Independence Dan Osborn launches new Senate bid to challenge Nebraska Republican Pete Ricketts
Omaha, Nebraska (AP) – The former union boss attracted national headlines last year as an independent candidate in the competition, challenging Nebraska Republican U.S. Senator Deb Fischer tossed his hat to a political ring again – this time challenging Nebraska junior Senator Pete Ricketts.
“I run for the Senate because Congress should not only be a playground for the rich,” Dan Osborn said in announcing his candidacy in a video released on Tuesday. He criticized Ricketts, the former two-term Nebraska governor and multi-millionaire, the son of billionaire TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts, who “buyed his Senate seat.”
Ricketts’ campaign has portrayed Osborn as a view of Democrats by touting his voting record “securing the border and cutting taxes for Nebraska workers.”
“Dan Osborn was purchased and paid by his Liberal, out-of-state, coastal donors,” Ricketts campaign spokesman Will said in a written statement.
This refers to the nearly $20 million received from the Political Action Committee last year, including committees that tend to support Democratic candidates.
As he insisted last year, Osborne said he would serve as independent if elected and had no plans to have a caucus with Democrats or Republicans. He noted that Ricketts voted on Republicans’ massive tax cuts and spending bills, which included $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and reduced Medicaid and food stamps by $1.2 trillion.
“Congress spent time quarrel about the amount of taxes we should be taxing for billionaires and multinationals. We are just afterthoughts,” Osborne said. “My kids and your kids should also get an American dream.”
It was familiar to Osborn, who focused his campaign last year on representing working families, and he was talking about growing wealth gaps and policies that favor the wealthy than the middle class.
Osborn, known as the Omaha Industrial Mechanic in the union circle, successfully led a labor strike at the cereal factory in Kellogg in 2021, winning higher wages and other benefits. When he challenged Fischer, over $1 million in price and within 6 percentage points of two-term Senator, he was a political newcomer who once won by a big margin.
Osborn admits it is difficult to pose a campaign financial threat to Ricketts, one of the wealthiest members of the U.S. Senate. Federal campaign financial reports show that Ricketts’ campaign had more than $800,000 in cash at the end of March.
But Osborn believes his populist message is more attractive to voters in Nebraska than to campaign war boxes.
“I think if you throw your money to Nebraska, I don’t know that will make the needle more than $30,” he said. “I think we’re going to win this way of old school: go where people are. Just have a town hall at the town hall and talk to the good people in Nebraska.”
Ricketts won a special election last year, winning the term of former Senator Ben Sasse last year, who resigned in 2022. His successor, Republican Gov. Jim Pillen, was appointed to the seat.
