A bright spot for Democrats, as Republicans’ scramble to gerrymander the old confederacy plows forward: Over in Nebraska, the path is cleared for an independent who supports things like strengthening the social safety net and taking on corporate power.
That candidate, Dan Osborn, is mounting a second independent Senate run with Democratic support, the logic being the Democratic Party brand might be too toxic in the state, but that voters may still want an option to reject Trump Republicans. Sen. Pete Ricketts (R) is up for reelection this year.
But a “Democrat” no one was expecting got into the race earlier this year: an anti-abortion, Trump-voting pastor who, CNN found, had posted on his Facebook page about attending a Republican training session — then deleted the post. CNN confronted the candidate, William Forbes, about all this back in March:
Asked repeatedly to name a Democrat he voted for, Forbes grew frustrated and said the party needed to return to the “morality” it represented under President John F. Kennedy.
So that was the first Democrat to get into the Senate primary. Didn’t seem great!
Cindy Burbank, another Democrat, soon entered the race, promising to immediately drop out if she won, clearing the field for Osborn. Because she didn’t plan to run in the fall, the state’s Republican Secretary of State initially tried to boot her, but she sued and was able to say on the ballot.
On Tuesday night, Burbank trounced Forbes. The race was called just a few minutes after polls closed. As of this writing, Burbank has 89% of the vote; Forbes has just over 10%.
