Nebraska Democrats have selected Cindy Burbank as their U.S. Senate candidate after she swept the primary with 100,940 votes to William Forbes’ 12,185, according to fully reported precincts across the state. Burbank, a retired pharmacy technician, has now pledged to withdraw from the general election race entirely—exactly as she announced during her campaign.
The strategy aims to clear a direct path for independent Dan Osborn, the candidate the Nebraska Democratic Party officially supports for November. Democrats believe Osborn, who narrowly defeated incumbent Senator Deb Fischer in 2024 by seven points as an independent, has a realistic chance of flipping the Senate seat if Democratic votes are consolidated against Republican Senator Pete Ricketts.
Burbank and the party accused Forbes of being a plant designed to remain on the November ballot and siphon support away from Osborn, effectively shielding Ricketts. Forbes denied allegations he entered the race to aid Republicans, though state records show he was registered as a Democrat and had voted for President Trump while opposing abortion access.
The Nebraska Democratic Party endorsed Burbank in the primary and Osborn for the general election, explicitly designating their preferred November candidate as Osborn. This arrangement follows the party’s earlier decision not to field a traditional Democratic nominee for the Senate seat.
With 100% of precincts reported, Burbank secured overwhelming victory margins in a low-turnout primary that saw 26.99% statewide participation—339,302 ballots cast among 1,257,063 registered voters. Meanwhile, incumbent Pete Ricketts won his Republican primary with 155,472 votes out of 190,060 cast.
Nebraska’s Republican secretary of state previously removed Burbank from the ballot before a state Supreme Court order restored her candidacy—a detail that added complexity to the race but did not alter the party’s strategic choice. The Democratic Party’s move underscores their assessment that their strongest path to victory lies in facilitating Osborn’s chance against Ricketts rather than running a conventional general election campaign under their own banner.
