislature before election to the Senate in 2012, told the state’s largest newspaper that the cost of living is the top problem for Nebraskans. “Too many struggle to afford groceries, gas, rent, or childcare. I opposed the reckless spending that’s fueled inflation, and I’ll continue to oppose it.”

A low-profile senator, Fisher leads Osborn, 48% to 46%, with 5% undecided in the race in heavily Republican Nebraska, according to a poll by the New York Times and Sienna College on Tuesday. The margin of error in the poll was plus or minus 3 points.

Osborn’s “steadfast independence appears to be keeping the race close,” said the newspaper. Osborn leads Fischer by 31 points among independent voters. Osborn has refused to say if he would caucus with Republicans or Democrats if he wins.

It’s an important question since Republicans would gain a slim majority based on the current complexion of Senate races. Victory by Osborn might scramble expectations. Political handicappers say the Nebraska race leans Republican, not as firm an outlook as a few weeks ago.

Some of Fischer’s supporters say Osborn, who registered as an independent years ago, is a closet Democrat. Osborn has rejected an endorsement from the state Democratic Party.

As a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Fischer has worked on assuring competition in cattle marketing. Cash markets are important in the Midwest and northern Plains, where small producers worry about the power of the big packers that dominate beef processing.

Former Gov. Pete Ricketts, a Republican appointed to the Senate in January 2023, was well ahead of Democrat Preston Love, a civil rights leader, 56-38, in a special election, according to the New York Times-Sienna College poll.