Independent candidate for U.S. Senate in Nebraska. Every point on this page links to its source. We don't grade candidates or tell you how to vote. As of 2026-09-28.
From FEC filings for 2025–26. Outside spending is money a group spends on its own about a candidate — TV and online ads, mail, canvassing. It is not a donation to the campaign, and the candidate does not control it. Supporting means it was spent to help that candidate win; Opposing means it was spent to defeat them, usually on attack ads. Groups report it within 24 or 48 hours as the election nears. Raised is the campaign's own fundraising, as of its latest quarterly report. Largest donors come from each outside spender's own FEC receipts, with each donor's share of its itemized receipts; donors under $100,000 are not named. People are shown with the employer and occupation they reported. A donor that is itself a political committee is shown with its own largest donors. Companies and nonprofits don't report their funders to the FEC, so the trail ends there, and the page says so.
Dan Osborn (IND)
Raised
$5.8M through 2026-06-30individuals $5.5M · PACs $140K · from the candidate's other committees $20K · cash on hand $2.4M
CORNHUSKER MAJORITY— $2.8M opposing Osborn
· 3 ads on this pageWIN IT BACK PAC— $2.1M opposing OsbornLargest donors:
CLUB FOR GROWTH ACTION $4.5M (40%); Jeff Yass $4.5M (39%), SIG, Managing Director; SCHOOL FREEDOM FUND $1.9M (17%); William H Roj $300K (3%), Retired; Ricky Sandler $100K (1%), Eminence CapitalWORKING CLASS MAJORITY PAC, INC— $1.5M supporting OsbornUNITED FUTURES PAC— $225K supporting OsbornSLF PAC— $100K opposing OsbornLargest donors:
ONE NATION $70.7M (28%) (an organization: its own funders aren't reported to the FEC); Miriam Adelson $30.0M (12%), Adelson Drug Clinic, Physician; Stephen A Schwarzman $17.0M (7%), Blackstone, Chairman & CEO; Paul Elliott Singer $14.5M (6%), EMC, President; Elon Musk $10.0M (4%), Space Exploration Technologies Corp., CEOand 6 more
What named supporters and critics say, as reported. Shown in equal numbers.
Praise
Cindy Burbank: Says Osborn is a great guy and deserves a fair shot against Ricketts. nbcnews.com
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Jane Fleming Kleeb (Nebraska Democratic Party chairwoman): Announces the party is supporting Osborn's Senate campaign. washingtonexaminer.com
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Criticism
Will Coup (Ricketts campaign spokesperson): Says Osborn is bought and paid for by liberal, out-of-state donors and will side with Democrats on the border, taxes, and the America First agenda. thehill.com
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Ricketts campaign: Says Osborn is bought and paid for by liberal, out-of-state, coastal donors and will side with Chuck Schumer. nebraskapublicmedia.org
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Controversies
Stated as reported. Most are reported by at least two independent news outlets or found in an official record; any with only one source so far is marked Single source.
Allegations
FEC complaint alleging improper family payments and dark money coordination Single source
Only one source found so far. We keep looking for a second, independent report.
Americans for Public Trust filed a complaint with the FEC alleging Osborn, his campaign, and affiliated PACs (Working Class Heroes Fund and League of Labor Voters) improperly funneled over $434,000 to Osborn's wife, daughter, sisters-in-law and brother-in-law, and that the PACs functioned as an illegal end-around campaign finance limits. The Osborn campaign called the allegations baseless and said it is fully compliant with FEC rules.
Response: "is fully compliant with all FEC rules."
Nebraska election official's FEC complaint over 'soft money' PAC payments to campaign staff Single source
Only one source found so far. We keep looking for a second, independent report.
Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission chair Jeffrey Davis filed an FEC complaint alleging Osborn used a 'soft money' account of his Working Class Heroes Fund PAC to pay campaign staff, including his wife and sister-in-law, in violation of federal election law. Osborn's campaign called the complaint a politically motivated nuisance.
Campaign payments to Osborn's wife and family members Single source
Only one source found so far. We keep looking for a second, independent report.
Federal Election Commission filings reviewed by Fox News Digital showed Osborn's campaign and affiliated PAC paid roughly $370,000-plus across 2024 and 2026 cycles to his wife, daughter and sister-in-law, including payments to a consulting firm co-owned by his wife formed shortly before receiving a $50,000 PAC payment. Osborn defended the payments as fair-market-value compensation for real campaign work.
Cancelled fundraiser tied to Epstein-linked email Single source
Only one source found so far. We keep looking for a second, independent report.
Osborn canceled a Washington, D.C. fundraiser that was to be co-hosted by a Democratic operative whose name appeared repeatedly in a Department of Justice email released about Jeffrey Epstein. Reporting noted the operative had previously worked as a policy adviser to the Hillary Clinton campaign and for a Democratic senator.
Leaked audio criticizing Trump voters Single source
Only one source found so far. We keep looking for a second, independent report.
A leaked audio recording captured Osborn saying that some Trump voters only cared about being on the 'winning team' and that 'their lives probably suck.' Osborn confirmed the recording's authenticity when asked by CNN and offered an apology to those who might be offended.
Response: "certainly I would apologize to those people that might be offended, but I got to tell them I feel their pain."
Union-era alerting of federal authorities to unverified claims of undocumented replacement workers Single source
Only one source found so far. We keep looking for a second, independent report.
CNN reported that during the 2021 Kellogg's strike, Osborn, then a union president, said on a podcast that his union had contacted Homeland Security and ICE with claims that Kellogg's was replacing striking workers with undocumented immigrants; CNN found no evidence supporting the claim and Osborn offered none. His campaign said Osborn personally only contacted a local sheriff's department for guidance, while others on his team contacted federal authorities individually.
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