Nebraska Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts' reelection is rated a safe Republican contest by multiple nonpartisan handicapping outlets. But the way GOP officials and party operatives in the state have been acting shows they are clearly scared about the race.
Let's back up to explain what's going on.
Ricketts—who replaced now-former Sen. Ben Sasse in 2023—is on the ballot in November to try to be reelected for his first full term. Dan Osborn—the populist Navy veteran and union mechanic who ran a surprisingly competitive race as an independent against Nebraska's other GOP Sen. Deb Fischer in 2024—announced he is running again as an independent this fall.
Given that Osborn ran 14 points ahead of then-Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024, Nebraska Democrats decided they were not going to field a candidate, believing that an independent like Osborn had the best chance of beating Ricketts in November.
“The Nebraska Democratic Party made a deliberate, principled decision not to field a candidate in the U.S. Senate race,” Nebraska Democratic Party Chair Jane Kleeb told Nebraska Public Radio. “We believe Dan Osborn—a veteran, a mechanic, a Nebraskan, and an independent voice—represents the best opportunity to defeat Pete Ricketts and deliver real results for working families.”
Obviously fearing that outcome, Republicans cooked up a plan.
At nearly the last minute before the deadline to qualify for the ballot, it appears Republicans recruited William Forbes—a Donald Trump-supporting, 79-year-old pastor—to run as a Democrat.
Forbes is obviously not a Democrat. A digital trail unearthed by CNN and published on Monday found Forbes spews conservative rhetoric. He called former President Joe Biden "dementia Joe;" blamed “radical feminism” and “left-wing media” for the public's support of abortion rights; attacked things like "cultural Marxism" and the Black Lives Matter movement; and praised Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for their anti-abortion stances. A Democrat that is not.
Forbes also posted a since-deleted video about attending a campaign management workshop run by the Leadership Institute, which says its goal is to "increase the number and effectiveness of conservative activists and leaders in the public policy process." Still think this guy was on the level?
But even with a fake Democrat like Forbes on the ballot, it would likely put Ricketts on a glide path to reelection, as a three-way race between Ricketts, Osborn, and a candidate on the Democratic line would likely split up the Democratic vote and allow Ricketts to cruise to victory.
Sensing that Republicans were trying to screw Democrats' plans to have a one-on-one race between Ricketts and Osborn, Cindy Burbank, another Democrat, quickly entered the race to ensure Forbes would not be the nominee.
Burbank supports Osborn's candidacy, and said if she was the Democratic nominee she would drop out of the race, setting up a Ricketts-Osborn showdown.
Enter Nebraska’s Republican Secretary of State Bob Evnen.
Evnen disqualified Burbank from the ballot, agreeing with a complaint from the Nebraska Republican Party that accused Burbank of being a “plant." Evnen relied on a state law that gives him the power to disqualify anyone he deems to not be a “good-faith” candidate when he decided to remove Burbank from the ballot. But somehow he didn't remove Forbes, the obvious Republican running a decidedly not good-faith bid as a Democrat to help Ricketts.
Burbank sued Evnen to overturn his decision. And the state Supreme Court ultimately sided with her, reinstating her on the ballot and thus thwarting the GOP's efforts to make their plant Forbes the Democratic nominee.
Caught up now?
With all that out of the way, Nebraska is now a prime opportunity for a surprise in November.
Nebraska has been hit hard by Trump's tariffs, which have negatively impacted farmers. The war in Iran is also squeezing Nebraska farmers, as the rise in diesel fuel prices and shortages of fertilizer sparked by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz have raised costs for farmers to plant and harvest their crops.
That's possibly why the Economist/YouGov poll found Trump 6-points underwater in the Cornhusker State, even though Trump carried it by 20 points less than two years ago. Meanwhile, multiple polls show Ricketts leading Osborn by just 1 point.
Don’t sleep on Nebraska’s Senate race this fall.
Emily Singer March 30, 2026 at 11:00PM From Daily Kos
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