Trump-endorsed Sen. Pete Ricketts wins Nebraska Senate race

 

Senator John Peter “Pete” Ricketts has won reelection to serve his first full term in the upper chamber of Congress representing the Cornhusker State.

With 91% of the total votes counted, the Associated Press called the race for Ricketts (R-Neb.), who received 50.3% of the vote (370,411 votes), while independent challenger Dan Osborn trailed behind, receiving 43.7% (321,218 votes).

All other candidates fell below 10% of the vote. There were no Democrats competing in the general election, though the Nebraska Working People Party, Legal Marijuana Now Party and the America First Party were represented on the ballot.

Ricketts is an American businessman and politician serving as a United States Senator from Nebraska. Born in Nebraska City and raised in Omaha, Ricketts attended the University of Chicago, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in biology and an MBA in marketing and finance. 

Before entering full-time politics, he built a career in the private sector, notably holding executive roles, including chief operating officer, at TD Ameritrade — the discount brokerage founded by his father, Joe Ricketts. Ricketts is also a co-owner of Major League Baseball’s Chicago Cubs with his siblings and served on the team’s board of directors for several years.

Ricketts transitioned to public service following an initial unsuccessful run for the U.S. Senate in 2006. He was elected as the 40th Governor of Nebraska in 2014 and served two full terms from 2015 to 2023. His tenure as governor focused heavily on conservative fiscal policies, including business regulatory reform, agricultural support, and significant state tax cuts.

In January 2023, Governor Jim Pillen appointed Ricketts to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Ben Sasse. Ricketts subsequently won a special election in November 2024 to complete the remainder of the Senate term ending in January 2027. In the Senate, he serves on key legislative committees, including Foreign Relations, Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, Environment and Public Works, and the Budget Committee. 

Ricketts was endorsed by President Donald Trump in April 2025. In his endorsement, the president referred to Ricketts as “one of the strongest Senators in the Country on Border Security.”

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The Democrat nominee, Nebraska healthcare worker and educator Cindy Burbank, withdrew from the race following her landslide primary victory in May.

Raised in Gering, Nebraska, after being born in Scottsbluff, she began working at an early age and went on to build a background across multiple industries, including working for four different railroads.

 

Since 1996, Burbank has worked as a certified pharmacy technician and financial counselor, practicing in several states and teaching pharmacy technician courses at Iowa Western Community College.

Burbank entered broader political prominence during the 2026 election cycle when she ran in the Democrat primary for the United States Senate in Nebraska against Republican incumbent Ricketts.

Centering her platform on campaign finance reform, corporate and government accountability, strengthening oversight through the Federal Railroad Administration, and expanding access to “affordable public-option healthcare,” she received the endorsement of the Nebraska Democrat Party. 

Burbank made the strategic decision to withdraw from the race to consolidate anti-incumbent support behind Independent candidate Osborn and avoid splitting the vote in the general election.

On July 21, 2026, Secretary of State Bob Evnen publicly confirmed that under Nebraska law, her name will not appear on the November ballot. The Democrat Party was advised it could try to substitute another candidate — though it did not.

“In March, Evnen had already removed Burbank from the primary ballot once, arguing she wasn’t a ‘good-faith candidate’ because she’d said she would support Independent candidate Dan Osborn against Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts if she won the Democrat nomination. Burbank sued over that removal, and a Lancaster County judge initially dismissed her case before the Nebraska Supreme Court later reinstated her to the ballot. Burbank went on to win the Democrat primary in May but vowed to drop out of the Senate race to clear a pathway for Osborn,” Nebraska Public Media reported.

Osborn, the Independent candidate, is a Nebraska labor leader, industrial steamfitter and Navy and Army National Guard veteran. He first rose to public visibility in 2021 while serving as president of BCTGM Local 50G, where he led a high-profile 77-day strike at the Kellogg’s plant in Omaha to challenge multi-tier wage structures.

Building on that populist background, Osborn launched an Independent bid for the U.S. Senate in 2024 against Republican incumbent Deb Fischer, outperforming expectations in a deep-red state by securing over 46% of the popular vote without formal party backing.

Running on a platform focused on “anti-corruption reform, small-business tax relief, middle-class tax cuts, labor protections, and border security,” he positions himself as a nonpartisan reform candidate outside the traditional two-party system.