Fischer, Osborn hold Lincoln rallies as election enters final push
Two days ahead of Election Day, Republican Sen. Deb Fischer and her independent challenger Dan Osborn made their final case to voters at separate rallies in Lincoln on Sunday.
Fischer appeared with fellow Nebraska Republicans, including Sen. Pete Ricketts and Rep. Mike Flood of the 1st Congressional District — who are also up for re-election Tuesday — and State Auditor Mike Foley at a rally attended by dozens of people in Antelope Park as part of a statewide tour over the weekend.
"We are a red state," said Fischer, a 73-year-old state lawmaker who is seeking her third term in the Senate. "We are going to remain a red state."
During Sunday's rally, Fischer took aim at Osborn's messaging and said he's spending too much money on attack ads.
"There's a lot of outside money coming in," Fischer said. "I am sick and tired of those ads."
Millions of dollars have been spent on advertisements for both Osborn and Fischer. Retire Career Politicians PAC has spent nearly $7 million on ads for Osborn. About $2 million has been spent on attack ads against Fischer.
"Nebraskans still want you to be out there. They want to see who you are. They want to shake your hand," Fischer said. "And you look them in the eye and you answer their questions.
"You don't just bring in a boatload of money and put up obnoxious commercials," she added.
Flood, who spoke alongside Fischer, said Osborn refuses to tell Nebraskans who he has voted for in the past and who he is voting for in this upcoming presidential election.
If elected to the Senate, "there would be so much buyer's remorse in this state, things would come to a stop," Flood said.
Flood's Democratic challenger Carol Blood, a state senator and former city councilwoman from Bellevue, said she planned to spend the day canvassing the the 1st Congressional District.
Lincoln was the first of four stops across the state Sunday. Fischer, Flood and Ricketts, who faces Democratic challenger Preston Love Jr., will appear at four more rallies Monday.
Osborn, a U.S. Navy veteran, held his final Lincoln rally at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 265 union hall.
"People are ready for a change," Osborn, 46, said. "We can't keep electing suits and expect anything to change for us."
Osborn went into his life story at Sunday's rally, telling the dozens gathered that he went into the Navy after high school. After being honorably discharged, he joined the Nebraska Army National Guard. When his wife was pregnant with his first child, he joined Kellogg's as an industrial mechanic.
Eventually, he became the president of the Kellogg's worker's union and led a 77-day strike because the factory workers were not receiving the benefits or pay they deserved, he said.
"I didn't see men or women, or Black or white, or Republican or Democratic on the picket line," Osborn said. "I just saw people that wanted to go to work for a fair wage with some good benefits in the time that they trade in the service of the company."
So he said he set out to make the strike a nonpartisan issue, reaching out to lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to help end the strike.
At the end of his speech, Osborn made the same pledge Fischer made when she first agreed to run for Senate: He will only run for two terms if elected.
"I'm pledging you today because I do believe that term limits is an anti-corruption measure," Osborn said. "I pledge to run two terms as well."
Osborn also took aim at Fischer's campaign funding, saying corporate millionaires were bankrolling her campaign.
"There's a lot of money coming in against me right now," Osborn said. "There's been a lot of money the last 10 days, but I'm not afraid of their money because I know, at the end of the day, we as people have the power."
Osborn was accompanied by actor Paul Scheer and Jenny Benson, the former president of the Nebraska State Education Association, the state's teachers union.
"Dan represents a new voice," Scheer said. "It's a voice of the future, right? It's not beholden to special interests."
Benson, a teacher for 37 years and a long-time union leader, said she supports Osborn because he represents the working class.
"Our senators should have our interests and our needs foremost in their minds," Benson said.
The latest polls in the closer-than-expected Senate race have largely skewed toward Fischer after polls earlier this month had consistently shown Osborn leading Fischer by margins as high as 6 points.
Fischer's campaign released a poll Friday that shows her leading by 7.5 points , closely mirroring an independent poll commissioned by The Economist last week that showed the GOP incumbent Osborn by 7 points.
Osborn's campaign released an internal poll last week that showed showed him tied with Fischer at 47%. But 53% of state voters surveyed in that poll voted for former President Donald Trump in 2020, when Trump won more than 58% of the vote in Nebraska, suggesting the survey underrepresents Trump voters.
If Osborn wins, he will be Nebraska's first non-Republican elected to the Senate since 2006.
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