Dan Osborn’s Independent Campaign Comes with Democrat Party Ties

Dan Osborn is taking his second shot in as many election cycles at one of Nebraska's Senate seats. After losing to Deb Fischer in 2024, he’s trying again this time running against incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts.

His campaign has come under intense scrutiny over his ties to Democrats and his private comments captured in recently released recordings.

Although Osborn has been trying to appear as an independent who would not caucus with either of the two major parties if he were elected, an earlier recording from a 2025 town hall came to light in February in which Osborn stated that there was one party he would be willing to caucus with if his independent method failed. When asked which party that was, he said it would not be the Republican Party.

More recently, recordings that were released in August and September showed Osborn commenting on issues relating to immigration and transgender athletes. In one such recording, he stated that he could not openly support the abolition of ICE since people were recording him. A recording acquired by the Omaha World-Herald also revealed Osborn criticizing certain Trump voters and questioning their motives.

Osborn has also received significant financial and organizational backing from the Democrats. The Nebraska Democratic Party endorsed him, his campaign is being run by socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders’ consultants, and Democratic-aligned political committees have contributed directly to his campaign. According to public reporting, over 80% of Osborn’s donations are from out of state and over 70% of them come from the center-left fundraising platform ActBlue.

While Osborn will almost certainly keep trying to sell an independent brand to voters, the cash pouring into his campaign comes from reliably Democratic sources.