Osborn Visits in Sidney in Final Week of Campaign

SIDNEY-- Dan Osborn, Independent U.S. Senate candidate, came to Sidney, in the last week of his campaign to unseat incumbent Republican Senator Deb Fischer, to shore up support in the western Nebraska community. After the morning event at Beans & Steams Coffee House on Glover Road in Sidney, Osborn said that he would be traveling to Scottsbluff for another event.

Osborn has been traveling throughout the state for over a year and giving speeches to small groups like the one assembled at Beans & Steams. He likened campaigning to a job interview.

"This is the longest job interview in the history of job interviews," he said and the crowd laughed in agreement.

A turnout of about 35 people showed up to listen to Osborn's election pitch, and for the most part, they received his message favorably. Osborn stressed that partisan politics has created a divide among Americans that needs to be healed.

"If you see a car broken down on the side of the road, it shouldn't matter to someone who wants to help if you have a Democratic or Republican bumper sticker on your car," Osborn said. The assembled crowd nodded in agreement with that sentiment, although some pointed questions were asked of the candidate as the event progressed.

During his speech, he talked about a wide range of subjects to let the attendees get a sense of who he is. He spoke about the Kellogg's strike in Omaha, noting that $700 million dollars was spent to break that strike. He said despite the massive amount of money against them, the strikers wouldn't break and negotiated concessions from Kellogg's management. Kellogg's announced in August of 2024 that it would close the Omaha plant in 2026, with a corresponding loss of 550 jobs. Osborn also spoke about the negative influence of corporate money, stemming from the Citizen's United decision, which he believes is giving corporate entities and "billionaires" far too much influence in politics. The Citizen's United Supreme Court decision in 2010 reversed certain provisions of the Federal Election Campaign Act supported in a 1990 ruling in the case of Austin vs. Michigan Chamber of Commerce that the court considered to be violations of First Amendment Free Speech rights, and allowed corporations and outside groups to spend money on electioneering. Although some argue that this decision has led to even more corporate and special interest money spent on political campaigns, there is a counterargument that the ruling necessitated transparency on who was behind the ads.

Osborn criticized his opponent, Senator Deb Fischer, saying that she was beholden to "big money" interests, and did not represent the will of Nebraska voters. He said that she helped kill the bipartisan Border Bill, and noted one reason for her vote was because of her backing by the Big 4 Meat Processors, who Osborn called "a monopoly." He said that the meat processors benefit from a "wide-open border", and that's why we have not had anything done on a Border Bill or Immigration Reform in this country. However, when an attendee stated the main reason for the defeat of the Border Bill was because of funding for Ukraine and other non-border spending items put into the bill Osborn said, "Why it was voted down isn't the point, we could argue about that all day long." Osborn stated that he would have "definitely voted for the first Border Bill", but when asked if he had read the Border Bill he responded, "Not front to back."

He clarified a statement about giving illegal aliens social security cards, saying "I was talking about people who have been here for many years and are members of the community--they need to get legal status." He then added that as a potential "51st Senator" to break ties, that could potentially give him the ability and the power to abolish the filibuster.

When asked if he supported a "pathway to citizenship" for all illegal immigrants, Osborn said, "No. There's going to have to be some people who have to go in order to do it right."

After the town hall event, he took questions from the media and was asked about delays in the Sentinel Project which is very important to the residents of voters of Cheyenne County and the Panhandle area. Osborn sat for a long-ranging interview with the Sun-Telegraph in early June of 2024, and during our conversation, the Sentinel Missile Project was discussed. He admitted that he was not very familiar with the project, and that would be a subject he would learn more about as the campaign continued. When asked at the Beans & Steams event about the delays in the project, he said, "I'm sorry. I apologize. I haven't had the chance to look into that."

The Sun-Telegraph asked about money and influence coming from various liberal activist groups such as Retire Career Politicians, based out of Washington, D.C., that are supporting his campaign and sending out mailers in support. That group alone has recently raised nearly $2 million from donors and activist groups like hedge-fund executive Donald Sussman, Phoebe Gates, daughter of billionaire Bill Gates, and the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a prominent left-wing dark money group. He said, "I don't know anything about that. We can't control what other groups do, and who they support. They are interested in getting Deb Fischer out of office, and I'll take the support from wherever I can."

Osborn started his campaign by enlisting the support of Brad Chester, a former aide to Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and member of the D.C./Metro Democratic Socialists of America, as Campaign Finance Director. Also at the beginning of his campaign, Osborn hired consulting firm "Bread and Roses", which is managed by former staffers of Sanders and Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes (D-N.Y.), Cori Bush (D-Mo.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.). Records also show that Justice-Democrats co-founder Saikat Chakrabarti contributed $6,600 to the Osborn campaign, the maximum allowed by law.

During his speech, Osborn claimed that the majority of his financial support comes from Nebraskans sending his campaign an average of $40, but Federal Election Law disclosures show otherwise. Disclosures over the past week show about $380,000 from nearly 200 donors who have contributed more than $1000 each to the Osborn campaign, with only six of those donors residing in Nebraska. A five-figure contribution was sent from former Democratic National Committee finance chair Jane Stetson. The list of contributors shows many from Washington, D.C., California, New York, and Massachusetts.

Following up on the question of student loan forgiveness, but only for select professions, like teaching or health care, Osborn stood by his earlier statement that only teachers or health care providers should qualify for loan forgiveness when asked why somebody like a graphic designer also shouldn't get loan forgiveness.

"Teachers and nurses are there to help the community. They have important jobs. They help educate, they help us when we're sick. They help our kids get educated and become successful in the future. A graphic designer just sits in front of a computer and makes ads. That's different."

When reminded that professions like graphic design pay the taxes that build the hospitals and schools and provide the money to pay the health care workers and teachers and that tradesmen build the structures to house the teachers and the doctors, Osborn responded that it was a different issue.

When pressed on who he supported or voted for in the Presidential election, Osborn again refused to answer. He said saying who he supported or would vote for would amount to an endorsement of the candidate, and as and Independent, he stressed that he is willing to work with whatever party is in power, and whoever controls the White House. Osborn will have to wait like the rest of us to find out who will be in control of the House, the Senate, and the White House, like the rest of us Nebraskans.