Republican Sen. Deb Fischer will win re-election in Nebraska’s Senate race, CNN projects

On By Littum



CNN
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Republican Sen. Deb Fischer will win re-election in Nebraska, defeating an unexpectedly strong challenge from independent Dan Osborn, CNN projects.

Fischer was first elected to the Senate in 2012, when she became the first female senator elected to a full term in Nebraska. Before being elected to Congress, she served in Nebraska’s unicameral legislature.

Osborn, a Navy veteran and industrial mechanic, gave Fischer a tougher challenge than expected.

Osborn and his allies outscored Republicans, garnering attention with busy ads, including one in which he burned the word “LIE” into a television to beat attack ads from his opponent. Elsewhere, he called Fischer and her colleagues in the US Senate “a bunch of millionaires controlled by billionaires.”

He often labeled Fischer a “career politician” and criticized her for going back on her promise to run for only two terms in the Senate. Fischer, who will begin her third term in the Senate in January, said she changed her mind after realizing how important seniority is to members of Congress.

Fischer portrayed Osborn as a “Trojan horse” for Democrats, seeking to tie him to party figures such as Vice President Kamala Harris, President Joe Biden and independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Former President Donald Trump also tried to tie Osborn to the left in his support for Fischer.

“Dan is a ‘Bernie Sanders Democrat’ who does not stand for Nebraska values ​​and never will,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in September.

Osborn, meanwhile, painted himself as a populist and took political positions that did not fit neatly into either party. He said he personally opposes abortion but believes it should be legal and called himself a supporter of the Second Amendment. He supported lowering taxes on overtime pay, increasing benefits for service members and veterans, and legalizing cannabis.

He rejected support from the Democratic Party and refused to say which party he would join if elected, or to say who he voted for in 2020 or planned to vote for in 2024.

The Nebraska Democrats, who at one point said they were in talks with Osborn to form a coalition, did not field a candidate or publicly endorse Osborn.

The state also held a special Senate election to fill the second seat left vacant by the resignation of Republican Ben Sasse.