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Registered Republicans outnumber Democrats almost 2-to-1 in Nebraska, and the few Democrats who hold elected offices in the state are overwhelmingly conservative. But like the rest of the country, Nebraska is feeling the strain of soaring prices, the data center boom, and Trump’s tariffs. Is the state ready for a change?
Today on Lever Time , David Sirota visits rural Nebraska to meet Dan Osborn, the former union president and independent who is challenging Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), the son of a billionaire, for his seat. In a state where “Democrat” is a dirty word, could Osborn’s populist campaign become a blueprint for breaking free from a dysfunctional two-party system?
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This episode was produced by David Sirota and Natalie Bettendorf . The video and audio were mixed by Ron S. Doyle . Our theme music is by Nick Byron Campbell . Marketing support, ad sales, and hosting from the Podglomerate .
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TRANSCRIPT
Following is an automated, unedited transcription of this episode. The text may contain grammatical or spelling errors, especially for proper nouns, or attribute text to the wrong speaker. If you plan to quote any part of this transcript, please first confirm that it is correct by listening to the audio.
[00:00:00] David Sirota: From The Lever's reader-supported newsroom, it's Lever Time . I'm David Sirota. Last week, I drove six hours from my home in Denver, Colorado, to Ord, Nebraska, a tiny rural town of about 2,000 people right in the middle of the American heartland. Nebraska is a deep red state. Registered Republicans outnumber Democrats there almost two to one. And when Nebraskans do elect Democrats, those Democrats tend to be really conservative.
Take former senator and governor Jim Exon. As a Democratic senator, Exon was one of the most vocal anti-choice legislators of the 20th century. And as a Democratic governor, Exon was a staunch fiscal conservative who repeatedly vetoed state spending bills.
And then there was Ben Nelson, who was Nebraska's Democratic senator until 2013. Ben Nelson helped kill off Medicare for All and a public health insurance option in 2009 during negotiations over the Affordable Care Act.
Beating Republicans in Nebraska is really hard. Sometimes it seems like the word Democrat is a dirty word. But what if you didn't run as a Democrat at all?
[00:01:11] Dan Osborn on Forbes: I plan on remaining an independent and, I believe in the words of Abraham Lincoln, "This is a government by and for the people. This isn't a government for Democrats or Republicans."
[00:01:20] David Sirota: That's Dan Osborn, a Navy veteran turned industrial mechanic. And in 2026, Dan Osborn is running for the U.S. Senate as a populist independent who seems to have no filter and no patience for bullshit. He's a union guy through and through, serving as the president of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union, Local 50G.
That's a union that mainly represents workers in the food processing industry. Dan Osborn was in that industry when he worked at a Kellogg's plant in Omaha.
In 2021, he led a high-profile 77-day successful strike that preserved employee benefits and kept the factory open. The strike was what spurred Dan Osborn into politics. He ran for U.S. Senate back in 2024, but he lost to Republican incumbent Deb Fischer, who was backed by the Nebraska Farmers Union.
In a state where farms and ranches cover more than 90 percent of the land, the union's endorsement carries huge weight. But in 2026, things might be different for Dan Osborn for a few reasons.
First, the Farmers Union is now backing Osborn, largely because of the frustration farmers are feeling with this era of the Trump administration.
[00:02:36] KLKN-TV: Nebraska farmers and ranchers are pushing back on President Donald Trump's plan to temporarily allow more tariff-free foreign beef into the U.S.
[00:02:45] First Alert 6: Ben Steffen is a farmer in Humboldt, Nebraska. He says the year's been tough. You know, from a personal standpoint, this is the most expensive crop we've ever put in the ground.
[00:02:55] David Sirota: Another factor in 2026 is Osborn's opponent. Nebraska's incumbent Republican Senator Pete Ricketts is the son of a billionaire. His father founded TD Ameritrade. With the rising anger against money in politics and slimy politicians in Washington, Osborn seems to be speaking to Nebraskans who aren't just upset at Democrats, but who are upset at politicians in general and the wealthy elite who control them.
And now some polls show this Nebraska Senate race is neck and neck.
Today on Lever Time , I head to Nebraska to meet with the one and only Dan Osborn in person to see if he's the real deal, because if he can pull this off in November, there's a lot to learn. And I have some big questions. Is the Democratic Party's brand so stained in red states that it should be completely left behind?
Is Dan Osborn's campaign a blueprint for breaking free from a dysfunctional two-party system? And if Osborn wins, which party will he side with in the U.S. Senate? That's all coming up on today's episode of Lever Time .
[00:04:06] David Sirota: Welcome back to Lever Time . I'm speaking with Dan Osborn, an independent candidate for Nebraska's U.S. Senate seat.
As I'm driving over here, my aunt mentioned to me that... 'Cause we posted on, on social media that we were coming here. Mm-hmm. And she's been following your campaign. She lives in New York.
[00:04:23] Dan Osborn: Okay.
[00:04:24] David Sirota: And she wrote me an email in which she said, "I read that Dan served on the Constellation while in the Navy. You might be interested to know it was built at the Brooklyn Navy Yard while Papa," my grandfather, "was there helping run it. I'll never forget the terrible fire on the Constellation and the number of dead and injured, and the emotional toll it took on Papa for a long time. Uh, you should check it out if you haven't already." Yeah. So you were on the Constellation.
[00:04:49] Dan Osborn: Yeah.
[00:04:49] David Sirota: Yeah, so, so—
[00:04:50] Dan Osborn: Yeah, that was when it was being built.
[00:04:52] David Sirota: Yes. Yes.
[00:04:53] Dan Osborn: Yeah.
[00:04:54] David Sirota: Um—
[00:04:55] Dan Osborn: It's, uh, it— Same
[00:04:56] David Sirota: boat, right?
[00:04:56] Dan Osborn: Yeah, same ship. Yeah. It was, uh... We call them ships.
[00:04:59] David Sirota: Yeah.
[00:05:00] Dan Osborn: It was a Vietnam-era aircraft carrier, so, uh, it wasn't equipped really to have women aboard.
[00:05:09] David Sirota: Oh.
[00:05:09] Dan Osborn: Uh, but, you know, ship's crew is about 2,500 sailors. And then when the air wing was on board, it was about 5,500. Mm-hmm. So it was like, uh, bigger than this town—
[00:05:20] David Sirota: Yeah...
[00:05:20] Dan Osborn: Um, on a, on a— On a— on a ship... on a ship.
[00:05:23] David Sirota: Yeah.
[00:05:23] Dan Osborn: Yeah.
[00:05:24] David Sirota: So we're, we're in like a landlocked place.
[00:05:26] Dan Osborn: Yeah.
[00:05:27] David Sirota: I'm just... I'm curious how you got into the Navy. How'd that happen?
[00:05:30] Dan Osborn: It's a tradition. Oh. It's a tradition in my family. My grandfather, uh, he retired from the Navy. He was in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. Uh, my dad and mom, they met while they were in the Navy. My uncles were all in the Navy.
And I just always knew that's where I was gonna go. Uh, it's just what we do in my family, go and serve the country.
My older brother, he joined the Marine Corps, so he's the, definitely the, uh, the black sheep of the family.
[00:06:01] David Sirota: You just gave us a little bit about, about your, your upbringing. Um, just a little bit more about, so you, you went into the Navy and then you be— then you came out of the Navy. Mm-hmm. And where did you go from there?
[00:06:13] Dan Osborn: Uh, I came back to Omaha.
[00:06:15] David Sirota: Mm-hmm.
[00:06:16] Dan Osborn: I started attending the University of Nebraska at Omaha, uh, on the GI Bill, and the Navy College Fund at that time. Uh, and then I ran into, uh, a friend of mine who was serving in the Nebraska Army National Guard. Uh, he was on an M1A1 Abrams tank crew, and, uh, I've, I've always felt compelled to serve and that, uh, piqued my interest. So I signed up and I went to Boise, Idaho for 19K school. That's the designation for a tanker. Uh, and, uh, yeah, got, got qualified on the M1A1 Abrams and its entire weapons package and, and I did that. And I actually, uh, went to Fort Knox after 9/11. Uh, I volunteered to go out there and battle ready tanks, uh, that they were gonna send to the desert.
So to play my part.
[00:07:13] David Sirota: All right. So s— so put us in the scene where you lead a 77-day strike—
[00:07:20] Dan Osborn: Mm...
[00:07:20] David Sirota: at Kellogg's. Like, how did you get to Kellogg's? How did all, you know, after a, a certain time there, Yeah... you're leading an actual strike? Yeah. Like, tell that, tell me that story.
[00:07:30] Dan Osborn: So I was in the National Guard, uh, and I was also, uh, going to the university. I was tending bar and I was mowing yards to make ends meet. I met my wife.
Uh, we had gotten married, and we had our first daughter, Georgia. So I knew when she was born I didn't wanna be on Medicaid. I, uh, I knew I needed some health insurance and I needed, uh, some wages. 'Cause diapers are expensive, babies are expensive, health care is expensive.
So I got a job working at Kellogg's. Uh, I actually applied with the police department, Union Pacific, Mutual of Omaha. Uh, the police department and Kellogg's offered me the job in the same day. And, uh, obviously that's the route I took and I, uh, got into maintenance. Uh, and one of the first days on the job in maintenance, I was, I was, uh, wrenching on a machine and an old Polish guy by the name of Ron Jabowski, he came up to me and he said, "Hey, kid, have you joined the union yet?"
I said... This is a right-to-work state, you don't have to. I said, "No, I have not." Uh, and he looked like Tom Selleck from Magnum, P.I. , the mustache, the hair, everything. And, uh, he's like, "Well, you might wanna think about doing that." I go, "Okay." So I signed up for the n— uh, the union. I paid my dues. I just kept my head down and I worked for, hard for a lot of years.
And, uh, we started to lose on some contracts in 2015, and the old guys like Ron started to retire, so, uh, I put my name in the hat to run for executive board because I saw some of the names. I'm like, "Uh, I need to be on that board." So I got elected vice president, uh, shortly after. It was a complete changing of the guard, uh, since the old guys retired.
And, uh, the president stepped down about three months later, 'cause you get yelled at a lot in that role by both management and members alike. Uh, but so I knew the role was important, so I assumed it. And I, I d— I was doing that, uh, when COVID hit.
Mm.
COVID changed all of our lives, and for, for us, we were deemed essential workers, and we were working seven days a week, 12 hours a day. No vacations. Uh, at one point in time, 50 percent of our workforce was sick or forced quarantined, and we kept the plants running. They never shut down. And, and
[00:10:05] David Sirota: that's feeding the country basically.
[00:10:06] Dan Osborn: That's feeding the country, yeah, yeah. I mean, that's why they made record profits, because everybody was staying at home.
You know, cereal companies like that, they make more money, uh, in the summer when kids are at home, uh, eating cereal all day and after the pool or, uh, whatever. So, uh, you know, our contract expired at the end of that, and, uh, I was president at that time and, you know, I figured this is a, this is a no-brainer. We're gonna get, uh, hopefully a decent contract. And, you know, we did our contract, our, our proposal meeting. We had our proposals, the company had their proposals.
Usually in a contract you start off with the crazy ones and everybody says no, and then you find some middle ground and you meet in the middle.
Um, but they never moved off their crazy ones, and their crazy ones were taking, "We're gonna take your health insurance. We're gonna take your cost of living adjustment." That's how we kept even with inflation. "And then we're gonna implement a two-tier wage system with no path for a lower tier employee to move up. So through attrition, you know, it's gonna go from a, a 30 to $40 an hour job down to, you know, 16, 17."
Uh, we negotiated for two weeks. Every time those issues were go— were brought up, the company'd stand up and they'd walk out. They were not negotiating in good faith.
[00:11:25] David Sirota: And they're making record profits.
[00:11:26] Dan Osborn: And they made record profits. Yeah. Absolutely. So that's what they chose. They knew what was happening, because the day we went out on strike, or, or t— actually two days after we went out on strike and we set up our picket lines, they started bussing in thousands of people from this company called Amcon.
It's a one-stop scab shop out of Georgia. They brought up laborers, they brought up, uh, maintenance people, electrician, operators, millwrights, uh, to, to try to take over and replace us. And they, they failed because, uh, you know, those machines, I had been working on them for 20 years. They have their own personalities.
And, uh, I could walk by a machine, listen to it, and tell you what's wrong with it. But, you know, those guys, they, it's, they come in, they, they have no idea. So, you know, they, they failed at that. Um, but yeah, so that was 77 days, and that's really what got me into politics. Uh, and, and, you know, out on the picket line, I knew uh, politics was gonna play t— a, a role, and especially politicians.
Nobody cared what party anybody was from, uh, that when politicians would show up, we were just happy people were on our side. And, you know, we started to influence, uh, the country and, and really influence the world. We were... I was fielding calls from Japan, and Norway, and Sweden, and France. A, a filmmaking group came from France and documented the strike, and, you know, 'cause everybody knows Kellogg's.
Mm-hmm. And they were like, "What the heck's going on in America? John Deere was just on strike." You know, labor was having a moment type thing. And, uh, you know, that helped put pressure on to... And, and, and then Republican politicians started coming out to the picket line. And then really understanding, like, I was always so proud of the logo and always so proud of the name Kellogg's and to work hard and always being a part of their, uh, grassroots things to help make the business better.
And then to one day realize they don't care about me, um—
[00:13:35] David Sirota: Yeah, was it a shock to you?
[00:13:36] Dan Osborn: Yeah, it was an absolute shock. We never thought at any point that we were gonna be going out on strike. So that's what they did. They took that $2 billion of profit, and they were probably like, "This is what we're gonna do with it," 'cause we have this 10-year marker probably.
I would've loved to have been a fly in the meeting when they Mm... decided that—......... 'cause I knew they decided it, 'cause like I said, day two, they were already there, with a plan in place. So, uh, yeah, it was just kinda heartbreaking in a way, uh, for them to turn around and, and treat you, uh, basically just like a clock number. So, uh, but yeah, that's, uh, and that's it. So after 77 days, uh, we, we got a contract. Uh, we didn't gain a whole lot, but we weren't asking for a whole lot either. We just wanted to go back to work.
[00:14:27] David Sirota: So from there, that—
[00:14:30] Dan Osborn: I got fired...
[00:14:31] David Sirota: that you got fired.
[00:14:32] Dan Osborn: Yeah.
[00:14:33] David Sirota: You ge— you get fired. How soon after and what was your thinking like to go from that experience into your first run for political office?
[00:14:42] Dan Osborn: Yeah. Yeah, it was, uh... Well, it wasn't too long, I suppose. Well, no, 'cause I was working at, uh, a contractor, Grunwald Mechanical. They do pipe fitting, plumbing, HVAC. Uh, I was working for them for about three years. Um,
[00:15:01] David Sirota: but in— But is that— was
[00:15:02] Dan Osborn: the
[00:15:02] David Sirota: the strike, I assume, is where you sort of get the idea.
[00:15:04] Dan Osborn: Yeah, yeah, the strike. Well, I was approached by a group of railroaders. So this was in 2023, so it's two years after the strike. I was working in my garage and, some guys from the Central Labor Council here in Nebraska. North Platte boasts the largest rail yard in the world, and so rail— railroading's huge in this state.
And they were upset at Senator Fischer, the way she votes on rail. I mentioned the Rail Safety Act. Uh, it's an important piece of legislation for both rail workers and people who live next to tracks, to get this done right. They actually have death factored in as, uh, acceptable in their safety programs now.
So, uh, you know, they wanted to beat Deb Fischer. And, you know, they saw— they found me from all the media work I did during the strike, and started to research me, and they found out I'm a, a lifelong independent. And they're like, "Yeah, this could work," right? Uh, to give an independent voice. And the independent thing really works here because we have a history of an independent spirit in Nebraska.
George Norris, you know, creating the nonpartisan unicameral. When we vote for a state senator, there's no letter next to their name. So, uh, you know, folks around here are certainly used to that idea. And yeah, they asked me to do it, and I, I was kinda blown away. And I, I mean, I always figured something was gonna come out of it, uh, that strike.
And it just made sense to me. This is an opportunity to, you know, be me who's, uh, somebody who's always tried to uplift workers and, and represent the little guy. And, you know, I, after everybody talking to I knew, known, loved, and respected, and everybody told me, "Don't do it." "Can't be done. You're crazy. Uh, you can't go up against, uh, the Republican machine in a red state. You have no donors. You have no backing. Unions won't even support you." I was like, "Well, shoot, don't tell me I can't do something." Yeah. Kinda, "Here's hold my beer. Here we go." Yeah,
[00:17:10] David Sirota: yeah.
[00:17:11] Dan Osborn: And we decided to take on Deb Fischer and her donors.
[00:17:13] David Sirota: Yeah.
[00:17:14] Dan Osborn: And, uh, we did 200 public events. We s— we started to build off of just going out the old-fashioned way and talking to people.
And we turned the truth that this, these Senate seats, that Congress belongs to working people, right? The... We're underrepresented in the federal government. Actually, less than 2 percent of elected officials in the House and Senate come from, I guess, the working class.
I don't like that term. I've always been trying to find something better. But,
So yeah, we, took that truth and we ended up getting 47 percent of the vote. And when I first started out, we're not far from Loup City here. I, I was gonna, I was getting invited to the Loup City, uh, Republican, uh, the county meetings.
And going in... I was going to Democrat meetings, I was going to Republican meetings. I was getting standing ovations in both of them, until Deb Fischer started to take us serious. Once polling in September came out, we were tied. She was like, "Oh, crap." You know, "Now I gotta start." So they, you know, ran the nickname Democrat Dan and just started saying all these untruths about me to stoke fear in people. But yeah, we're proud of what we were able to accomplish.
[00:18:35] David Sirota: You ended up not winning. You came close. Yeah. And I think the, the question that's always, I'm sure, that you faced in that race, and now you're gonna f— you're facing in this race, is this question of why does Nebraska, why has it gone so Republican for so long?
I mean, it's not been complete, but it's been, it's been pretty Republican— It has... for a long time. How would you explain that to somebody who knows nothing about this state?
[00:18:59] Dan Osborn: Yeah. Well, I, I would think a lot of it is driven by agriculture. And I, I, and I think it started with Jimmy Carter. A lot of farmers are old enough to remember that, uh, deal where he cut off grain, and certain crops, uh, or products to Russia, uh, which hurt farmers. And then a lot of people remember some of the things that NAFTA did, not just in Nebraska, but you know, around the country with Bill Clinton.
And I think where I get really frustrated with Democrats, 'cause people are like, "Why aren't you a Democrat?" Da, da, da, da, da. "Where do you break from Democrats?" And I find them very frustrating because they tend to talk down to people. They tend to lecture, and they want people to be perfect, and they want you to go die on all these different hills for them on social issues and this and that.
And Republicans are like, "You love the country. You're a veteran. You believe in freedom and privacy, and the, the same things I believe in, and that's good enough for me." Right? Uh, "You're gonna go fight for working people."
I, I, and I think that's where, where Democrats have lost a lot of people. Because you have a guy that's driving to work. He only gets his political deals from probably the radio, driving to and from work, working 12 hours in, say, Crete, Nebraska. And you know, in 2024, talking about the top of the ticket, you have one guy saying, "I'm for the worker. You know, I'm, I'm gonna help, uh, I'm gonna help the workers," uh, drain the, "We're gonna drain the swamp," and saying all these things, and then you have the other side saying, "You need to respect people's pronouns."
And so if that's all this guy hears, it's pretty obvious who he's gonna vote for. And Trump, I mean, I think he won this area by 80 percent. Most of these small towns in rural Nebraska, he won by 80 percent. And I think it is that piece of it where it's anti-establishment, right? And I've talked to a lot of Republicans that say, "I hate my party, but I hate my party a little bit less than the other party."
[00:21:24] David Sirota: Mm.
[00:21:25] Dan Osborn: And I really think that's what it boils down to. And then it boils down to, uh, I've talked to so many people, it's almost just like an identity, right? And it's also, if you're not a Republican, you know, the most important elections out here are the primary vote, 'cause whoever wins the primary is gonna most likely win the election. So if you're not registered a Republican, your voice doesn't matter as much out here. So there's a few factors that, that go into— So then
[00:21:54] David Sirota: the,
[00:21:54] Dan Osborn: then
[00:21:54] David Sirota: the question is, from what you just said about the Democrats, why not be a Republican?
[00:21:59] Dan Osborn: Yeah. Uh, I, I grew up in a conservative home. Uh, but I don't, I don't believe in everything that the Republicans stand for either. Like, I, I... That's what I, I just don't understand about the two. Why do we have to have two choices, and that's it? You know, George Washington, in his farewell address, warned the nation of the two parties and, and the, and the factions and what they can become if we allow that to take hold, and I think we're seeing that play out right now, and I call it a two-party doom loop.
Neither side wants the other side to have a win. We're not passing farm bills. They're pointing fingers. We're not passing immigration bills. They're pointing fingers. Uh, but at the end of the day, we have to shed these jerseys of red and blue and find a way to come together, 'cause it pains me to see what's happening with people, neighbors.
Like, just in this town of Ord, you know, there was a, a straight line wind that just came through, and a hailstorm damaged a lot of crops. Everybody comes out with their chainsaws, help people put their fence back up, cut the trees down, whatever they need to do, help rebuild roofs. It's neighbors helping neighbors.
They don't care who they voted for in the election. It's just good people helping good people. But then as soon as Democrat or Republican or Trump or Harris, those names get brought up, then it's pop, pop, pop, you know? It's, it's this polarization, and that's what I'm trying to change. So for me, it's not a jersey.
It's not Republican, Democrat, and how you identify yourself. It's: Am I here to help people? Am I here to be a public servant? And that's where the corporate thing comes in, because that's who's controlling all of this. That's who's winning. That's who controls the, the money interests, and they do so so they can keep operating in, in monopolistic capacities.
We're seeing the consolidation of rail even further, meat packing, you name it, the industry, health care. And those are the ones that can afford to bankroll Senate campaigns.
[00:24:06] David Sirota: We're gonna take a quick break. We'll be right back.
Welcome back to Lever Time .
There is this question, I'm sure you've gotten it before, but ultimately if you win, it will affect who controls the Senate. I, I mean, it, it, or in theory it will.
[00:24:27] Dan Osborn: Hypothetically.
[00:24:28] David Sirota: Hypothetically, one party and its leader will control the Senate, which gets to control what happens on the Senate floor. I mean, that is, that is by— Filibuster,
[00:24:36] Dan Osborn: majority leader...
[00:24:37] David Sirota: yeah, all, all, that stuff.
[00:24:38] Dan Osborn: Yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm aware.
[00:24:39] David Sirota: Right. So then the question is, all right, you, you win. You're gonna have to pick somebody to vote for, for leader.
[00:24:49] Dan Osborn: But you say I have to.
[00:24:50] David Sirota: Well, I get, okay, you're right. ... Maybe, maybe you don't to. You can— I, can— abstain, I guess... I, don't think I—... I don't think I
[00:24:54] Dan Osborn: do have. No, yeah.
[00:24:55] David Sirota: I guess you can abstain. But then, but at that point you're, you're allowing a, a process to, to unfold where you're not gonna be part of it. I mean, ultimately— Or
[00:25:06] Dan Osborn: we could change it.
[00:25:08] David Sirota: How, so? Maybe
[00:25:08] Dan Osborn: we can change it. Well, it depends. Is, is there, uh, is there other independents? Does Seth Bodnar win? Does Brian Bengs win? Does Todd Achilles win, you know? Or are there other people that are willing to shed the party label and, and figure out a different way of doing things? Uh, because, you know...
[00:25:29] David Sirota: So you reject that it's, it's Chuck Schumer or John Thune?
[00:25:34] Dan Osborn: Oh, yeah. I don't like either of those guys. Uh, yeah. I, and, and, you know, how I'm going to operate, I mean, we'll see. But, uh, yeah, I think, I think there's a better way to do it because I feel like, I feel like we have to. I feel like too many people that I talk to are, are struggling in ways that, especially this young generation, in ways that I never had to in my parents' generation, and certainly my grandparents' generation didn't have to.
With costs, with insurance prices, with property taxes, you know, not just, uh, health insurance, but car insurance. Like, all this stuff is getting so expensive. And you know, I, I mentioned consumer protection and housing. That's one of the reasons why I got into this race, is 'cause when I sat down and I asked my family if we wanna do this again, especially against a guy like Pete Ricketts, who just has made a political career out of dragging people down so he can elevate himself.
We've all known somebody in high school like that who just wants to try to be popular by crapping on other people. That's Pete Ricketts. Um, but my daugh— once we started talking about the issues, my daughter, uh, she's a hairdresser. Her husband, or, or her fiancé is a, is a plumber. And those are two pretty good jobs, and they can't even think about buying a house.
[00:27:00] David Sirota: Yeah.
[00:27:01] Dan Osborn: And at their age, my wife and I were looking at houses.
[00:27:04] David Sirota: Yeah.
[00:27:04] Dan Osborn: Um, you know, I had to work 60, 70 hours to be able to, to get there, but it was possible. And right now it's not. So we're having, like, this generation that it's having this sense of financial nihilism.
They're turning to Kalshi and Polymarket. They're gambling, they're not saving. And, and you know, anxiety for this, for these young people is at an all-time high. Depression, uh, suicide rates climb. And you know, we decided we have to do this because— My kids know me and they understand this campaign, and they understand that I am not gonna be bought and sold by special interests.
And how we figure it out when we get to the U.S. Senate... Well, I gotta, I gotta get there first.
[00:27:52] David Sirota: Yeah.
[00:27:52] Dan Osborn: How we do it when we get there, I don't know, but I think you can tell by me and what I've done in my life, I'm not afraid to challenge things and to, to challenge ideas and norms, as long as we feel like the end game is elevating the American experience.
[00:28:11] David Sirota: All right. So here's, here's, like a real practical question.
[00:28:15] Dan Osborn: Yeah.
[00:28:15] David Sirota: Is there something... Give me an example of something that you'd say, in general, like, "I'm with the Democrats on," and, in general, "I'm not with the Democrats on." Like—
[00:28:26] Dan Osborn: Yeah...
[00:28:27] David Sirota: like stuff that's come up, anything that comes to mind. I've, Like, on this fis— issue, I'm basically with them, and on this issue, I'm gonna disappoint them, I'm not with them.
[00:28:36] Dan Osborn: Yeah, I think the, the border's one. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris failed miserably on the border. I think without a border, you don't have a country. And so to invest in the border and border patrol and technology and everything like that, I mean, if, you know, you're talking about plumbing, you fix the leak before you start, you know, trying to mop up the water.
And so the flip side to the border is immigration, and this is where I don't agree with the way the Republicans have... are currently handing, handling immigration. Well, I mean, I guess I have to blame them both because I was watching on my Instagram feed, uh, that came across as I was doom scrolling, a debate between, uh, Ronald Reagan and George Bush.
[00:29:26] David Sirota: Oh.
[00:29:27] Dan Osborn: And, uh, I don't remember the year. I know this
[00:29:28] David Sirota: clip, yeah.
[00:29:29] Dan Osborn: Yeah, yeah. And they were talking about immigration. They actually sound like the Democrats do today. Uh, but the fact remains is they were talking about immigration well over 50 years ago the same way we're talking about it today.
Yeah. So that begs the question, why? Why hasn't anything gotten done? If this has been an issue and a problem, why hasn't it gotten done?
Well, it's because companies like Tyson exploit labor, pay them next to nothing. You know, the company store, they enrich themselves. They pay off Pete Ricketts, and he looks the other way. And so you have on one side of the border it says closed, but as soon as you get across there, it says now hiring, right?
So we know we have a broken system and, you know, Pete Ricketts takes snippets of what I say, and he doesn't want people to know what I say after. And on immigration, you know, I'm, I'm always talking about immigrants who have come to this country and started businesses that employ other Americans, and, and immigrants who have come here that are part of American families, uh, or they've come here on a H-1 visa.
You know, they're chemists and biologists, and they get stuck in this broken system, where it, it takes forever to be able to become a citizen, uh, or some, some sort of permanent status. That's who I was talking about. What we don't want is we don't want immigration to come and, you know, compete and take our jobs.
We already have that problem with, uh, already sending our jobs down to Mexico, right? So there's, there's a right way and a wrong way to do things, and I think a, a comprehensive immigration reform looks humane, always taking into consideration that these are people and families that just wanna come here for a better life, while at the same time protecting communities from violent criminals or sex traffickers, whatever that, what— whatever that looks like.
But having that reform, that makes sense. That, that... So you have to bring in small businesses, large businesses, immigration lawyers, immigration advocates to come up with a plan that just makes sense.
[00:31:52] David Sirota: What I hear from you is that on immigration, as an example, and you can tell me if I'm wrong, that you're making an argument that I remember 25, 30 years ago when I used to work for Bernie Sanders. Bernie Sanders would make the argument that, uh, immigration, the, the... And I'm paraphrasing here, but that immigration is both an issue of human rights, humanity, et cetera, et cetera, but it's also an issue of labor rights.
[00:32:18] Dan Osborn: Mm-hmm.
[00:32:18] David Sirota: That, that if you have unmitigated immigration, it can end up rigging the labor market, both for the immigrants who are here and the domestic, the American workers who are here.
And I feel like what's happened, and this is my question for you is, I feel like part of what happened inside the Democratic Party was that to make the labor argument, the basic argument about the labor market— I agree... and, uh, uh, and employers exploiting, exploitable labor, that to have made that argument, the human rights argument was weaponized against it, you must be a racist or, or a bigot or a xenophobe to make an argument that there should be a more controlled immigration system, even if you're making that argument based on the economic arguments.
Do you agree that that's happened and that, and that's, that sort of muddled how we think about immigration?
[00:33:10] Dan Osborn: Yeah. That's pretty deep. That's pretty deep. And—
[00:33:15] David Sirota: Like, have you been called like a, w— a, you know, you're for a border, you're for stronger immigration enforcement, et cetera, et cetera. Have you been called a bigot or a xenophobe because of that?
[00:33:24] Dan Osborn: No, I, I, I haven't been called those names, but I've certainly had, uh, people from the Latino community upset with me. Uh, and I talked to them about, you know, union labor, uh, because it's, you know, rising tides lift all ships, right? And I think it is about, uh, a strong job market and protecting American workers, and I think, I think labor unions are a first line of defense against poverty.
You know, they rise all, uh, wages. I was, uh, the company I work for, Grunwald, we hired a non-union plumber, uh, to come in. And so in order to work at Grunwald, it's a signatory contractor, so you have to be in the, the local union. Uh, in Omaha, it's Local 16 Plumbers' Union.
And so they were gonna get him in, uh, to the union. His wages and benefits were gonna be way better, but his non-union contractor ended up paying him $19 an hour more for him to stay at that job, so he ended up staying there. Union, threat effect.
But, but just by, yeah, just by existing, we brought up— Yeah... wages. So you, you, look at, uh, y— to get back to what you were saying, there's, there's, depending on the news source you listen to, I think you could probably safely say there's 50,000 open jobs in Nebraska that need to be filled, uh, in industries like meat packing, uh, construction, highway construction, uh, just to name a few, hospitality, restaurants, and health care.
You know, a, a lot of immigrant labor takes care of our aging seniors, and, and hotel workers. I mean, the list goes on and on and on. And we need these to function as a society. Uh, so we know we need immigrant labor, right? And everybody that I talk to, in these town halls, I haven't really had anybody saying, uh, we're anti-immigration.
We just wanna know it's being done the right way. They wanna know it's being done safely, that we're vetting people, and our neighborhoods are gonna stay safe, and that's really all that matters. Yeah, and that's been my experience. So we need workers, you know, and I think that's why Trump's backpedaling, especially with farm workers, to dial that back. But, uh, and our universities, you know, they make a lot of money off o— of people coming here and getting educated in our, uh, university system. So I don't know. What I do know is that, you know, in 2023, there was a bipartisan immigration bill. There's another one in the House right now.
We'll see if anything comes from that. Uh, I haven't fully read it yet, but I know it, it is bipartisan, and hopefully we'll see something get done.
[00:36:28] David Sirota: So I wanna go through a couple, a couple of specific issues. So we just talked about immigration. Let's talk a little bit about data centers.
[00:36:35] Dan Osborn: Mm-hmm.
[00:36:36] David Sirota: Okay. So Nebraska has given half a billion dollars of special tax breaks to developers of data centers.
[00:36:44] Dan Osborn: Yeah.
[00:36:44] David Sirota: Uh, there's a lot of outrage about data centers for all sorts of reasons in communities across the country.
But some unions like, uh, IBEW, the Electrical Workers Union— Mm-hmm... have said they oppose data center moratoriums because they say that data centers create construction jobs, other jobs, et cetera, et cetera.
As somebody who comes out of... I mean, you're not a m— I don't think you're an electrical engineer, you're a mechanic, but it's, it's— I come
[00:37:10] Dan Osborn: from the building trades.
[00:37:11] David Sirota: Yes. Okay, so you come from building trades.
[00:37:12] Dan Osborn: Mm-hmm.
[00:37:13] David Sirota: How do, how do you think about—
At one hand, on one hand, the communities that don't want these or, or are worried about them, but electricity rates, noise pollution, et cetera, et cetera, versus the argument about, "Look, we want economic development, we want jobs." Like, how do— Yeah... where do you come down
[00:37:32] Dan Osborn: on that?
I think two things can be true at the same time. I think we can... I mean, I would love to see us building more hospitals than data centers. Uh, but the, the fact remains is data centers create infrastructure. Uh, but it's, it's about guardrails. Uh, and it is about China, too.
Uh, I mean, there's so many aspects that go into data centers, and they've, they've been here for a long time. I mean, anytime you do a Google search, you're using a data center. There's two things here, three things. The data centers themselves, the physical data centers, uh, that are, those are the ones that create the, the jobs, and then on the, on the back end, it's service contracts, you know, so continue to employ building trades folks. But people just, a— again, it's, it's the same thing as people want to, want transparency, and they want a say. So I don't think it's the, I don't, I think the, the answer obvious here, and it's guardrails. It's protecting, uh, us from the bad while utilizing the good.
So it's community benefit agreements, right? It's, it's, uh, not, uh, ask what you can do for your data center, but what your data center can do to you. I just made that one up. Uh, to quote Kennedy. But it's, it's, that's what's real, right? And then we have the fact that these things are massive. They're proposing a hyperscale data center right now in Hallam, Nebraska.
And by the way, that $519 million that you're talking about, that was Pete Ricketts. And he went down to California and met with Google and Facebook, and came back with that tax credit for them, while not cutting property taxes for us, which is frustrating 'cause property taxes, I think we're, like, fourth or fifth in the nation for property taxes.
And we don't have an ocean. We have a corn coast, I guess. But the physical, going back to the physical ones, we sit on the Ogallala Aquifer, and then we have public power, so our power's cheaper here. That's why they like Nebraska. We got the water source, and we got cheap power for them.
[00:39:52] Dan Osborn: But this hyperscale data center that they're proposing in Hallam, Nebraska, is, will, will be enough to power 1.3 million homes. That's how much power it's going to take. That's a lot of power.
So nobody's power bill should go up for these things that, that, you know, these are already profitable companies. Uh, and then you have to talk about the water usage. The Ogallala Aquifer, the, the, it's 300 million years old, and there's parts of it, pockets of it that are depleting six times faster than it gets replenished, and this is, this is life, right? Water is life, and, uh, we have to protect that resource at all costs.
So it's about transparency, and it's about setting up a task force that identifies no data zones, no data center zones, right? The, can't have it here. Uh, on the rivers? Sure, let's think about that. Um, so it is about community benefits, ensuring that, uh, they are going to treat our land and our water, uh, with a net neutral, I suppose we'll call it.
And then you have to talk about AI now. Now if you're talking about AI, now we're talking about a, a race, uh, with China, so we don't wanna over-legislate it 'cause we're gonna lose out to China, and they're just gonna do it anyway. So we wanna be first. Um, so then now it comes to transparency for the communities where these data centers are gonna go in, and I think for everybody.
Is this data gonna be used to store, uh, for a private company to store Flock camera footage, surveillance pricing footage, like all these things, uh, that we know, uh, the scary parts about AI and data? Or is it gonna be used to cure cancer? Right? Like there's a distinct difference in, in what the data's being used for.
So transparency contracts, you know, and a task force to enforce it. Those are the things people want, that I'm finding.
[00:42:04] David Sirota: We're gonna take one more quick break.
Before we continue, I just want to tell you about The Lever's weekly newsletter, Midterm Madness . Every week, our newsroom brings you the elections worth watching, the money trails worth following, the numbers that cut through the spin, and the campaign moments that reveal way more than the official talking points ever will.
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[00:42:35] David Sirota: Welcome back to Lever Time .
Let's talk about money and politics. You've talked a lot about this in the campaign. All sorts of huge money pouring in here to try to buy this Senate seat, for, your opponent is from a billionaire family. And here's what your opponent has argued. You know, the billionaire scion, Pete Ricketts—
[00:42:52] Dan Osborn: Mm-hmm...
[00:42:52] David Sirota: has suggested that essentially that his status from such a wealthy family, at least the way I read it, makes him unable to be bought. He has said, I'm gonna r— I'm gonna read a quote here. He said, "Democrat Dan keeps trying to insinuate that somehow I can be part of this billionaire club or whatever. The truth is, I can't be bought. He already has. He's been paid for by those liberal out-of-state interests who are funding his campaign." So what I hear him arguing is that because you have to go raise money and because there are other outside groups p— buying ads in support of your campaign, that you are more susceptible to being influenced, and him as a kind of independently wealthy candidate, that makes him in his argument, essentially he insinuates that he's immune from that influence because he's, I guess, apparently so rich.
W— w— your response to that?
[00:43:42] Dan Osborn: Well, I would beg to differ, and here's why. Birds of a feather, right? People tend to take care of their, their own, who they run with. And the fact that in 2025 Joe Ricketts went from $4 billion net worth to $8 billion net worth to $8 billion tells me otherwise. Uh, you know, because they sit on the committees that dole out contracts.
Uh, they know who's getting what contract, and they know how to invest. And having somebody on the inside, uh, is, would be be— definitely beneficial if, if you're into that kinda thing. So, uh, yeah, and also you look at the people who fund the campaign, it is defense contractors and Class I railroads and, And that's the people he hangs out with, right? Like I, uh, as you progress, I think that's just natural to hang out with people who are like you. And the people I hang out with are plumbers and nurses, teachers.
I'm friends with a bus driver. That's who I hang out with. And I got a, uh, a family member we'll say, who is a, a few tiers up from me, and I see him, who he hangs out with. You know, he hangs out with the other people who have boats and planes. Uh, you know, he doesn't hang out with folks like me.
So it's, it's just as you get up there, they're talking about trying to keep up with the Joneses. Oh man, I gotta... And my, and this, this guy that I know, my family member, he's always complaining about, uh, the guy next to him bought a bigger boat, so now he has to go get a bigger boat. Like that's his reality. Yeah. You know?
[00:45:29] David Sirota: Yeah.
[00:45:30] Dan Osborn: And it just seems like enough is never enough, and greed has no limits. Just because you have money doesn't mean you wanna... A— And for this, it's a vanity project. You look at the way he was, got his Senate seat. His family invested in Jim Pillen. Jim Pillen's our current governor.
And Ben Sasse was the sitting senator who went to the University of Florida to be president there, vacated his seat. So since Ricketts' money got Pillen elected, they placed Ricketts into the Senate. So, and then with his dad's money, he bought the governorship. Yeah. Uh, they bought a baseball team. I mean, you know, like I said, greed has no limits.
So it's, it's a, a rigged system, and it's wor— the, everything is working exactly the way it's supposed to work for him and his buddies.
[00:46:25] David Sirota: Let's talk about health care a little bit.
[00:46:27] Dan Osborn: Okay.
[00:46:27] David Sirota: Uh, the last time Nebraska had a Democratic senator, it was Ben Nelson.
[00:46:33] Dan Osborn: Yeah.
[00:46:33] David Sirota: And Ben Nelson made it his mission to block Medicare for All and strip a public option out of the Affordable Care Act. Was he wrong? I
[00:46:43] David Sirota: mean, he really made it explicit. W— was he wrong about that?
I've heard you talk about, you know, health care should be a human right— Mm-hmm... there should be a right to health care. Yeah. But do— does that mean a public option? Does that mean Medicare for All? How do you make something a right? What do, what does that mean in practice when it comes to policy?
[00:47:03] Dan Osborn: Yeah. I, I think, you know, I'm always talking about antitrust and anti-monopoly laws as a way to, uh, having a true free market, a capitalistic market that, that, that bases the foundation as competition.
And what we've seen in health care and among other industries, like meat packing, is this vertical integration. Uh, it took, uh, a CEO to, uh, getting, getting murdered in the street of New York, uh, to raise awareness to the issue, because there was a lot of people that didn't understand it until then, as people started to talk about it. And certainly, that's, that's, uh, since I've, since that happened and since I, uh, have been running for office, I have been learning about it, and I've been learning about it from nurses and hospital administrators and the doctors themselves, who are on the ground doing the work every day.
And from what I understand is the frustrating part for them is every piece of our health care system is owned by the same company, same parent company. They might be different, uh, but they negotiate with each other, and meanwhile, they're making record profits off of, of us being sick and denying care. I know that's fundamentally wrong. And for me, as an individual, as somebody who doesn't have health care right now, currently, I know we need, fix this broken system.
How that looks, I honestly don't know, but I am willing to hear the experts, especially the nurses and the people who are the ones providing the care, what they need, and then from the patients who aren't getting the care, how the system can work for all of us.
And how it can, you know, if you're, if you're super wealthy and you want to pick your own doctors and all that, that's great. Uh, but this is something I've never had to think about before because when I was at Kellogg's, we had a Cadillac insurance program and I never had to worry about taking my kids to the doctor until five years ago and when things changed.
And then, uh, with the Steamfitters Union, I got back on a decent health insurance plan.
So and that's something I've never really had to think about, but a lot of families are facing
[00:49:34] David Sirota: that problem. Yeah, I mean, I guess what I'm getting at is, is can you gu— I don't have an answer, can you guarantee health care as a right if it's coming through a private health insurance corporation in a, in a market situation?
[00:49:43] Dan Osborn: Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. What I do know is, is that is what I believe, though. And I, and I believe that there's gotta be a way that we can do this and do it right. And how that looks, I don't know.
[00:50:00] David Sirota: We're sitting in a state in which, as you mentioned, 100 percent of the power, the electricity, is publicly owned—
[00:50:09] Dan Osborn: Yeah...
[00:50:10] David Sirota: publicly administered. That seems like a, a— a— and has some of the lowest electricity costs in the country.
[00:50:17] Dan Osborn: Mm-hmm.
[00:50:18] David Sirota: I just read that on the way over here about the Trump administration's own Department of Energy.
[00:50:22] Dan Osborn: Yeah.
[00:50:23] David Sirota: All publicly owned, among the lowest electricity rates in the country. Seems to me somebody might look at that and say, "That is essentially a quasi-socialist system—
[00:50:34] Beth Wales: Mm-hmm...
[00:50:34] David Sirota: that is providing a significant benefit to the state." And I, yet I saw that the Nebraska House Republicans in the, in Congress, uh, yesterday voted on that bill to condemn all forms of socialism.
So all of this is a question about this debate that's happening around socialism.
[00:50:58] Dan Osborn: Mm-hmm.
[00:50:58] David Sirota: Right? Like Medicare is socialism, arguably the streets are socialism, public schools are socialism, and yet this, I, this— Fire
[00:51:05] Dan Osborn: department...
[00:51:05] David Sirota: fire department. Police... right, there you go.
Okay. So my question for you is, because this is becoming—
[00:51:10] Dan Osborn: Sheriffs.
[00:51:10] David Sirota: Sheri— right. My question for you is, is this whole rhetorical conversation that's happening now about socialism, the Democratic Socialists of America. Ricketts said that you were recruited by socialists to run in this race. What does that term mean to you?
How do you think about that term? And, and my question about how even here in Nebraska you have an example of a quasi-socialized system that's providing a real benefit.
[00:51:36] Dan Osborn: Yeah.
[00:51:36] David Sirota: And yet you have your House members who are voting to condemn socialism. I'm just curious, like, how do you think through this as a, as an independent?
[00:51:45] Dan Osborn: It's just labels and names. And, and it's, and it's designed to stoke fear with people. I remember the first time I got called a communist online. I looked at it, I was like, "Oh." Like when I first started running for office, somebody said, "Oh, that's all we need is another communist, union communist."
And I was like, "Oh, crap, am I a communist?" So I, I got on my phone and I Googled it, and then I started looking at the history of communism and, and what it actually means, and I was like, "Phew. Okay, I'm not a communist. But why are they calling me a communist?" You know? Like, they, they just love these, these f— to fearmonger, and that has, that's how Ricketts has gotten to where he's got. Because he has made a political career off of, uh, we could go through the list of names. I could give you a list of names. Uh, I don't have them on the top of my head, but a woman like Janet Palmtag who ran in Nebraska, who Ricketts spent hundreds of thousands of dollars against, drug her name through the mud.
Uh, and she ended up suing the Nebraska GOP recently and won $500,000 on a defamation lawsuit. Uh, who Ricketts was in charge of the Nebraska GOP as governor at that time.
Yeah, it's, it's fear. So when people who understand the word differently means different things to them. If you listen to one news source and they say, "The socialists are going to ruin America," uh, you're certainly gonna think that's something bad and that's something I need to be afraid of.
But if your house burned down and the fire department didn't send you a bill and you, and somebody told you, "Hey man, you know, they're getting rid of socialism. We're gonna need you to pay the bill for the fire department," you might, uh, think twice like, "Oh, Social Security," right? You know, these, these programs that are designed to help people.
Again, it's, it's all fearmongering is what it is, and I'm tired of that. And that's why you look at who's doing the fearmongering. It is certainly the money interests that are trying to protect their own interests. It all goes back to who's, who's cashing the checks and laughing all the way to the bank, right?
And again, it's always the same people that are bankrolling campaigns. So it always falls back to campaign finance reform and trying to figure out any way we can until we can get a Supreme Court that's gonna overturn Citizens United to fight the dark money. And they're, they're gonna continue to throw these, these names around.
But it's up, it's actually ultimately up to people like me who go around and do town halls and educate. You know? Like every time I'm at... You, I think you were at the town hall where I just educated between the hard side and the soft side of campaign finance. Yeah. And when I asked, "Does anybody know what an independent expenditure was?"
Not one person rose their, raised their hand. And
That's the essence of the problems, is people just don't know. You don't know what you don't know. And we live in a world of 15-second videos and memes,
And people reposting stuff on Facebook without even actually clicking on the article and reading it. This world of headlines.
That's how they're using these to stoke fear in people. The moral decay of America, and, you know, both s— both sides are saying the other side's trying to ruin the country, when I think at the end of the day, as regular people throughout Nebraska, regardless of, of, of whether you're, whether you're MAGA or whether you're DSA, everybody loves America.
They ha— might have a different version of what it looks like, but at the end of the day, we all love this country and we wanna see it succeed.
[00:55:32] David Sirota: Good luck, man.
[00:55:34] Dan Osborn: Thank you.
[00:55:36] David Sirota: Good luck with your campaign.
[00:55:37] Dan Osborn: Yeah. Appreciate it. Appreciate it. Thank you.
[00:55:40] David Sirota: Thanks for listening to another episode of Lever Time . Lever Time is a production of The Lever. This episode was produced by Natalie Bettendorf. Our theme music is by Nick Byron Campbell.
Marketing support from The Podglomerate. Our director of podcast production is Ron Doyle. You can subscribe to Lever Time on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. And while you're at it, leave us a comment or a review. We really appreciate hearing from our listeners, and it helps spread the word about this show.
Remember, for ad-free episodes, exclusive bonus content, and access to The Lever's entire archive of investigative journalism, please consider becoming a premium subscriber. Head over to levernews.com to learn more about becoming a paid subscriber or click the link in this episode's show notes. I'm David Sirota.
We'll be back next week with another episode of Lever Time .
Dan Osborn Knows Why Democrats Keep Losing Nebraska
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