Pharmacy technician Cindy Burbank won yesterday’s Nebraska Democratic primary in an unusual race where the top two candidates accused each other of political trickery, and could set off a firestorm in the longtime red state.
Burbank defeated pastor William Forbes by a 90%- 9% margin. However, shortly after her victory, she announced she won’t take on incumbent Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) in the general election.
Instead, she says she will drop out of the race before November to make way for independent Dan Osborn.
The move could have serious repercussions for the incumbent Republican.
Cindy Burbank – who plans to drop out of general election – defeats alleged GOP 'plant' in bizarre Nebraska Democratic Senate primary https://t.co/0WKoLZtIx3 pic.twitter.com/ja4mq1N6oB
— New York Post (@nypost) May 13, 2026
Osborn, an industrial mechanic, union leader, and Navy vet, has been endorsed by the Nebraska Democratic Party as the best candidate to take on Ricketts.
“The moral of the story: Vote for Cindy Burbank in the Primary Election today, not the fake Democrat plant, William ‘Bill’ Forbes!” the Nebraska Democratic Party urged voters in an X post on Tuesday.
“This is the way to break up the one-party rule in Nebraska. It starts with voting for Cindy!”
The announcement stirred up speculation that both Burbank and Forbes were “plants” in the primary.
On her campaign website, Burbank accused Ricketts of “putting in a candidate loyal to him in the DEMOCRATIC primary to split the vote against him, so he wins easily,” referring to Forbes.
“He’s running an anti-abortion activist named Bill Forbes, who has posted in support of Pete Ricketts!” Burbank alleged.
“He knows he’s losing to Dan Osborn and this is his plan to cheat his way to victory. We can’t let that happen.”
“Support me – and I’ll make sure Pete Ricketts’s stooge never gets anywhere near our November ballot!”
Forbes has acknowledged previously voting for President Trump and attending training sessions put on by the conservative Leadership Institute, but he denies being a plant, arguing Burbank is the “fake Democrat.”
“I’ve been a Democrat my entire life — not when it was convenient,” Forbes said in a statement posted on his campaign website.
“Dan Osborn isn’t a Democrat at all,” he continued. “Real Nebraska Democrats should be uniting behind candidates who actually share our values instead of helping this interloper hijack our primary.”
Forbes called Burbank a “self-admitted placeholder and a disloyal hack being used as a tool to sabotage the Democratic primary and clear the path for another insider.”
“If she were truly a Democrat,” he said of Burbank, “she wouldn’t be meddling in our party’s race to help the billionaires rig the outcome.”
“This fake Democrat needs to drop out immediately and stop undermining real Democrats who actually want to win.”
However, a survey released Monday by a Democrat-aligned pollster showed both Burbank and Forbes losing to Ricketts in a general election contest, but Osborn coming out on top.
The Tavern Research poll showed Ricketts with a 16 point advantage over Forbes; 9 point edge over Burbank; but trailing Osborn by 5 points, in a 47%-42% contest.
Osborn has stressed that he does not plan to caucus with either party if he is elected.
Republicans have accused him of being a Democrat, noting in attack ads in 2024 that he had privately praised Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
“What they are trying to do is fool Nebraska voters,” Ricketts said of the Democratic primary, in an interview on the “Scott Jennings Show.”
“The Democrat brand is so damaged in the Midwest that they know they can’t win statewide by running a Democrat,” the incumbent Republican senator argued.
“It doesn’t take a whole lot of brain power to go, ‘Hey, look, if the Democrats are endorsing [Osborn], and the Democrat who wins the Democrat primary is even going to drop out if she wins, in favor of this guy, I guess that this guy is really a Democrat.’”