Nick Morris said about Dan Osborn, in Elections Daily on October 30, 2026.
Reviewing the Nebraska Senate race in a final battleground overview.
Dan Osborn
Things People Say About Dan Osborn
Dan Osborn is a former president of a BCTGM union local in Nebraska. He lost the 2024 U.S. Senate race to Sen. Deb Fischer as an independent, and ran again as an independent for U.S. Senate in 2026 against Sen. Pete Ricketts.
What People Say About Them
Ian Prasad Philbrick said about Dan Osborn, in Slate Magazine on October 29, 2026.
From Slate's Slatest newsletter by Ian Prasad Philbrick, published October 29, 2026, surveying red-leaning states where Democrats hoped to compete for Senate seats in the midterms.
Matt Shinners said about Dan Osborn, in Independent Voter News on October 14, 2026.
From an Independent Voter News article by Matt Shinners, published October 14, 2026, on Sen. Pete Ricketts' argument that Dan Osborn is secretly a Democrat and Osborn's pledge to caucus with neither party.
Jim Geraghty said about Dan Osborn, in 3 Martini Lunch – Political Humor & Commentary on October 1, 2026.
Jim Geraghty of National Review on the 3 Martini Lunch podcast (October 1, 2026), discussing Democratic hopes in traditionally Republican Senate races. He was comparing Osborn's 2024 campaign polling with the result and the current race against Sen. Pete Ricketts.
3 Martini Lunch – Political Humor & Commentary
Around 09:14 into the episode
Jim Geraghty
…to put them over the top. Nebraska, you could pretty much rerun the tape from my assessment of it last time around. Dan Osborne released a bunch of internal polls. He convinced people that this was going to be a very close race. When the votes were counted, Republican Deb Fischer won 53.3% to.
Speaker 1
46.7%, a margin of more than 62,000 votes. Is that a guarantee that Republican Pete Ricketts is going to win reelection?
Jim Geraghty
No, but it says we probably should, you know, be a little skeptical of these internal polls released by the Osborne campaign. Lo and behold, an internal poll from the pro-Osborne super PAC put Osborne ahead by one percentage point. Time is a flat circle, as they said in the first season of True Detective. Everything we've ever done is going to happen again.
Speaker 1
And here we go again.
Jim Geraghty
Dan Osborne is close in Nebraska. Again, registered voters. It's just a very Republican state. You really need things to break their way. I see a very similar dynamic in South Dakota where independent... By the way, Brian Bangs ran as a Democrat for Senate four years ago.
Speaker 1
Nothing's changed. This guy is a Democrat. Oh, but I'm an independent now.
Speaker names come from our own diarization. The position is estimated from where the line sits in the episode.
Where to Find Them
Dan Osborn has been a guest on Prof G Media (2 times) , What Next | Daily News and Analysis , More Perfect Union , Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff , The David Pakman Show , America’s Work Force Union Podcast , The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie , Pod Save America and Raging Moderates with Scott Galloway and Jessica Tarlov .
Recently: “The Most Surprising Election In America” on More Perfect Union (October 2026); “These Long Shot Candidates Could Flip Red States” on Raging Moderates with Scott Galloway and Jessica Tarlov (October 2026); “These Long Shot Candidates Could Flip Red States” on Prof G Media (October 2026); “Dead-Heat in Nebraska. Dan Osborn neck-and-neck with a $7M self-funder.” on Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff (October 2026); “Republicans admit they deserve to lose as Trump goes off the rails” on The David Pakman Show (October 2026); “REPLAY: LIVE with Senate candidate Dan Osborn (I-NE)” on Prof G Media (October 2026).
What They Said
Dan Osborn on Prof G Media's live conversation with Jessica Tarlov, explaining the backstory of a campaign song he released, after being asked about his campaign's ads.
Prof G Media
Dan Osborn
…and tired of the same old, same old, you know, especially now with, gosh, the Russia in the news and us aligning ourselves with a communist country fighting a democracy. This is crazy. It's craziness. So, yeah, I'm just excited to be doing it. And, you know, I want to talk about my song real quick.
Jessica Tarlov
Yeah.
Dan Osborn
Since you mentioned it, what happened? The backstory behind it is Ricketts came out with an AI jingle. You know, if you watch my debate, he called me Democrat Dan every 40 seconds during the debate. That's all he's got. And so we went in studio with Nebraska musicians and recorded a version of Johnny Cash. I've been everywhere, but Nebraska-specific towns as kind of a rebuttal to his AI slop. So that was probably the most fun I've had doing this so far.
Jessica Tarlov
Well, it does seem like you guys are actually having fun all the time. And not just in the conversations that you're having with, you know, everyday Nebraskans, but in the kind of ad work that you're putting out there. And I've been very, very taken with it. And I want to talk about your pitch…
Dan Osborn
Yeah, we're just trying to be different. I think most of us are just sick and tired of the political ads. And, you know, Ricketts is outspending us five to one. He's going to spend more on ads and then we will have raised the entire cycle. And they're horrible. All they do is they're just attack…
Speaker names come from our own diarization. The position is estimated from where the line sits in the episode.
Dan Osborn on Breaking Points, asked what separates him from Sen. Pete Ricketts, who also criticized Trump's beef import deal. The discussion was about meatpacker consolidation and imported beef.
Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar
Around 42:14 into the episode
Speaker 8
…a price of doing business for them. So it's very frustrating. And they are breaking the law. by not putting that plant up for sale too. Tyson did the same thing in Norfolk, Nebraska years ago with a chicken plant. They dumped concrete down their drain on the way out so a competitor couldn't buy it.
Speaker 3
…Ricketts says, yeah, he says that this is not a long-term solution. Flooding the market with lower quality beef compromises Nebraska farmers' and ranchers, they should be enabled to grow herd sizes and meet consumer demand. So what actually sets you apart from Senator Ricketts on this issue?
Speaker 8
Yeah, I think that it's, I'm not a rubber stamp, right? That's what, you know, he's rubber stamped everything that's happened up until this point. You know, as governor, he had an opportunity to go after the meat packers. And let's be clear, that's who's going to win in all this, right? Because what happens with foreign beef is it comes up across the border.
Speaker 7
It goes to the packers.
Speaker 8
They take the package off from Brazil or Argentina, whatever. They repackage it with a sticker that says USDA. And that's where M-Cool is so important. Mandatory country origin of labeling. People deserve to know where their product's coming from. And the ranchers, they deserve a premium for their…
Speaker 7
Nebraska's first in beef.
Speaker names come from our own diarization. The position is estimated from where the line sits in the episode.
Dan Osborn, independent candidate for U.S. Senate in Nebraska, on Breaking Points, discussing the closure of a Tyson beef plant in Lexington, Nebraska, and Trump's beef import deal. He was asked what the federal government had done about the closure.
Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar
Around 41:49 into the episode
Speaker 7
A natural disaster.
Speaker 6
So what has the federal government done if this was a natural disaster?
Speaker 8
Abandonment, I suppose, would be the word for it. I mean, look, Tyson, this is what Tyson does, right? They've just paid out two lawsuits recently of over $ 80 million for price fixing, strategically working with other packers to shut down plants around the country so they could dictate to the producer what they pay for the product all the way to the grocery store what we pay. And this is just like a little fine. It's kind of like the New York Yankees going above the salary cap. It's just a price of doing business for them. So it's very frustrating. And they are breaking the law. by not putting that plant up for sale too. Tyson did the same thing in Norfolk, Nebraska years ago with a chicken plant. They dumped concrete down their drain on the way out so a competitor couldn't buy it.
Speaker 3
So, sir, one thing I'm curious about is you and your opponent both seem to find yourself against this administration's order on beef. I believe that Senator Ricketts says, yeah, he says that this is not a long-term solution. Flooding the market with lower quality beef compromises Nebraska farmers'…
Speaker 8
Yeah, I think that it's, I'm not a rubber stamp, right? That's what, you know, he's rubber stamped everything that's happened up until this point. You know, as governor, he had an opportunity to go after the meat packers. And let's be clear, that's who's going to win in all this, right? Because…
Speaker 7
It goes to the packers.
Speaker names come from our own diarization. The position is estimated from where the line sits in the episode.
Dan Osborn, the independent candidate for U.S. Senate in Nebraska, speaking with Jessica Tarlov on Prof G Media's live conversation about his campaign's ad strategy, including ads that use AI and a Johnny Cash parody song.
Prof G Media
Dan Osborn
…Dan every 40 seconds during the debate. That's all he's got. And so we went in studio with Nebraska musicians and recorded a version of Johnny Cash. I've been everywhere, but Nebraska-specific towns as kind of a rebuttal to his AI slop. So that was probably the most fun I've had doing this so far.
Jessica Tarlov
…to talk about your pitch more, but let's just talk about these ads where you have not shied away from using AI in them. Can you talk about, I guess, the impetus behind the type of ad campaign that you're running and how, I'm so sorry, I don't know why it dinked. And how it's resonating with voters.
Dan Osborn
Yeah, we're just trying to be different. I think most of us are just sick and tired of the political ads. And, you know, Ricketts is outspending us five to one. He's going to spend more on ads and then we will have raised the entire cycle. And they're horrible. All they do is they're just attack ads against me. And so we're just trying to be different. We're trying to be a little bit more lighthearted and fun with it and still get our message out. I think that's how we've been successful in cutting through the noise of $50 million by being unique.
Speaker names come from our own diarization. The position is estimated from where the line sits in the episode.