Democrats thought their Senate hopes were dead. They were just in Nebraska.

Dan Osborn, an independent, could win the state’s Senate race — and determine control of the chamber.

OMAHA — As a Trump-endorsed Republican in a deep-red state, Sen. Deb Fischer might expect an easy reelection. Instead, she’s in perhaps the tightest Senate race in America — so says the election data site 538 — against a rookie politician named Dan Osborn, a mechanic turned union leader with tattooed forearms and a level gaze. Fischer’s trouble boils down to what might be called a George Norris problem.

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Osborn, 49 and running as an independent, has that history in mind as he crisscrosses the state in his campaign manager’s pickup truck, 30,000 miles and counting. They make rubber and glass a lot sturdier nowadays, but the spirit of the campaign is familiar. Osborn offers himself as a nonpartisan servant of the state’s working people and family farmers and sensible folks tired of the circus.

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In fine Nebraska style, Osborn doesn’t fit the mold, even if this is a state known to send the occasional Democrat to Washington. But he’d like to become the mold. “I want to pave the way for nurses, teachers, plumbers, carpenters and other working people to run for office. I want to show that you don’t have to be a self-funding crypto billionaire to run.”

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Osborn suggests in his stump speech that candidates should be required to wear NASCAR-style jackets. Her sponsor patches, he says, would include the biggest railroads and agribusinesses in the state. As for his patches: Although he proudly says that the average donation to his campaign is just $36, Osborn doesn’t mention that his jacket would need to acknowledge the millions of dollars in outside support from Democratic groups eager to knock off a Republican incumbent.

no paywall:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/10/15/dan-osborn-nebraska-senate-campaign-independent/

http://archive.today/2024.10.16-001926/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/10/15/dan-osborn-nebraska-senate-campaign-independent/