Pete Ricketts

Incumbent Sen. Pete Ricketts won Nebraska's Republican primary by a wide margin Tuesday night, but whether he faces a Democrat in November remains to be seen.

Newsmax and Decision Desk HQ called the race for Ricketts shortly after the polls closed. With roughly 28% of the vote counted, Ricketts, who was appointed in 2023 following Ben Sasse's resignation, had 78.8%, followed by businessman Todd Knobel at 10.2% and three other candidates.

Even though Cindy Burbank won the Democratic primary, multiple media outlets reported that she expects to drop out of the race and back independent candidate Dan Osborn.

Democrats have not won a Senate race in Nebraska since 2006. Osborn, a steamfitter and former union organizer, ran a surprisingly competitive campaign as an independent in 2024, losing to GOP Sen. Deb Fischer by 7 percentage points. President Donald Trump carried the state by 20 points.

Osborn has stressed that he does not plan to caucus with either party if elected. But Republicans have accused him of effectively being a Democrat, noting in 2024 ads that he privately praised Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

Burbank told NBC News last week that she would consider ending her campaign and backing Osborn if she did not have a clear path to victory. But she denied entering the Democratic primary with the intention of dropping out.

"I will drop out when and if the time comes that I cannot win in November. And I think anybody with any dignity should do that," she said, adding that she would evaluate her prospects based on polling and hoped to decide in time to remove her name from the November ballot.

Questions about Burbank's intentions have swirled since she entered the race shortly before the filing deadline. The Nebraska Democratic Party declined to field a candidate, hoping to allow a matchup between Osborn and Ricketts.

In the governor's race, incumbent Jim Pillen won the Republican primary, according to Newsmax and Decision Desk HQ. With roughly 32% of the vote counted, Pillen had 75.4%, well ahead of John Walz at 8.9% and four other candidates.

Pillen will face Democrat Lynne Walz, a former state senator who had 92.2% with roughly 63% of the vote counted.

Entering Tuesday, much of the attention in Nebraska was focused on the open race in the Omaha-area 2nd Congressional District, the state's politically divided "blue dot" seat, which has become one of the Democrats' top pickup opportunities after Republican Rep. Don Bacon decided not to seek reelection.

Republicans have largely consolidated behind businessman Brinker Harding, who received Trump's endorsement heading into the general election.

However, the race for the Democrat nomination was too close to call. State Sen. John Cavanaugh had 39% with roughly 76% of the vote counted, slightly ahead of businesswoman Denise Powell at 36.9%.

The district has become a national target because Nebraska awards one Electoral College vote by congressional district, allowing the Omaha-based seat to occasionally back Democrats even while the state remains solidly Republican overall.