Nebraska's Dan Osborn picks a race, launches Senate bid against U.S. Sen Pete Ricketts

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Nebraska Examiner

Osborn sets up another populist run, this one against Nebraska’s dominant political operation

By: Juan Salinas II - July 8, 2025 5:00 am

LINCOLN — Former Omaha labor leader Dan Osborn is running against Republican U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts in the 2026 midterms.

After launching an exploratory committee in April, Osborn made it official Tuesday, choosing the Senate race over potential bids for governor and the U.S. House, because, he said, “there are not enough seats at the table” for working people.

“I’m unapologetically for the workers and their issues,” Osborn told Nebraska Examiner.

Osborn boiled down his race to “the billionaire versus the mechanic,” citing the wealth of the Ricketts family.


Former Omaha labor leader Dan Osborn is running against Republican U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts in the 2026 midterms. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)


Read more: https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/07/08/nebraskas-dan-osborn-picks-a-race-launches-senate-bid-against-u-s-sen-pete-ricketts/

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Donate to Dan here: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/dan-osborn-2

I have my picture with Dan around here somewhere. OK, I'm in the green AFSCME shirt below on Dan's right.

[ancianita]

1. Oligarch vs workers will be a hard one. The working man's Osborn is

running against a popular NE oligarch, Pete Ricketts, who is as anti-immigration, -abortion, -LGBTQ, -tax, -climate;
and pro-capital punishment, -Keystone Pipeline as are the rest of the Koch oligarch network. The other NE oligarch is, of course, Warren Buffett. Ricketts claims that Washington DC and all of America should be like Nebraska.

Last time he ran, Ricketts beat the Democrat Preston Love by 235,201 votes (585,103 to 349,902), so this time Osborn will have to gain at least that many votes. Oligarch run NE is a tough nut for the party to crack.

Can Osborn get Mamdani's campaign team to help? or would Ricketts' team make 'city folk' his campaign 'issue', besides his usual anti-immigration and anti-LGBTQ crap.

IMO, any Catholic like Ricketts who declares NE a sanctuary state for the 2nd Amendment, and who worked so hard for Trump and so hard against the Catholic former president, Joe Biden, is a bad Catholic and therefore a bad Christian. Not judging, just opining based on his actions.

[WhiteTara]

2. Good luck, Dan.

[JMCKUSICK]

3. What a dream him winning would be