Independent candidate mounts challenge to anti-abortion incumbent US Sen. Deb Fischer

Independent labor union leader Dan Osborn is challenging Nebraska Republican U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer in the November election. A series of recent polls suggests that the race is a competitive one.

Fischer, who was first elected in 2012, has a long record of working to undermine abortion rights.

Fischer does not have an issues section on her campaign website. 

In the Senate and during her earlier tenure in the Nebraska Legislature, she has consistently opposed abortion rights and backed efforts to ban the procedure. “It’s no secret that I am a strong advocate for pro-life, pro-woman policies,” she wrote in a November 2021 column. “As a member of the Nebraska Legislature, I supported a bill that banned most abortions in Nebraska after 20 weeks of pregnancy, the point at which unborn babies begin to be able to feel pain.” 

Medical experts, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, say there is no evidence that a fetus can feel pain at that point in a pregnancy.

In its annual congressional scorecards, Reproductive Freedom for All consistently rated Fischer a zero, indicating total opposition to reproductive rights.

In a section of Osborn’s campaign website called “Keep government out of our private lives,” he notes his opposition to a federal abortion ban: “While I respect the moral convictions of all Nebraskans, I believe in limited government and I do not believe the federal government is capable of resolving this issue. Under extreme federal bans, abortion will still happen. We need to focus on the root cause: on reducing unwanted pregnancies.”

Fischer voted for President Donald Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which slashed tax rates for the wealthiest Americans and large corporations. “Congress is following through on a once-in-a-generation opportunity: delivering tax relief to families in Nebraska and across the country,” she said in a December 2017 press release. “Because of this legislation, many Americans will have bigger paychecks, our businesses will have more opportunities to invest and grow, and our country will regain our competitive edge in the global marketplace.” However, the law delivered minimal benefits for working families and raised taxes for 10 million families. 

Fischer opposed a $15-an-hour federal minimum wage and voted against the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which is aimed at reducing gun violence by disarming domestic abusers and expanding background checks for gun purchasers under age 21.

According to his campaign website, Osborn backs public education, tax cuts for small businesses and middle-income earners, cannabis legalization, labor rights, and an increase in the federal minimum wage. The site notes his support for “reasonable gun safety measures, including gun safety education in our schools.”

If elected, Osborn has said, he will try to create an independent caucus in the Senate.

A SurveyUSA poll taken in late August for the political analysis site Split Ticket found that Fischer leads Osborn by just a single point, 39%-38%, among registered voters. Twenty-three percent said they were undecided. There is no Democratic candidate in the race.

This is in line with recent polls sponsored by the Osborn campaign: A YouGov survey released Aug. 19 showed Fischer with a 43%-41% lead, and a Red Wave Strategy Group and Impact Research poll released in July found the race tied at 42% each. A mid-July internal Torchlight Strategies poll for the Fischer campaign showed her ahead 49.8%-23.5%.

Nebraskans will also vote in November in a special election for the remainder of Republican former Sen. Ben Sasse’s term. Incumbent Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts, who was appointed to the seat by his successor as governor of Nebraska, Jim Pillen, in 2023, leads Democratic challenger Preston Love Jr. 50%-33%, according to the SurveyUSA/Split Ticket poll.