Ricketts, Osborn talk tariffs, Iran war during Nebraska State Fair debate

GRAND ISLAND — Amid the late-summer heat ahead of Labor Day weekend, incumbent U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts and independent challenger Dan Osborn met for a debate at the Nebraska State Fair.

This was the first state fair debate since 2018 when U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., debated Jane Raybould of Lincoln, then a Lincoln City Council member, and then-Gov. Ricketts debated state Sen. Bob Krist of Omaha for governor.

The race between Osborn and Ricketts has drawn national attention for its nontraditional political dynamics. The race has been heated, with the candidates trading attacks for roughly a year. As Election Day approaches, Ricketts has been trying to paint Osborn as a “secret Democrat.” Osborn, the former labor leader, has been pitching himself as being above party lines with a working-class populism.

The same rhetoric continued at Tuesday’s debate, with Ricketts referring to Osborn as “Democrat Dan” so many times that Osborn joked there should be a “third podium” for him. Osborn in turn doubled down on his promise not to caucus with either party if elected, and said he would push for campaign reforms that encouraged candidates to run on principles, rather than party lines.

“We just have to take off these red and blue jerseys and come back together as Americans,” Osborn said.

Ricketts rebutted that Osborn’s refusal to caucus was “foolishness,” because “that’s not how the system works.” Ricketts repeated his argument that Osborn would side with Democrats on all issues, which Osborn denied.

Osborn is hoping to do better than his 7-percentage-point loss to Fischer in 2024. Ricketts, who was governor of Nebraska from 2015 to 2023 before being appointed to the U.S. Senate in 2023, is facing one of his toughest challenges yet, as Osborn could prove to be a more serious candidate than Ricketts has faced in the past as an incumbent.

Ricketts and Osborn were asked questions on a range of topics:

Inflation

Ricketts and Osborn each referenced rising prices on products like groceries and gasoline, though they differed on the causes and possible solutions.

Ricketts defended the widespread tariffs imposed under the Trump administration, saying that they help level the playing field between the U.S. and other nations. He said he wants to continue to utilize tariffs to protect Nebraska agriculture.

While Osborn said tariffs can be helpful, he argued that the “blanket” tariffs under Trump raise prices for Americans and are effectively an added tax. He said he wants to return tariff power to Congress and close loopholes that offer major corporations tax breaks — policies that he argued Ricketts has routinely supported.

Ricketts pushed back on this, touting his support for what he referred to as the Working Families Tax Cut Act — commonly known as the One Big Beautiful Bill — which he said prevented a $2,400 tax increase on Nebraskans.

Agriculture

Both candidates spoke out against President Donald Trump’s 90-day tariff waiver for up to 300,000 metric tons of imported ground beef. Osborn went so far to call it a “colossal mistake,” particularly for Nebraska ranchers, as some of them have cut the size of their herds in half to cope amid the drought.

Ricketts said he told Trump that “short-term solutions,” such as the tariff waiver, aren’t good for ranchers. He said expanding the size of U.S. cattle herds is the real solution to lower beef prices.

Ricketts noted that he has been endorsed by the Nebraska Farm Bureau. Osborn has been endorsed by the Nebraska Farmers Union.

Immigration

Osborn said he agreed with the basic mission of Immigration and Customs Enforcement — to keep communities safe — and said he felt former President Joe Biden had failed on border concerns. However, he argued that the increased budget for ICE was “wasteful spending,” and said if elected he would support policies that increase training and promote accountability, such as requiring body cameras for ICE officers.

“We should never get used to troops in our streets,” Osborn said.

Ricketts accused Osborn of lying about his thoughts on border policy, saying he would support giving illegal immigrants a path to citizenship. He claimed he has footage of Osborn comparing U.S. law enforcement to Nazi Germany and calling officers “chickensh–.”

Osborn denied this, saying he didn’t know what Ricketts was talking about. He further accused Ricketts of sending people to follow him around at his town halls, calling it “disturbing.”

Campaign finance

Both candidates accused the other of benefiting from “dark money,” referring to large political donations made by anonymous contributors.

Osborn said the Ricketts family was part of a group of notable names known to fund dark money initiatives, along with Elon Musk and George Soros. He noted that Ricketts has contributed to his own campaign. If elected, Osborn said he would work to reduce the influence of dark money in elections.

Ricketts in turn accused Osborn of benefiting from dark money, noting that during his 2024 campaign against Fischer, 95% of Osborn’s contributions came from out of state. Osborn responded that his current campaign has roughly 71,000 individual donors, from which the average contribution is about $40.

Osborn acknowledged there are some political advertisements funded by dark money that support his campaign, but said that he doesn’t stand by the ads that don’t include that he approved the message.

Ricketts acknowledged that he has contributed to his own campaign, but said that’s because he believes in Nebraska and that is where his roots are. He repeated his argument that Osborn was trying to sell voters on a message developed by liberal donors.

“The truth is, I can’t be bought,” Ricketts said. “He already has.”

War in Iran

Ricketts and Osborn both said they believed Iran shouldn’t have a nuclear weapon because that would be a threat to U.S. national security. They also each acknowledged that the war puts financial pressure on Nebraska families.

Ricketts said he supported continuing to put pressure on Iran through measures like sanctions to prevent them from developing a nuclear weapon, and he reiterated his belief that Osborn would side with Democrats on ideas he argued would undermine Trump’s authority.

Osborn noted that Trump made a promise during his 2024 campaign not to enter the U.S. into any new foreign wars. He said the power to declare war should remain with Congress and argued in support of deterrent measures like maintaining a military presence in areas like the Persian Gulf.

The general election is Nov 3.

Nebraska Examiner political reporter Juan Salinas II contributed to this report.