Nebraska U.S. Senate race filled with alleged 'plants,' campaigns say

Source: Nebraska Examiner

Ricketts and Osborn deny involvement with other parties’ primary candidates

By: Juan Salinas II - March 3, 2026 10:20 pm

LINCOLN — There are dueling allegations of planted candidates in Nebraska’s U.S. Senate race and plenty of denials.

Two candidates – one Democrat and one from the Legal Marijuana NOW Party — accuse their primary opponents of being “plants,” the Democrat William Forbes allegedly to help Republican U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts and marijuana candidate Mike Marvin allegedly to help nonpartisan candidate Dan Osborn.

Osborn and Ricketts are in a heated campaign. Ricketts, a former two-term governor, faces a nominal primary involving four lesser-known Republicans, but is expected to win the GOP nomination. Osborn is gathering signatures to get on the November ballot as a nonpartisan. The signatures are due Aug 3.

Osborn and the Legal Marijuana NOW Party have had a colorful history. Some longer-tenured members of the marijuana party argued that the group’s 2024 Senate nominee, Kerry Eddy, and a group of Osborn supporters took over their party to clear the ballot of competing names to give Osborn a better chance in his 2024 Senate run against Republican U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer.


Nebraska U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., and registered nonpartisan Dan Osborn. (Juan Salinas II and Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

Read more: https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/03/03/nebraska-u-s-senate-race-filled-with-alleged-plants-campaigns-say/