WASHINGTON (TNND) — A former union leader who gave Republicans a scare last year trying to unseat an incumbent senator in a reliably red state is launching another effort to unseat a GOP lawmaker with a run as an independent he hopes can appeal to working-class voters who have shifted to the GOP over the last several election cycles.

Dan Osborn announced on Tuesday he would take another swing at running for one of Nebraska’s Senate seats in next year’s midterm elections in hopes of defeating incumbent Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts, a former popular governor who was appointed to his seat in 2023.

Osborn’s long-shot campaign against GOP Sen. Deb Fischer during last year’s elections drew national attention and spending that resulted in a close race for Nebraska’s political lean with Fischer only winning by 7%. President Donald Trump won the state by more than 20% over former Vice President Kamala Harris.

Midterm elections are typically a referendum on the party in power, creating a more beneficial environment for challengers to Republican incumbents in 2026. Democrats and independents trying to defeat GOP incumbents are hoping Trump’s massive tariffs and the “big, beautiful bill” will turn out to be political weaknesses they can capitalize on.

While he has vowed to not caucus with Democrats if he gets elected, Osborn winning would be helpful to Democrats’ long-shot efforts to cut into the Republican majority in the Senate. The 2026 map is immensely difficult for Democrats with few opportunities to flip seats and multiple vulnerable incumbents or retirements in swing state seats.

Osborn also comes into the race against Ricketts as a well-established figure in the state instead of the political newcomer he was against Fischer.

“The big obvious difference is the Dan Osborne isn't going to be a surprise anymore. He starts this race with one of the most valuable commodities you can have in an election campaign, and that's name recognition and a record of being a competitive candidate,” said Kevin Smith, a political science professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Democrats also did not run a candidate against Fischer and could take the same approach during the midterms. No Democrats have submitted a filing with the Federal Election Commission and the party has struggled to be competitive in statewide races.

Osborn has framed this year’s race as a choice between a candidate with a working-class background with his history as an industrial mechanic and veteran against Ricketts’ and his family’s vast wealth. Ricketts is the oldest son of TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts, and his family owns a majority stake in the Chicago Cubs.

“I’m running for Senate because Congress shouldn’t just be a playground for the rich. We gotta make things more affordable, secure the border and take on corruption in Washington,” Osborn says in a video announcing his campaign.

Ricketts and other Republicans have tried to paint Osborn as a Democrat under the guise of an independent candidate, an attack that was frequently leveraged against him during his 2024 run against Fischer. Osborn’s campaign received nearly $20 million last year in contributions from political action committees that included groups typically supportive of Democratic candidates.

“Dan Osborn is bought and paid for by his liberal, out-of-state, coastal donors. Dan Osborn will side with Chuck Schumer over Nebraska families and vote with Democrats to open the border, hike taxes, and stop the America First agenda,” Ricketts campaign spokesperson Will Coup said in a statement.

The race has already drawn national attention from Trump and Republican groups. The president endorsed Ricketts in a post on Truth Social before Osborn announced his candidacy where Trump also criticized him as a “Radical Left Open Border Extremist.”

The National Republican Senatorial Committee has also already rolled out an attack ad campaign targeting Osborn for his support of some Democratic policy positions and past financial support from Democratic groups and donors.

Osborn has tried to distance himself from Democrats and made appeals to Republican voters during last year’s campaign like volunteering himself to personally help build Trump’s signature border wall. He declined an endorsement from the state’s Democratic Party during 2024 and aggressively distanced himself from the party, vowing not to caucus with Republicans or Democrats if he gets elected.

“One of the reasons why he was so competitive in that run against Fisher is he put out a picture of, ‘I am, legitimately an independent, I reject both parties. I am a true independent.’ People saw that as genuine, that he is not a sovereign horse for the Democratic Party and he’s truly a third option to the two major parties.”

Voters’ appetites for independents and third parties has increased in recent years over frustrations with the two major parties, though there has been little success on a national level in getting candidates into office. Independents in Congress have all caucused with one of the parties and third parties have been unable to get anyone into office.