- Dan Osborn opened his statewide campaign tour Thursday night in Sarpy County
- Osborn said making things was more affordable is a key issue in his campaign
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
LA VISTA, Neb. (KMTV) – Independent candidate for the U.S. Senate Dan Osborn kicked off his statewide campaign tour on Thursday night at The Astro in La Vista, drawing a crowd of neighbors more than 3 months before Election Day.
The event was originally scheduled at an Omaha union hall, but campaign staff said it moved to a larger site to accommodate a growing number of RSVPs.
Osborn, who is endorsed by Nebraska's Democratic Party, spoke to neighbors about the issues driving his campaign, including affordability and what he described as working Nebraskans being left behind in Washington.
"I think at the end of the day, the message is the same. And the message is, working Nebraskans deserve a seat at the table at Washington, D.C., because we've been getting left behind by our elected officials in this state," Osborn said in an interview with 3 News Now's Jeremy Fredricks on Thursday.
On the issue of affordability, Osborn pointed to tariff policy as a starting point.
"Well first, it starts with giving the power of tariffs back to Congress. You know, those tariffs have really damaged our economy, especially in the agriculture sector," Osborn said.
Neighbors who attended the event said affordability was a top priority.
"Affordability is probably number one," Northwest Omaha neighbor Benjamin Whealy said.
Whealy, who is 18 and preparing to vote for the first time this November, said the rising cost of living in Omaha is shaping how he thinks about the election.
"I've just noticed that in my day to day life, Omaha's gotten more expensive. I'm looking at housing in Omaha, it is more expensive noticeably," Whealy said.
Other neighbors said they came out to hear Osborn speak on a range of issues.
"I'm for women, and also for the laboring class, the middle class," Northwest Omaha neighbor Elaine Morgan said.
Millard neighbor Ric Weber said he wanted to be in the front row for the kickoff event "to see Dan, to hear him talk, to rally with everybody."
Osborn ran for the same Senate seat in 2024, losing to Republican Deb Fischer by less than 7 points. This year, he faces current Sen. Republican Pete Ricketts. Democrat Cindy Burbank withdrew from the race earlier this month, and the party does not plan to name a replacement.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.