Dan Osborn raises more than $1 million for second Nebraska U.S. Senate race against Ricketts

LINCOLN — Registered nonpartisan Dan Osborn raised more than $1 million last quarter for his 2026 race against Nebraska Republican U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts, his campaign announced.

The Osborn campaign says more than 17,000 donors gave to the former Omaha labor leader, with an average contribution of $43.46. Fundraising reports are still being finalized with the Federal Election Commission.

“I’m proud that Republicans, Democrats and independents are joining our coalition, because we all believe it’s time to get big money out of politics and lower costs for working people,” Osborn said.

The haul is the latest indication that Osborn can once again raise enough to mount a serious challenge to a sitting senator. He outraised Republican U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer in the 2024 race, according to OpenSecrets.org, which tracks federal fundraising.

He raised $14 million. Fischer raised $8 million and beat Osborn by about six percentage points.  Both drew significant out-of-state money, with Osborn raising $7.77 million and Fischer $3.8 million. 

Osborn’s fundraising pace is running ahead of his first full fundraising quarter after joining the 2024 race, which was $171,000, according to the Osborn campaign.

The Ricketts campaign said it is waiting to release fundraising totals until the Oct. 15 deadline for reporting third-quarter tallies to the FEC — though the former two-term governor significantly outraised Osborn in the previous fundraising quarter. His campaign raised $901,113 and his separate Pete Ricketts Victory Fund raised $1.2 million. His victory fund can be used to support other candidates, political parties and causes, and also helps his campaign. 

Ricketts has a combined war chest of about $1.5 million in cash on hand. He ran in a 2024 special election to finish the last two years of former GOP U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse’s term. For that race, he raised $5.8 million against Preston Love Jr., fundraising records show. Ricketts raised more than half of his funds for the 2024 race out of state.

Before Osborn’s 2024 bid, The last non-Republican Nebraska U.S. Senate candidate to raise more than $1 million in a quarter was Bob Kerrey in 2012. Kerrey had served as Nebraska’s governor and as a U.S. senator.

The Ricketts campaign criticized Osborn’s seven-figure haul, telling the Examiner that “95% of Dan Osborn’s donations came from out of state in 2024” and “Democrat Super PACs spent more than $20 million to get him elected.”  

Osborn did receive late help in 2024 from Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Ricketts’ political team has also criticized Osborn for using ActBlue, a fundraising tool that promotes itself as a tool for Democrats.

ActBlue changed its rules earlier this year to include Independent or nonpartisan candidates on a “case-by-case” basis, rather than limiting its use to Democrats.

“Fake Dan Osborn pretends he will fight for working Nebraskans. But Democrats are working to get him elected because Osborn will work for them – not Nebraska,” said Will Coup, Ricketts campaign spokesman

Osborn’s relationship with Nebraska Democrats is complex. He flirted with seeking Democratic support in 2024 until it was too late for the party to run its own candidate, which led to some Democrats grumbling at Osborn and his supporters for trying to minimize the number of names on the general election ballot. 

This time around, the state’s Democrats have said they are not actively recruiting a Senate candidate, signaling support for his bid against Ricketts. Osborn has said he would caucus with neither party in the Senate.

This week’s fundraising numbers could hint at a competitive race between Ricketts and Osborn. The matchup has already garnered national attention. Part of the draw is Osborn’s labor populist style from 2024 that others have joined in testing nationally for the 2026 midterms.  

The campaign has started off hot, as Ricketts and Osborn tussled over the past few months – a major difference compared to Fischer’s approach to Osborn. She largely ignored him until the race’s last few months.

The Ricketts team is trying to paint Osborn as a “fake” independent. Osborn recently called Ricketts a “fake senator” last month, saying he “brought way into the Senate with…dad’s money.”