Voters head to the polls in Nebraska and West Virginia for competitive party nominations, including an open Nebraska seat and West Virginia’s Senate contest.
Nebraska and West Virginia primaries are putting several major November matchups into motion, with Democrats and Republicans battling not only for nominations but also over how political leverage is built in tight districts and statewide races.
In Nebraska. voters went to the polls Tuesday as Democrats sought a shot at an open House seat that has been on the party’s radar for years.. Republican Rep.. Don Bacon is retiring in January, leaving the seat vacant in a district Democrats say they can realistically compete for.. The area voted for Democrats in three of the last five presidential elections. and multiple Democratic candidates are aiming to face Republican nominee Brinker Harding. an Omaha City Council member who ran unopposed in the GOP primary.
The Nebraska 2nd Congressional District race also includes a strategic argument about how electoral votes are allocated in presidential elections.. The state awards most electoral votes by congressional district. a method that can allow Democratic presidential candidates to deprive Republicans of at least one electoral vote in the 2nd District.
Democratic state Sen.. John Cavanaugh and political organizer Denise Powell lead a crowded Democratic field for the nomination.. Their contest has focused on whether one candidate’s campaign could reduce the party’s competitiveness in the district.. A key point raised by Powell is that if Cavanaugh succeeds and leaves the Nebraska Legislature, Republican Gov.. Jim Pillen would have the power to appoint an interim replacement—an opening Powell argues could benefit Republicans beyond this House race.
Meanwhile, Nebraska’s Senate politics are also moving toward a likely general-election showdown.. In the Nebraska Senate contest, Gov.. Pete Ricketts—nominated in 2023 to finish the rest of former Sen.. Ben Sasse’s term and elected in a special election the following year—has been seeking his first full term.. On Tuesday, Ricketts defeated four primary challengers, with support from President Trump and the Nebraska Farm Bureau.
Ricketts is already looking ahead to November. where he is set to face Dan Osborn. who is running as an independent.. Osborn. a former labor leader from Omaha. is not on the primary ballot Tuesday because he seeks his place on the November ballot through a signature drive. according to the report.. The Nebraska Democratic Party has endorsed Osborn for the general election. even as the primary determines the Democratic nomination for the contest.
Democrats note that Osborn previously tested Republican Sen.. Deb Fischer in 2024, nearly closing the gap in a state that President Trump won by more than 20 points.. Osborn’s result came within less than 7 points. but Ricketts was on the ballot in that same election cycle and won his race by more than 25 points against a Democratic challenger—evidence. Republicans argue. that the GOP ceiling in Nebraska statewide contests remains high.
Nebraska has not elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 2006, when Sen. Bill Nelson defeated Ricketts. That historical backdrop is shaping expectations as the state considers whether Osborn’s independent bid, bolstered by a Democratic endorsement, can become a viable route to a Senate win.
Cindy Burbank won the Democratic nomination for the Nebraska Senate seat. CBS News projected. but the state party’s endorsement list points to a different general-election path.. The state Democratic party has endorsed Dan Osborn. who will be running in November as an independent rather than as the nominee from the Democratic primary.
The primary battle in Nebraska’s Senate race has also been drawn out by questions about whether at least one candidate was participating in good faith.. Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen in March sought to remove the projected winner. Burbank. from the ballot on the grounds that she had not been a “good-faith” candidate because she said she would back Osborn in the general election.. The Nebraska Supreme Court later reinstated Burbank’s candidacy, ruling that Evnen’s complaint had been filed too late.
Burbank’s campaign website also accused another Democratic candidate on the ballot. pastor William Forbes. of trying to get on the ballot in November to divert votes from Osborn.. Burbank’s campaign characterized Osborn as the candidate who deserved a “fair shot” against Ricketts.. Meanwhile, Forbes and others disputed the accusations and maintained that his candidacy is in good faith.
The dispute grew more sharply on social media. where the Nebraska Democratic Party chair. Jane Kleeb. posted that Forbes was effectively a Ricketts-aligned candidate.. Both Ricketts and Forbes have insisted that Forbes’ candidacy is legitimate.. Forbes, who is anti-abortion, told CNN he voted for President Trump multiple times but said he is a lifelong Democrat.
The Tuesday ballot included additional party candidates as well.. Two Legal Marijuana NOW party candidates are running, but their campaigns have been marred by internal accusations.. Early Starkey and the former party chair accused Mike Marvin of being a “Dan Osborn plant. ” a claim Marvin denied to the Nebraska Examiner.. The report also indicated that Burbank paid Marvin’s filing fee. which Burbank said was because Marvin’s check was for ten dollars too much.
While Burbank is not on the independent ballot track, Osborn’s path to November is firmly procedural.. Osborn raised more than $3.8 million this year and faces an Aug.. 3 deadline to gather enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot.. Ricketts, by contrast, reported raising more than $4.8 million.
Elsewhere in Nebraska, the gubernatorial race adds another layer to the political landscape. Gov. Jim Pillen defeated five GOP primary challengers, and on the Democratic side former state Sen. Lynne Walz won the Democratic primary, CBS News projected.
West Virginia’s primary presented its own decisive sweep as Republicans looked to defend the state’s Senate seat.. On Tuesday, two-term incumbent Sen.. Shelley Moore Capito, a Republican, fended off a field of five primary challengers, according to CBS News.. The report also notes that Moore Capito received President Trump’s endorsement.
On the Democratic side in West Virginia, five candidates are competing for the nomination for November. The contest is set against a backdrop of the state’s earlier political geography and the fact that Capito has already held the seat for multiple terms.
Taken together. these Nebraska and West Virginia primaries highlight how November races are being shaped long before the general election begins.. In Nebraska. competing Democratic campaigns are not only choosing a nominee but also addressing whether the party’s broader strategy can keep its edge in a district where presidential electoral votes may turn on congressional boundaries.. In West Virginia. the Democratic field will now focus on converting a primary win into an uphill bid against an incumbent with national backing.
Nebraska and West Virginia primaries Nebraska 2nd District Don Bacon retirement Pete Ricketts Cindy Burbank Shelley Moore Capito Dan Osborn