After an unexpectedly strong showing in the 2024 general election — winning 47% of the vote against Republican incumbent Deb Fischer — former independent U.S. Senate candidate Dan Osborn announced Thursday that he’s now considering a challenge to Sen. Pete Ricketts.
“Multi-billionaire Pete Ricketts is Nebraska’s other senator. He’s up next year. We could replace a billionaire with a mechanic,” Osborn wrote on social media, setting up the stark contrast that could define the 2026 race. “I’ll run against Pete Ricketts — if the support is there,” he added, linking to a campaign donation page.
Running in 2024, Osborn established himself as an obstinate non-partisan with a populist platform. Whilst bucking an endorsement from the state Democratic Party, the former Omaha union leader centered his campaign on working-class issues, including fair wages, right-to-repair, and excising money from politics.
His post, announcing his exploratory committee for an independent challenge against Ricketts, refreshed that platform. Well timed, as concerns over money in politics reach a fever pitch — with the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, wielding massive influence in President Donald Trump’s administration.
“Billionaires have bought up the country and are carving it up day by day. The economy they’ve built is good for them, bad for us. Good for huge multinationals and multibillionaires. Bad for workers. Bad for small businesses, bad for family farmers,” he wrote. “Americans hate billionaires buying elections. Upwards of 80% of us hate it. But we can’t do a single thing about it. The billionaires are bipartisan. Whoever wins, they win.”
Dan Osborn speaks during a March 2024 campaign press conference. (Courtesy: Osborn for Senate)
“We could take on this illness, the billionaire class, directly,” he continued. “Just me and Pete. Someone who’s spent his life working for a living and will never take an order from a corporation or a party boss, or someone who’s never worked a day in his life and is entirely beholden to corporations and party bosses.”
The Ricketts campaign responded Thursday afternoon with familiar digs at Osborn, echoing the Fischer campaign by labeling him a Democrat in sheep’s clothing and highlighting donations from national figures tied to the Democratic Party.
“Even Chuck Schumer’s $4 million wasn’t enough to sell Nebraskans on Dan Osborn being anything other than a liberal Democrat. Voters will reject Dan Osborn again because they know he will oppose the America First agenda and side with the coastal elites bankrolling his campaigns.”
A June 2015 New York Times/CBS News poll found that 84% of Americans believe money has too much influence in American political campaigns today—80% of Republicans and 90% of Democrats agreed that money has too great an influence. When asked about the funding mechanisms of political campaigns, 85% of Americans believe the system needs either “fundamental changes” or a complete rebuild.
“I think Washington DC could use less billionaires, and more working people,” Osborn added. According to research from Duke University in 2024, out of more than 7,300 lawmakers nationwide, just 116 (1.6%) currently or last worked in manual labor, service industry, clerical or labor union jobs. Only about 1% of Republicans and 2% of Democrats worked those types of jobs.
“What do you think?” — Osborn concluded his post.
During a late-February interview with his former campaign manager, Osborn said he was not only considering a bid against Ricketts, but also 2nd District Congressman Don Bacon and Governor Jim Pillen. However, he expressed hesitation about entering a three-way race in the 2nd District, where state Democrats plan to field a candidate, to avoid playing spoiler.