'Democrats hope to oust this Republican senator by not running against him'

[ShazzieB]

4. Oeborn is not running as a Democrat.

Last edited Wed May 13, 2026, 02:56 PM - Edit history (1)

The Nebraska Democratic Party announced that it was making a 'deliberate, principled decision' not to field a candidate in the race. It sounds like they've decided to do this because they believe Osborn has a a better chance of unseating the current Republican officeholder, Pete Ricketts, than anyone the Dems might field, and that he will be a significant improvement over Ricketts.

I'm sure they know their state, its voters, and incumbent Ricketts better than most of us do, and if they would rather get out of the way so the anti-Ricketts vote doesn't get split up, that's their decision to make. Most of Nebraska is very red, meaning it's probably hard to get people to vote for a Dem. I don't know anything about Ricketts, but if he's as awful as most Republicans, Osborn could very well be a big improvement, even though he has an I after his name rather than a D.