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LINCOLN — William Forbes, an anti-abortion pastor who lost the Nebraska Democratic U.S. Senate primary to Cindy Burbank, is suing the state Democratic Party to force it to find a replacement for her after she dropped out of the race last week.
The lawsuit was filed last week in Lancaster County District Court by Forbes. He is being represented by attorneys involved in the March lawsuit defending Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen’s decision to remove Burbank from the primary ballot.
“Nebraska law does not permit a candidate — or, more fundamentally, her political party — to abuse and distort the electoral process by running in a primary election with the deliberate purpose of exiting the race before the general election to strategically divert votes to a rival,” part of the lawsuit reads. “Nebraska law is clear: when a nominee withdraws between the primary and general elections, their political party has an obligation to replace them.”
Forbes is asking the court to grant an injunction to force the party to find a replacement for Burbank, pointing to a state law that reads “[i]f a vacancy on the ballot arises for any partisan office except President and Vice President of the United States before a general election, the vacancy shall be filled by the majority vote of the proper committee of the same political party.”
He argues in the lawsuit that the word “shall” in the law means it must be done instead of an opinion to do so. Forbes argued that voters will be “disenfranchised.”
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Nebraska Democratic Party Chair Jane Kleeb said partly in a statement that the party will “not bow down to this frivolous lawsuit, brought by a D.C. firm with connections to Senator Hawley. State law does not require us to nominate a replacement.”
The law also has the word “may” saying “If there is no executive committee of the political party or in lieu of the executive committee filling such vacancy, a mass convention of the political party may fill the vacancy and the chairperson and secretary of such convention shall make and file with the filing officer a certificate in form and manner substantially as is required to be filed by the chairperson and secretary of the executive committee under this subsection.” There is a different statute about declining the nomination that said: “a vacancy on the ballot which may be filled pursuant to section 32-627.”
This is just the latest drama surrounding the Nebraska U.S. Senate Democratic race and its nominee. Burbank had to sue to get back on the ballot after Evnen removed her because he said she wasn’t a good-faith candidate. She was able to stay on the ballot after the state Supreme Court stepped in.
Nebraska Secretary of State says Democrat Cindy Burbank won’t appear on US Senate ballot
Burbank defeated Forbes in the primary, 89.5% to 10.5%. The state’s top election official postured that he might not accept her withdrawal, but did accept it after consulting with the attorney general and determining that he doesn’t have the authority to reject it. Burbank filed her paperwork to drop out one day after nonpartisan U.S. Senate candidate Dan Osborn’s signatures to be on the fall ballot were verified by the secretary of state.
Burbank’s short-lived candidacy came under scrutiny after she was accused of being “planted” in the race to boost Osborn’s chances. Burbank has denied that accusation. Forbes faced the same scrutiny after he was accused of helping incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts. The Ricketts campaign denied any involvement. Osborn also denied any involvement with Burbank.
During the primary, Burbank told multiple news outlets she would drop out of the race only if she didn’t have a clear path to victory in the general election. The Nebraska Democrats did not actively recruit a candidate, and state party chair Jane Kleeb endorsed Osborn in the Senate race. On her website, in the run-up to the primary, Burbank wrote that she was running to give Osborn a “fair shot against Ricketts.”
A hearing in Forbes’ case is scheduled for July 29 at 3 p.m. Osborn and Ricketts are in a heated race that has received some national attention because of Osborn’s closer-than-expected performance in 2024 against Republican U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer.
Legal Marijuana NOW Party’s U.S. Senate nominee Mike Marvin is still on the ballot. There also could be two new state political parties that could place candidates on the Senate ballot, depending on whether their signatures are verified.
The deadline to replace the Democratic nominee is Sept 1.
The general election is Nov 3.
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- July 28, 20261:31 pmEditor’s note: This story has been updated to include additional context on the law cited in the lawsuit and to include comments from the state Democratic Party.
