Disloyal Hack to Senate Hopeful: Cindy Burbank Triumphs Over GOP ‘Plant’ in Unpredictable Nebraska Democratic Primary

Pharmacy technician Cindy Burbank clinched a decisive victory in Nebraska’s Democratic Senate primary on Tuesday, a contest marked by accusations of deceit between the leading candidates. Burbank triumphed over pastor William Forbes with a resounding 90% to 9% margin. However, she has committed to stepping aside before the general election, clearing the path for independent candidate Dan Osborn to challenge incumbent Senator Pete Ricketts, a Republican.

The Nebraska Democratic Party has thrown its support behind Osborn, an industrial mechanic, union leader, and Navy veteran, considering him the strongest contender to take on Ricketts. In a social media post, the party rallied voters, declaring, “The moral of the story: Vote for Cindy Burbank in the Primary Election today, not the fake Democrat plant, William ‘Bill’ Forbes! This is the way to break up the one-party rule in Nebraska. It starts with voting for Cindy!”

Burbank’s campaign, which was lean in its approach, leveled accusations at Ricketts, claiming he orchestrated the placement of a candidate loyal to him in the Democratic primary to fracture the opposition vote. On her campaign website, she alleged, “He’s running an anti-abortion activist named Bill Forbes, who has posted in support of Pete Ricketts! 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.”

With Burbank’s commitment to withdraw, the spotlight now turns to Osborn, who has been endorsed as the Democratic Party’s preferred candidate to challenge the Republican stronghold in Nebraska, setting the stage for a compelling general election battle against Ricketts.

On her bare-bones campaign website, Burbank accuses Ricketts of “putting in a candidate loyal to him in the DEMOCRATIC primary – to split the vote against him, so he wins easily.” 

“He’s running an anti-abortion activist named Bill Forbes, who has posted in support of Pete Ricketts!” Burbank charges. “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!” 

While Forbes has acknowledged previously voting for President Trump and attending training sessions put on by the conservative Leadership Institute, 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.” 

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. 

“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 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.’”