Democrats pick Nebraska Senate nominee who could drop out and back independent Dan Osborn

Cindy Burbank won the Democratic Senate primary in Nebraska, NBC News projects, potentially clearing the way for independent Dan Osborn to take on GOP Sen. Pete Ricketts head-to-head in the fall.

Burbank defeated pastor William Forbes for the Democratic nomination, while Ricketts easily won his Republican primary.

Democrats have not won a Senate race in Nebraska since 2006. But Osborn has been gearing up for a run against Ricketts after running a surprisingly competitive first campaign as an independent in 2024. A steamfitter and former union organizer, Osborn lost to GOP Sen. Deb Fischer by 7 points as President Donald Trump carried the state by 20 points.

Osborn has stressed that he does not plan to caucus with either party if elected. But Republicans have accused him of being a Democrat, noting in attack ads in 2024 that Osborn had privately praised Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

Burbank said in a phone interview last week that she would consider ending her campaign backing Osborn if she does not have a clear path to victory. But she denied that she entered the Democratic primary with the intent to drop out.

”I will drop out when and if the time comes that I cannot win in November. And I think anybody with any dignity should do that,” Burbank said, saying she would evaluate her prospects based on polling, and she aims to make a decision in time to remove her name from the November ballot.

Questions about Burbank’s intentions have swirled since she jumped into the race shortly before the filing deadline. The Nebraska Democratic Party had declined to field a candidate in the race, hoping to allow a matchup between Osborn and Ricketts.

But Forbes filed as a Democratic contender at the last minute, raising concerns from Democrats that he was a Republican plant to pull votes from Osborn in the general election. Forbes, who has supported Trump in recent elections and attended a training run by a conservative group, denied those allegations in an interview with CNN.

Burbank, a pharmacy technician, said she jumped in the race after hearing chatter that Republicans were trying to place a Democrat on the ballot . Burbank said “some people” she met while working on previous campaigns asked if she would consider running, declining to specify but clarifying that they were not connected to Nebraska Democratic Party chair Jane Kleeb. Burbank said he did not believe they were associated with the Osborn campaign.

Kleeb and the state Democratic Party had been encouraging voters to support Burbank in the primary, accusing Forbes of being a “Ricketts plant.”

Burbank chided Kleeb for suggesting that she intended to drop out of the race to clear the way Osborn to take on Ricketts. But Burbank mentions Osborn multiple times on her campaign website, including writing that “he deserves a fair shot against Ricketts.”

Asked about the website language, Burbank said of Osborn, “I think he’s a great guy and we have to keep in mind that he might be able to be on [the ballot.]”

“For me to stay on the ballot and take votes away from Osborn, it’s not fair,” she later added.

Osborn told NBC News last year that he cast his 2024 presidential vote for United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain, writing in the union leader instead of voting for Trump or then-Vice President Kamala Harris.

Trump has endorsed Ricketts in the race, who is running for his first full term after easily winning a special election in 2024 to serve the last two years of former GOP Sen. Ben Sasse’s term. A former governor, Ricketts has already launched multiple ads in the race touting tax cuts.