Nebraska Senate Candidate Dan Osborn Accepts Corporate Money Despite Loud Opposition

Dan Osborn, who is running for senate in Nebraska as an independent, frequently rails against corporate money in politics — but that hasn’t stopped him from accepting tens of thousands of dollars from big corporations, funneled to his campaign through Democrat-aligned fundraising vehicles.

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Throughout his campaign, Osborn has specifically referenced railroad companies in explaining why it would be unethical for him to accept corporate money. On July 18, Osborn told supporters, “Would you be able to trust me on rail safety if I took Class 1 railroad money? No.”

Osborn even went so far as to say that these railroad companies are “poisoning towns and pushing a merger that will gut competition for Nebraska farmers.”

But, according to Federal Election Commission filings, railroad companies and other large corporations have funneled money into Osborn’s campaign via Democrat-aligned Leadership Political Action Committees (LPACs). These sorts of political action committees are formed by an individual federal officeholder or candidate and used to spread money around to likeminded allies in a bid to build party loyalty. In this case, all of the LPACs in Osborn’s FEC filings are associated with Democrats, according to National Review‘s analysis of the documents.

Osborn has received money from Frontline USA, which is associated with Representative Adam Schiff (D., Calif.); Treasure State PAC, which is tied to former Senator John Tester (D., Mont.); and Victory Now PAC, which is aligned with Senator Chris Van Hollen (D., Md.).

Lobo PAC, which is associated with Senator Martin Heinrich (D., N.M.), gave the Osborn campaign $5,000 in March 2026. The PAC’s contributors include some of the country’s leading corporations and frequent targets of the progressive movement: Amazon’s corporate PAC, ExxonMobil’s PAC, Lockheed Martin’s various political offshoots, and Union Pacific Corporation Fund for Effective Government.

In April, Osborn said his campaign relies on small-dollar donations and that the campaign will not accept money from corporate PACs.

“I won’t take the money. And so that includes not taking corporate PAC money. I don’t want to do their bidding. I believe in the foundation of democracy, which is by and for the people,” Osborn said. “The money that we’ve raised so far has come from individuals from all 50 states. The bulk of it is coming from Nebraska, and my average donation is about 48 dollars.”

Asked to explain why the campaign accepts LPAC money linked to the very corporate donors Osborn publicly criticizes, the campaign did not respond.

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Osborn has also vehemently criticized his Republican opponent, incumbent Senator Pete Ricketts (R., Neb.), for taking “dirty money from the railroads.” FEC filings suggest Osborn has done the same, albeit indirectly.

BNSF Railway Company RailPAC donated $1,000 to Defend the Dream, an LPAC associated with Senator Alex Padilla (D., Calif.). The group then gave $5,000 to Osborn’s Senate campaign in 2024.

Ironically, the ad the Osborn campaign created to attack Ricketts depicts donations from Union Pacific’s fund going to Ricketts, despite Osborn having accepted funds from the same group through the Lobo PAC.

Further, Osborn has spoken out against companies like Amazon, Kellogg’s, and Walmart, who have contributed to many of these LPACs.

“Not too long ago in Nebraska, grocery stores were local and family-owned,” Osborn posted on X. “Now just four companies — Walmart, Kroger, Albertsons, and Amazon — control most of our food retail. Let’s bring back the Nebraska where local mattered.”

In total, Osborn has taken $69,500 from Democrat-affiliated LPACs, funded by large corporate donors.

While Osborn has run as an independent to distance himself from the national Democratic brand, he has accepted donations through the Democratic fundraising machine ActBlue. Further, as National Review previously reported, Osborn has accepted money from the campaign of Senator Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.), the League of Conservation Voters Action Fund — which donated to James Talarico’s campaign for Senate — and the Ossoff Victory Fund.

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