Osborn’s independence continues to be scrutinized in Nebraska Senate race

LINCOLN — Registered nonpartisan Nebraska U.S. Senate candidate Dan Osborn has vowed repeatedly he wouldn’t caucus with either party if he pulled off the upset in the bitter race against incumbent Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts. 

He did so again at a virtual press conference on Monday with Brian Bengs and Seth Bodnar, who are running for Senate as independents in South Dakota and Montana. The trio said remaining independent could complicate their efforts to secure committee assignments, but argued their votes could carry significant weight in a closely divided Senate, allowing them to negotiate for committee assignments. 

Geoff Lorenz, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln political science professor who focuses on Congress, said committee assignments go through the major parties, so Osborn’s strategy, if he’s elected, would require him to prove to his congressional colleagues that he truly is a swing vote. 

“We’re not going to caucus with either party. In fact, we’ll caucus with everybody, you could say,” Osborn said during the press conference. “Independent means independent, and to do anything else would be a slap in the face to the people of Nebraska and our states.” 

The National Republican Senatorial Committee, in a statement, responded that “the Fake Independent circus is fooling nobody.” The Ricketts campaign and national Republicans dismissed Osborn’s answer, contending that he would caucus with Democrats and wouldn’t get committee assignments if he didn’t caucus with either party.

Congressional committees, much like those in the Nebraska Legislature, are an early step in the legislative process. Any legislation Osborn proposed would have to be referred to a committee, Lorenz said, and to advance legislation, it’s best to serve on a committee that deals with the subject. 

Lorenz said Osborn’s hypothetical strategy isn’t impossible, as Senate rules and procedures can change, but there isn’t “necessarily a good template for doing it.” 

“What Dan Osborn would have to do instead, if he wasn’t on committees … he would be to build a reputation for genuine independence,” Lorenz said. “I don’t want to claim that it’s impossible. It’s just atypical,” 

Two independents currently serve in the Senate, Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine, both of whom caucus with Democrats. An earlier independent senator was Wayne Morse of Oregon in the 1950s. According to Wake Up To Politics, a Substack from journalist Gabe Fleisher, Morse eventually decided to caucus with Democrats for better committee assignments. 

Osborn has pointed to Senate rules that require each senator to serve on at least two committees. The rule doesn’t guarantee which committees a senator serves on, and Lorenz emphasized that parties control how they divide them up.

Ricketts serves on four Senate committees: Environment and Public Works; Foreign Relations; Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; and Budget.

The Ricketts campaign and Republicans have cited a story from the online outlet Plains Sentinel that said Osborn had said during a 2025 town hall in La Vista that he would caucus with Democrats. The Cornhusker Majority, a super PAC tied to the Senate Leadership Fund, used the story in an ad showing Osborn on a cereal box. 

The Examiner asked Osborn about the story during Monday’s virtual press conference. When the outlet was mentioned in the question, Osborn said, “Fake news,” while mimicking President Donald Trump. 

“They could have taken any one of my talks and said I won’t caucus with Republicans, or they could say I won’t caucus with Democrats in the same regard. They take snippets of what I say, turn it around to try to work against me,” Osborn told the Examiner. “So you know, all I can say is what we’ve said again definitively here today. I got no interest in caucusing with either party.” 

The Plains Sentinel released a roughly three-minute audio clip of the 2025 town hall exchange after the Examiner reported Osborn’s answer. 

Lorenz said that if Osborn goes to Washington, he should hire at least one staffer with D.C. experience to help navigate the legislative process and “find a balance between people who have a connection to the state and people who know how the Hill works and know how to get things done there.” 

The Nebraska Senate race has drawn national attention for its nontraditional political dynamics, serving as a trendsetter for other red states with independent candidates. Bengs’ race in South Dakota is a true head-to-head against Republican incumbent Sen. Mike Rounds after the Democrats stepped aside. Idaho also saw the Democratic Senate candidate, David Roth, drop out. 

Bodnar, in Montana, wasn’t so fortunate, as the Democrat in the race refused to drop out. The Nebraska Senate race isn’t a true head-to-head, as three other candidates are running for the seat. Legal Marijuana NOW’s Mike Marvin has suspended his campaign and endorsed Osborn. 

The general election is Nov. 3. Early voting has already begun.