Nebraska steamfitter running for U.S. Senate against GOP incumbent is gaining traction

In Nebraska’s U.S. Senate race, something extraordinary is happening—Dan Osborn, a nonpartisan candidate, is gaining traction at the polls, attracting national media attention, and, most importantly, securing cross-over voters.

A former union president who led a 77-day strike at Kellogg’s in 2021, Osborn was fired from the company last year and is currently an apprentice for a local steamfitter’s union in Omaha. Now, the 48-year-old father of three is spending all of his free time outside his 40-hour workweek campaigning against incumbent GOP Sen. Deb Fischer.

Sitting in a cozy Irish bar in a strip mall on the outskirts of Omaha, Osborn, a formerly registered Democrat, went over his campaign platform with USA Today—a mix of conservative and liberal ideologies, including the legalization of medical cannabis, support for the Second Amendment, expansion of reproductive rights and making it easier for unions to organize.

Coming straight from a union meeting earlier that evening, the independent candidate explained over the chatter of a group of regulars at the bar that many Nebraskans want to see a person like them in Congress.

“There’s nobody like me in the United States Senate, somebody who goes to work every day, gets dirt underneath my fingernails, comes from the working class, who’s done it for over twenty years,” Osborn said holding a Tito’s and soda while Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama” played in the background. “I want to be a voice for people like me that work for a living.”

Last month, Oborn’s grassroots campaign collected the 4,000 signatures needed to get on the November ballot as a nonpartisan candidate. According to the latest fundraising reports, the campaign raised $456,000 in the last fiscal quarter, which puts him at $609,00 in funds—more money than any independent candidate has ever raised in the state.

A December poll conducted by a liberal research firm, Change Research, gave the blue-collar worker-turned-politician 40% of the vote compared to Fischer’s 38%, which has received skepticism from political analysts.

But he still has a long way to go.

Fischer, a two-term incumbent with a nearly $3.3 million war chest, won both 2012 and 2018 elections by a wide margin, becoming the state’s second-only female senator. Before heading to Capitol Hill, Fischer gained local political experience serving in the Nebraska Legislature and on the state school board for the Valentine Community Schools.

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But Osborn, who has never been in politics, says his experience as a union leader has prepared him for office and is what inspired him to run in the first place.

“I loved the controlled chaos. I loved being the person that people counted on. And then I loved coming through for them, too,” Osborn said. “I want to do the same thing for the people of Nebraska.”

The Nebraska State AFL-CIO endorsed Osborn last month, and president and treasurer-secretary Sue Martin said Osborn is different from any other politician and can relate to the challenges Nebraskan workers face.

“Non-political ties are attractive to voters who are facing partisan fatigue,” Martin said. “He understands working people. Too often, we see corporations’ limitless funds come in. It’s time that workers have a chance.”

Fischer has also racked up multiple union endorsements too, most recently from the Omaha Police Officers Association.

Unlike Fischer, Osborn faces a fundraising challenge with no official party backing or PAC funds, and the state parties don’t quite know what to do with him as issues in his platform range from traditionally liberal to conservative.

Along with supporting both Second Amendment rights and abortion access, Osborn also supports further securing the border while also creating more pathways to citizenship in the U.S.

In an ideal world, Osborn said that he would like to see endorsements from both Republican and Democratic county parties. As a nonpartisan, he is getting invited to and attending both GOP and Democratic county party meetings, even attending the Sarpy County Libertarian convention last month.

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His campaign team comprises registered Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians and nonpartisans, many of whom are tired of the political divides.

“I’ve got everybody on my campaign because we all understand that there need to be a change, there’s too much divide. At the end of the day, we’re all Americans.” Osborn said. “A lot of people are fed up with fighting with each other.”

Osborn will likely await Fischer on the ballot this November as the senator will face another Republican candidate, Arron Kowalski, in the state’s May 14 primary. Until November, Osborn says he’ll continue to raise money, mobilize voters, and travel across the state to talk to as many Nebraskans as possible.

“There’s certainly a lot of people that didn’t believe it could happen, but I enjoy proving them wrong every day,” Osborn said. “We’re getting momentum every day. So far, we haven’t had any wind taken out of our sails.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Nebraska steamfitter Dan Osborn gaining traction in run for senate