Senate candidate Dan Osborn unveils rural platform, commits to visits in all 93 Nebraska counties

SYRACUSE, Neb. —

Independent U.S. Senate candidate Dan Osborn on Tuesday outlined his agenda for rural Nebraska, calling attention to what he described as a growing farm crisis while pledging to campaign in all 93 counties ahead of the November election.

Speaking at a farm outside Syracuse, Osborn criticized members of Congress for deadlock on support for agricultural producers.

“Ricketts and every other politician in D.C. is allowed to collect a check, while this crisis only gets worse,” Osborn said. “Congress should not be paid until we pass a Farm Bill.

Osborn said his statewide tour will focus on issues gripping rural communities, including the shuttering of the Tyson Foods Plant in Lexington and right to repair. He described a worsening condition for farmers since the start of the Iran War and said a healthcare crisis is also growing.

“Nebraskans should not have to choose between health care, accessibility and staying in their homes,” he said.

On Thursday, Osborn also received the backing of the Nebraska Farmers Union, the state’s second-largest agricultural organization. The endorsement marks a shift from the group’s position in the last Senate election, when it endorsed then-incumbent Sen. Deb Fischer.

“The wheels are falling off in rural Nebraska and in agriculture,” John Hansen, the president of the union, said. “We’ve lost an enormous amount of equity. We have lost an enormous amount of our position in the marketplace, our position with our bankers.”

The announcement comes as the race for Nebraska’s U.S. Senate seat continues to evolve. Secretary of State Bob Evnen agreed to take Democratic candidate Cindy Burbank’s name off the ballot after she suspended her campaign.

Nebraska Republican Party Chair Mary Jane Truemper characterized the move as a political maneuver intended to strengthen Osborn’s campaign, which she said is not truly independent. She urged Republicans to vote for incumbent Sen. Pete Ricketts.

“It’s going to be a tight race. And I always tell every candidate to run like you’re running from behind,” Truemper said. “Bad things happen when Republicans don’t show up to vote. And if you want to keep your state, if you want to keep communism out of your state, show up to vote.”

The Nebraska Democratic Party did not comment on Cindy Burbank’s announcement.

A spokesperson for Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts criticized Osborn’s rural campaign message.

“Dan Osborn’s donors include the man who wrote the Paris Climate Agreement and radical activists suing to shut down family farms,” Max Oberg, the deputy campaign manager for the Ricketts campaign, said. “They call Nebraska cattle ‘methane emitters.’ Sen. Ricketts is endorsed by the Nebraska Farm Bureau and has spent his career fighting for Nebraska agriculture.”

KETV also reached out to Legal Marijuana NOW Party candidate Mike Marvin but did not receive a response.

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