Sen. Pete Ricketts wins Nebraska primary, faces Dan Osborn in fall

Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts is set to serve a full six-year term in the Senate, after winning re-nomination in Nebraska’s red-leaning primary.

Ricketts, who was appointed in 2023 to replace Ben Sasse, and who won a special election in 2024 to fill the final two years of Sasse’s term, topped four GOP primary challengers on Tuesday, the Associated Press reports.

Ricketts now heads into this fall’s midterm elections, where he will face off in what is expected to be a competitive Senate race against independent candidate Dan Osborn, the industrial mechanic and military veteran who gave Republican Sen. Deb Fischer a scare into her 2024 reelection bid.

Tuesday’s primary was held less than six months before midterm electionswhile the Republicans aim to maintain their very slim majority in the House and their slim majority in the Senate, and the Democrats hope to ride a blue wave to escape the political desert.

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Independent candidate Dan Osborn is running for the second consecutive time for the U.S. Senate in Nebraska this year. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc/Getty Images)

“Thank you, Nebraska! I’m honored to be your Republican nominee,” Ricketts said in a social media post after his primary victory.

But looking ahead to the general election, he added: “Our work is far from done.”

In a fundraising speech, Ricketts argued, “Out-of-state liberal donors will pour millions into Nebraska this fall. Get involved now and send them a message: Nebraska’s elections will not be bought by California liberals.

Although the Nebraska Democratic Party supported Osborn in the general election, Cindy Burbank, a community college instructor, and Pastor Bill Forbes faced off for the Democratic nomination in the primary.

Burbank secured the Democratic nomination, the Associated Press reports, by crushing Forbes in the primary election.

Both candidates signed on at the last minute, and some Nebraska Democrats alleged that Forbes jumped into the race to get a Democrat on the fall ballot and was siphoning votes from Osborn to help Ricketts.

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The Nebraska State Capitol building in Lincoln, Nebraska (Getty Images)

Forbes has denied these claims.

Burbank says she entered the race to keep Forbes off the ballot in November.

Ricketts is the eldest son of TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts and, along with other family members, co-owns Major League Baseball’s Chicago Cubs.

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Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts is running for a full six-year term in the U.S. Senate this year. (Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Ricketts won election in 2014 and was re-elected in 2018 as governor of Nebraska. A week after completing his second term, he was appointed to the U.S. Senate by his successor as governor, Republican Jim Pillen.

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Leading nonpartisan political handicappers rank Nebraska’s Senate general election showdown as likely Republican.

The GOP currently controls the Senate with a 53-47 majority.