Pete Ricketts
RIncumbentFEC S6NE00129
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Raised this cycle$15M
Cash on hand: $1.2M
2026 race
NE — U.S. Senate
5 candidates on the November ballot. Incumbent: Pete Ricketts.
Read the record. Not the rhetoric.
See where these candidates stand — and who's funding them.
DeepSyte tracks the money and the record in every race against the issues you care about — not party, not press releases. Take the 2-minute values quiz to see your alignment.
How we got here · 2 earlier contests
Democratic primary · Tuesday, May 12, 2026
Called by manual backfill (AP/Wikipedia/Ballotpedia)
Cindy BurbankWon89.5%Withdrew
- DWilliam ForbesDefeated10.5%
Republican primary · Tuesday, May 12, 2026
Called by manual backfill (AP/Wikipedia/state SOS)
Pete RickettsWon81.5%
- RDebra Leanne Axtell SchultzDefeated6.0%
Election held
Counting
Tuesday, November 3, 2026
Results appear here once a race is called and verified. Official returns from the Nebraska Secretary of State.
Make sure you can vote
Disclosed money in race
$27M
Candidate + outside spending. See finance breakdown below.
Incumbent
Currently in office
Challengers
Sorted by fundraising
Dan Osborn
IChallengerFEC S4NE00207
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Raised this cycle$11M
Cash on hand: $2.0M
William Forbes
DChallengerFEC S6NE00160
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Raised this cycle$1K
Cash on hand: $0
5 defeated candidates — show
Benjamin Sasse
RDefeatedChallengerFEC S4NE00090
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Raised this cycle$49K
Cash on hand: $2.1M
Mike Marvin
IDefeatedChallengerFEC S6NE00152
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Raised this cycle$28K
Cash on hand: $0
Chuck Conboy
IDefeatedChallengerFEC S6NE00202
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Raised this cycle$0
Cash on hand: −$88
Debra Leanne Axtell Schultz
RDefeatedChallengerFEC S6NE00178
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Raised this cycle$0
Cash on hand: $0
Robin Richards
IDefeatedChallengerFEC S6NE00210
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Raised this cycle$0
Cash on hand: $0
Local signal
Early read on NE — U.S. Senate
A directional read on where this seat is trending, from the signals we have so far. This is an early scaffold — more inputs light up as coverage and constituent activity accrue.
Coverage tone · the matchup
Recent news coverage of the nominees heading to the general election.
Pete Rickettsleans negative
2 pos44 neutral4 neg50 articles
A media signal, not a poll of the district.
Constituent stakes
No one here has staked a position on a tracked vote yet. As neighbors weigh in on /pressure campaigns, the district's lean will show up here.
Money in the race
Finance breakdown
Disclosed funding shaping this race — both the money candidates raise themselves and the outside spending dropped by independent groups. Issue-ad spending by 501(c)(4) groups is excluded; the FEC doesn't require disclosure of it. See the note below for details.
Candidate fundraising: FEC reports through October 14, 2026 · 2025–26 cycle
Total disclosed
$27M
Candidate fundraising + independent expenditures (FEC).
Candidate-direct (Schedule A)
$26M
Raised by candidate committees themselves.
Outside spending (Schedule E)
$1.1M
$928K for · $174K against
| Candidate | Raised directly | Outside for | Outside against | Net in corner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Pete Ricketts(R)incumbent + FELLOWSHIP PAC $350K + DEFENDING OUR VALUES PAC $263K + SLF PAC $157K − INDIGO PAC $431 | $15M | $784K | $431 | $15M |
Dan Osborn(I) + PROGRESSIVE TURNOUT PROJECT $48K + THOMAS PAINE SOCIETY L.L.C. $21K + LGBTQ CONNECTION PAC $1K − SLF PAC $100K − RED SENATE $10K | $11M | $71K | $110K | $11M |
William Forbes(D) − COMMON DEFENSE ACTION FUND $63K | $1K | — | $63K | −$62K |
5 defeated candidates — show finances
| Candidate | Raised directly | Outside for | Outside against | Net in corner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mike Marvindefeated + COMMON DEFENSE ACTION FUND $73K | $28K | $73K | — | $101K |
Benjamin Sasse(R)defeated | $49K | — | — | $49K |
Chuck Conboydefeated | $0 | — | — | $0 |
Debra Leanne Axtell Schultz(R)defeated | $0 | — | — | $0 |
Robin Richardsdefeated | $0 | — | — | $0 |
Where the money comes from
In-state vs out-of-state
Share of each candidate's itemized individual contributions from donors inside NE versus the rest of the country. Excludes sub-$200 unitemized donations (no geography on file) and PAC money — see note below.
Pete Ricketts(R)37% in-state · $4.0M itemized
$1.5M in-state$2.5M out-of-state
Dan Osborn(I)17% in-state · $3.3M itemized
$578K in-state$2.8M out-of-state
1 defeated candidate — show
Mike Marvindefeated10% in-state · $28K itemized
$3K in-state$25K out-of-state
What's counted, what isn't
Candidate-direct is each campaign's reported receipts on FEC Schedule A — individual contributions plus PAC contributions to the candidate's own committee — through the most recent filing.
Outside spending is independent expenditures on FEC Schedule E: money spent by PACs, super PACs, and party committees for or against a candidate, without legal coordination with the campaign. The committees listed under each candidate are the largest disclosed spenders on either side.
In-state vs out-of-state covers only itemized individual contributions — donations over $200, which are the only ones that carry a contributor address at the FEC. Sub-$200 unitemized donations (often a large share for grassroots campaigns) have no geography on file and are excluded, as is PAC money. So the percentages describe where a candidate's itemized individual money comes from, not where every dollar raised comes from.
Not counted: 501(c)(4) "social welfare" organizations run issue ads that frequently mention candidates by name but aren't classified as express advocacy under FEC rules — they file no Schedule E and don't appear in this breakdown. Press reporting on a race may cite figures that include this dark-money spending; ours doesn't.
Where they stand
Issue-by-issue comparison
Positions extracted from each candidate's campaign issues page by AI. Contested rows — where candidates disagree with each other — appear first.
| Statement | Ricketts | Osborn | Forbes | You |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Criminal Justice Marijuana should be legal under federal law. | — | |||
Economy Reducing the national debt should be a higher priority than new spending. | — | |||
Foreign Policy The U.S. should keep sending military aid to Ukraine. | — | |||
Foreign Policy The U.S. should spend more on the military. | — | |||
Healthcare The government should provide healthcare for everyone. | — | |||
Healthcare States, not the federal government, should decide who gets Medicaid and what it covers. | — | |||
Immigration The U.S. should do more to enforce immigration laws and secure the border. | — | |||
Labor Federal labor law should make it easier for workers to form unions (PRO Act-style reforms). | — | |||
Governance & Other Outside political spending — from PACs and super PACs — should be limited more strictly. | — | |||
Social Security High earners should pay Social Security taxes on more of their income. | — | |||
Social Security Social Security benefits should be means-tested for high-income retirees. | — | |||
Trade U.S. trade policy should reduce economic interdependence with China, especially on technology and critical minerals. | — |
SupportsOpposesNo public positionRinged = confirmed by the campaign
Recent coverage
In the news
Dan Osborn
- Pete Ricketts wins Nebraska 2026 Senate election, CBS News projectsCBS NewsNov 4
- GOP Sen. Pete Ricketts fends off independent Dan Osborn in Nebraska Senate raceNBC NewsNov 4
- What matters most this midterms election, according to Omahans at the pollsOmaha World-HeraldNov 3
- Ron Faucheux: What to watch for — and when — on Election NightThe Times-PicayuneOct 31
About this race page
Candidate roster is sourced from the FEC's active-candidate list for the 2026 cycle. Fundraising totals reflect committee filings through the last reporting period.
Alignment % compares the candidate's extracted policy positions against your quiz answers. Positions are pulled from the candidate's campaign issues page by AI; we save the source quote for each position so you can verify the extraction. Candidates without a campaign issues page show position data pending — we're working through the roster and re-checking stale extractions every 90 days.
News coverage is from the GDELT 2.0 global news feed, filtered to a curated list of national, political, and regional outlets.