Cindy Burbank won Nebraska’s Democratic primary for U.S. Senate on Tuesday, running as a placeholder candidate with the intent to withdraw and support independent Dan Osborn in the general election.
Unofficial election results from the Nebraska Secretary of State’s office show Burbank defeating William J. Forbes to secure the Democratic nomination, 100,940 votes to 12,185 votes, with Burbank capturing 89 percent of the total. In the Republican primary, incumbent U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts defeated four challengers, receiving 82 percent of the vote.
The Legal Marijuana NOW Party also held a U.S. Senate primary on Tuesday, with Mike Marvin defeating Earl Starkey for the party’s nomination with 66 percent of the vote.
Burbank’s expected withdrawal would clear the Democratic line from the November ballot and set up a general election race between Ricketts, Osborn, and Marvin. Osborn is making his second independent bid for U.S. Senate after challenging Republican Deb Fischer in 2024, receiving a historic 417,801 votes but falling short of victory.
Nebraska’s U.S. Senate race has been mired in accusations and controversy this year, with candidates in multiple party primaries accused of entering the race as plants to shape the general election field.
Burbank was briefly removed from the Democratic primary ballot in March after Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen refused to certify her candidacy. Evnen found that Burbank was not a “good-faith candidate,” pointing to her stated support for Osborn and her public comments about the purpose of her campaign.
“Dan Osborn is a good man, a working man, a strike leader, and someone we can trust. He deserves a fair shot against Ricketts,” Burbank’s campaign website still reads as of Wednesday. “So vote for me – and I’ll make sure we send Billionaire Pete Ricketts PACKING!”
Burbank sued in response, seeking an order requiring Evnen to place her on the ballot on the grounds that his decision exceeded his authority under state law. A lower court initially sided with Evnen before the Nebraska Supreme Court reinstated her on March 23, ruling that the deadline had passed for objections to her candidacy. As no timely objection had been filed, the court found that Burbank’s filing was valid and that Evnen was required to certify her for the ballot.
Burbank herself also accused Forbes, her opponent in the Democratic primary, of entering the race to benefit Ricketts. Forbes, an anti-abortion pastor who has supported President Donald Trump in the past, denied that he was a plant, telling KETV that he was a “real Democrat in the mold of JFK and Ben Nelson.”
The Legal Marijuana NOW Party primary drew its own allegations, with the Nebraska Examiner reporting that Marvin had been accused by former party figures of being in the race to benefit Osborn, which both men have denied. The accusations drew additional attention after it was discovered that Burbank paid Marvin’s filing fee. Burbank said she did so after election officials refused to accept Marvin’s own check because it was written for the wrong amount.
The Legal Marijuana NOW Party also factored into Osborn’s first Senate campaign. In 2024, party nominee Kerry Eddy withdrew from the race and endorsed Osborn over Fischer, much to the frustration of party leaders. The organization initially planned to identify a new candidate if she went through with it, but ultimately did not, leaving the party without a general election Senate nominee.
As of Wednesday, Burbank had not yet formally withdrawn from the race or announced her next steps.
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