Connect with us

Nebraska

This independent candidate is worrying Republicans in deep-red Nebraska's Senate race

Published

on

This independent candidate is worrying Republicans in deep-red Nebraska's Senate race


BEATRICE, Neb. — In the back room of a brewery in southeastern Nebraska, more than three dozen people crowded together this summer to hear from Dan Osborn, a former cereal plant worker and independent running for U.S. Senate.

The standing-room-only crowd in the small town of Beatrice was larger than Osborn expected, but it stood out for more than its size. Those attending ranged from supporters of former President Donald Trump wearing “Make America Great Again” hats to voters firmly backing Vice President Kamala Harris and other Democrats.

Osborn’s message to all of them was that America’s two-party system has let them down.

“There’s nobody like me in the United States Senate,” he told the crowd. “Right now, the Senate is a country club of millionaires that work for billionaires.”

Advertisement

Osborn has cobbled together a campaign in deeply conservative Nebraska that rejects both major political parties as part of a broken system. For a guy who held his first campaign news conferences out of the garage of his suburban Omaha home, he has surprised pundits by emerging as a serious challenger to two-term Republican Sen. Deb Fischer in what had been considered a safe Republican seat only months ago.

The contest has attracted $21 million in spending from outside groups, favoring Osborn, and even Fischer’s campaign acknowledges that the race is closer than expected. There is no Democratic candidate running, but a win for Osborn could disrupt Republican plans to reclaim a majority in the Senate. Osborn has said he won’t caucus with either party.

That hasn’t stopped Democrats from openly supporting him. During the first 16 days of October, after the national spotlight on him had intensified, Osborn raised more than $3 million, almost all of it from individuals and the bulk of it through Democrats’ Act Blue fundraising site, Federal Election Commission reports show. That was almost six times the $530,000 that Fischer raised.

Dan Osborn, Independent candidate for U.S. Senate, speaks during a news conference, May 15, 2024, at his Omaha, Neb. home. Credit: AP/Nikos Frazier

Osborn has raised nearly $8 million total to Fischer’s $6.5 million, and with a little less than three weeks before the election, he had $1.1 million cash, twice what Fischer had.

Advertisement

Osborn has succeeded not only by rejecting political parties but through boots-on-the-ground campaigning across the state, backed by clever ads — in one he notes “I don’t even own a suit” — that contrast his working-class roots with a system where he says politicians “are bought and sold.”

Osborn is a U.S. Navy and Nebraska Army National Guard veteran and industrial mechanic who gained national recognition three years ago when he successfully led a labor strike at Kellogg’s cereal plants, winning higher wages and other benefits. That background shapes his view that working families are being steamrolled by a growing wealth gap, he says.

A win by Osborn would be a giant upset in a state where Republicans hold all statewide offices and all congressional districts.

Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., speaks to media, Oct. 18, 2023,...

Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., speaks to media, Oct. 18, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Credit: AP/Stephanie Scarbrough

Fischer is a rancher from Valentine, a town of 2,600 people in northern Nebraska about 300 miles (483 kilometers) northwest of Omaha. She was a little-known state legislator when she ran as an outsider in 2012, winning a competitive primary and then defeating Bob Kerrey, a former Democratic governor and U.S. senator. Her campaign ads that year showed her leaning up against fence posts and called her “sharp as barb wire, tougher than a cedar fence post.”

“Nebraskans support me because I’ve delivered results,” Fischer said this week, mentioning national defense and road projects as areas where she’s done right by her state. “I have a long, conservative record that’s helped build Nebraska and keep America strong.”

Advertisement

Fischer’s pollster, John Rogers of Torchlight Strategies, a longtime national Republican Party operative, argued recently that the apparent closeness of the race is a “mirage.” Her campaign expects that Osborn won’t be able to build a big enough margin in Democratic areas of Omaha, the state’s largest city, to overcome the votes Fischer will win in the vast rural areas.

The pollster also predicted that Trump’s endorsement of Fischer in September will pull Nebraska voters back into her corner in a state he is expected to win handily. “SHE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN!” Trump posted on his Truth social media site.

Trump labeled Osborn as “Radical Left” and likened him to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who runs as an independent but caucuses with Democrats and has become a leading spokesman for liberals. Fischer and her supporters reinforce that message.

Still, Osborn has gotten national attention, complicated Republicans’ ambitions and buoyed calls to break up the nation’s two-party system. That has broad appeal in an era when disgust for politics keeps rising.

“At least as an independent, you’re an open book,” said Jim Jonas, who managed Greg Orman’s high-visibility independent U.S. Senate campaign in neighboring Kansas a decade ago. “You have the opportunity to go frame yourself, frame the race and run as a refreshing, different choice rather than the two broken parties.”

Advertisement

That’s exactly how Osborn is pitching himself.

“Congress is a complete misrepresentation of the demographics of our voters,” he told the crowd in Beatrice. “Less than 2% of our elected officials in both the House and Senate come from working-class people.”

Osborn has received donations from political action committees that back independents, like the Wyoming-based Way Back PAC, along with groups supporting Democratic candidates.

His independence hasn’t kept immigration from becoming a key issue, just as it has all over the country. Osborn has said the U.S. border with Mexico is too porous. But he also says he favors some form of amnesty for immigrants in the U.S. illegally for a long time if they’re working and have not committed violent crimes.

Just as Orman did in 2014, Osborn supports abortion rights. That could help him in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the constitutional right to an abortion. Voters in seven states, including some conservative ones, have either protected abortion rights or defeated attempts to restrict them in statewide votes over the past two years. Fischer has alleged that Osborn won’t support any restrictions.

Advertisement

But the core of Osborn’s appeal to his backers appears to be as a working-class everyman.

He is getting support from at least a dozen labor unions. Two weeks before the election, the national AFL-CIO brought in top officials to Omaha to lead a phone bank in support of Osborn. Around 30 union members and officials — including AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler — worked the phones to secure support and donations for Osborn.

“His message of backing working families is really resonating with people,” Shuler said.

As she spoke, phone bank volunteers nearby shouted out donations of up to $3,000 and fresh promises of support from Nebraskans they were calling.

“People now are so cynical about politics,” Shuler said. “And he’s getting traction with those people because he’s one of them.”

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Nebraska

Badgers Wire staff predictions for Wisconsin vs. Nebraska

Published

on

Badgers Wire staff predictions for Wisconsin vs. Nebraska


Nov 16, 2024; Madison, Wisconsin, USA; Wisconsin Badgers wide receiver Will Pauling (6) celebrates with quarterback Braedyn Locke (18) after scoring a touchdown during the second quarter against the Oregon Ducks at Camp Randall Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

Both programs enter play Saturday trying to figure out who they are and what they have left in the tank.

Wisconsin will be working with a new play-caller on offense, attempting to reestablish their strong form from earlier in the season. If the Badgers are to get back on track, it will be as a result of the reemergence of Tawee Walker in the backfield. Braedyn Locke is more suited for a rush-heavy attack on offense, sprinkling in passes when needed.

On the other side, after being a top 25 team, Nebraska fell back into the program’s old ways, losing several consecutive one-score games. Losers of four straight and at home for the last time in 2024, Matt Rhule’s squad will be itching to snap the 10-game skid versus Wisconsin. I’m inclined to go with history here.

Advertisement

Prediction: Wisconsin 24, Nebraska 20



Source link

Continue Reading

Nebraska

'This is actually a cool place': Tourists spent record $4.6 billion in Nebraska last year

Published

on

'This is actually a cool place': Tourists spent record .6 billion in Nebraska last year


LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — Is Nebraska a new tourism hot spot?

A new report from Visit Nebraska shows a major increase in travel, providing an economic boost.

Last year, out-of-state visitors spent $4.6 billion in Nebraska, an all-time record.

And since 2019, the number of overnight hotel guests has doubled, with 76% of them coming from out of state.

Advertisement

What happened in 2019? Visit Nebraska began a new marketing strategy that included ideas such as finding out what locations it should be promoting and focusing on attracting out of state visitors.

“Truly it’s just because people have been invited to the state in a way they understand, in a way that makes sense,” said John Ricks, executive director of Visit Nebraska, also known as the Nebraska Tourism Commission.

SEE ALSO: Nebraska tourism slogan is no more. ‘Everything has a shelf life,’ official says

Ricks says the preconceived notion of Nebraska being a flyover state isn’t true. The commission just had to let people know what the state offers.

After talking with out-of-state visitors, it learned what barriers were keeping people from the Cornhusker State.

“There’s just a simple awareness problem and a familiarity problem,” Ricks said.

Advertisement

SEE ALSO: Nebraska Tourism receives second national award for ‘not for everyone’ campaign

We asked users of the Now Local News App, some who live here and some who don’t, what their favorite spots are in Nebraska.

“I think that going out to western Nebraska is my family’s favorite place to go,” Melanie Dawkins said. “I don’t think enough Nebraskans make it all the way out there, like to the Panhandle.”

Kimberly Grace, who lives out of state, said she likes visiting the Stuhr Museum at Grand Island.

“You can learn about the pioneer days, and they have houses that they put on the land where you can go to visit.”

SEE ALSO: Rooms fill up in Lincoln, one of Airbnb renters’ top college football destinations

Ricks says to keep this growth going, it’s always going to be about getting the word out.

Advertisement

“The more people we make aware, the more people who are discovering that, ‘Hey, whatever I heard in the past isn’t true, and this is actually a cool place.’”

According to Ricks, despite the 2023 numbers just getting released, this year’s numbers are already beating last year’s by over 10%.





Source link

Continue Reading

Nebraska

Wisconsin and Nebraska are both seeking bowl eligibility and an end to their losing streaks

Published

on

Wisconsin and Nebraska are both seeking bowl eligibility and an end to their losing streaks


WHAT’S AT STAKE?

Bowl eligibility goes to the winner. Wisconsin is looking to extend its bowl streak to 22 seasons, third-longest in the nation. Nebraska has lost four straight after a 5-1 start and is looking to go to a bowl for the first time since 2016, the longest drought in the Power Four. The Badgers, losers of three straight, have clinched bowl eligibility the last two years with wins over Nebraska.

KEY MATCHUP

Nebraska QB Dylan Raiola vs. Wisconsin pass defense. Raiola will be playing his second game with new offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen as the play-caller. The freshman has struggled against Big Ten opponents. He’s thrown just three touchdown passes and been intercepted eight times over the last six games. Wisconsin has one of the best pass defenses in the conference and has allowed just three TD passes in six games.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Wisconsin: QB Braedyn Locke, like Raiola, has struggled and will have a new offensive coordinator following the firing of Phil Longo. The Badgers have scored a combined 33 points during their three-game losing streak, with Locke completing 49.4% of his passes (49 of 99) with two TDs and four interceptions.

Nebraska: DE Ty Robinson, a sixth-year player, will need to be his best in his final home game going against a Wisconsin offensive line that has allowed just 11 sacks. He’s one of the most disruptive defensive linemen in the Big Ten, with 10 tackles for loss and six sacks.

Advertisement

FACTS & FIGURES

Wisconsin has won 10 straight meetings with Nebraska, including all nine since the Freedom Trophy was introduced in 2014. The Badgers are 11-1 against Nebraska since the Huskers joined the Big Ten in 2011. … Nebraska is 0-8 under second-year coach Matt Rhule when trying to win a sixth game to become bowl-eligible. … Badgers have allowed only two plays of 40-plus yards, tied with Ohio State for fewest in the country. … Wisconsin’s Tawee Walker is averaging 97.3 rushing yards per game in his six Big Ten starts.





Source link

Continue Reading

Trending