Pete Ricketts
RIncumbentFEC S6NE00129
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Raised this cycle$4.9M
Cash on hand: $1.1M
All Nebraska races
2026 race
NE — U.S. Senate
4 active candidates on file with the FEC. Incumbent: Pete Ricketts.
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See where these candidates stand — and who's funding them.
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Democratic primary · Tuesday, May 12, 2026
Called by manual backfill (AP/Wikipedia/Ballotpedia)
Cindy BurbankWon89.5%
- 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 day
135days
Tuesday, November 3, 2026
Make sure you can vote
Disclosed money in race
$30M
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$3.9M
Cash on hand: $1.1M
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 Rickettslimited coverage
No tracked coverage in the last 90 days yet.
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.
Total disclosed
$30M
Candidate fundraising + independent expenditures (FEC).
Candidate-direct (Schedule A)
$8.7M
Raised by candidate committees themselves.
Outside spending (Schedule E)
$21M
$13M for · $8.0M against
| Candidate | Raised directly | Outside for | Outside against | Net in corner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Dan Osborn(I) + RETIRE CAREER POLITICIANS $9.3M + RAILROADERS FOR PUBLIC SAFETY $1.2M + COMMON DEFENSE ACTION FUND $447K − SLF PAC $3.2M − ESAFUND $2.6M − HEARTLAND RESURGENCE $2.1M | $3.9M | $13M | $8.0M | $8.4M |
Pete Ricketts(R)incumbent + FELLOWSHIP PAC $350K + DEFENDING OUR VALUES PAC $263K + SLF PAC $157K − INDIGO PAC $431 | $4.9M | $809K | $431 | $5.7M |
2 defeated candidates — show finances
| Candidate | Raised directly | Outside for | Outside against | Net in corner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Benjamin Sasse(R)defeated | $11K | — | — | $11K |
Mike Marvindefeated | $9K | — | — | $9K |
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.
Dan Osborn(I)17% in-state · $2.2M itemized
$357K in-state$1.8M out-of-state
Pete Ricketts(R)39% in-state · $3.3M itemized
$1.3M in-state$2.0M out-of-state
1 defeated candidate — show
Mike Marvindefeated19% in-state · $9K itemized
$2K in-state$8K 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.
Recent coverage
In the news
Dan Osborn
- Dan osborn nebraska alerted ice claims undocumented workersCNNJun 19
- Mamdani guru under fire for alleged threat in Graham Platner sex scandal is prolific operative in lefty campaignsNew York PostJun 1
- 2026 Midterms Tracker: The Key Senate and House RacesThe New York TimesJun 1
- Dan Osborn, the Independent Senate Candidate Who Could Tip NebraskaThe New YorkerMay 29
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.