Chuck Schumer knows he can't win Senate seats in red states.
So he found a different way in.
What he's running this year is the biggest con he’s pulled yet.
Dan Osborn Is a Fake Independent and Nebraska Democrats Admitted It
Cindy Burbank filed as a Democrat for the U.S. Senate seat in Nebraska.
Her own campaign website says she plans to drop out and throw her voters to Dan Osborn – the "nonpartisan" candidate – if she wins the primary.
Nebraska Republicans caught it, filed a complaint, and got her thrown off the ballot.
She sued to get back on – represented by Marc Elias, the same Democrat election lawyer behind years of Russia collusion hoaxes and anti-Trump lawfare.
Elias is also on Osborn's payroll.
The Nebraska Democrat Party then posted on X exactly what the plan is: vote for Burbank in the primary to knock out a competing Democrat, then send those votes to Osborn in November.
They wrote it out and posted it for the world to see.
Nebraska Republican Party Chair Mary-Jane Truemper didn't need to editorialize: "Cindy Burbank is not a candidate. She is a placeholder, and everyone knows it."
Dan Osborn Took Millions From Chuck Schumer Then Claimed Not to Know His Name
Dan Osborn has spent two years telling Nebraskans he isn't beholden to party bosses.
In 2024, Schumer's Senate Majority PAC spent $3.85 million supporting Osborn's campaign.
Osborn also received a maxed-out $57,800 contribution from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee directly, plus $5,000 from Schumer's personal leadership PAC.
Elizabeth Warren's campaign cut him a check.
Jamie Raskin's PAC cut him a check.
Jon Tester and Dick Durbin cut him checks.
When a Nebraska voter recently asked Osborn whether he would accept Schumer's support again, Osborn looked the voter in the eye and said he didn't know who Chuck Schumer was.
The man who took nearly $4 million from Chuck Schumer's operation claimed not to know Chuck Schumer's name.
Federal Election Commission filings show Osborn's campaign funneled more than $370,000 to his wife, daughter, sister-in-law, and other relatives – including $114,000 to a consulting firm co-owned by his wife that he didn't disclose until a Nebraska newspaper started asking questions.
Schumer Is Running Fake Independents in Nebraska Montana and South Dakota
This isn't a Nebraska story.
This is Schumer's national strategy for red states he can't win honestly.
In 2022, Utah Democrats endorsed Evan McMullin – a Never-Trump "independent" – instead of fielding their own candidate, hoping to peel enough Republican votes away from Senator Mike Lee to flip the seat.
Lee won by 10 points.
In Montana right now, former Democrat Senator Jon Tester has been quietly backing Seth Bodnar – a former university president running as an independent – after a leaked text message from Tester described the Democrat Party label in Montana as "poison."
The playbook is identical in every state: find a candidate who can wear the "independent" label while running on Democrat money and Democrat consultants, then drop him into a state where a D next to the name guarantees a loss.
But Osborn is a more dangerous version of this con than McMullin or Bodnar.
Osborn isn't built to appeal to Never-Trump Republicans or college-educated suburbanites.
He's a union mechanic in a flannel shirt who talks about Kellogg's workers and working-class grievances – built to appeal to the exact Trump voters Schumer needs to peel away.
Schumer doesn't need Nebraska Democrats to elect Dan Osborn.
He needs your neighbor who voted for Trump twice to look at a guy who reminds him of himself and think: maybe this one's different.
Osborn hired Fight Agency – the same strategist shop behind socialist Zohran Mamdani's New York City mayoral campaign.
He raises money on ActBlue, the Nebraska Democrat Party has endorsed him, and Schumer's PAC already spent $3.85 million on his last campaign.
But he's an independent.
Nebraska Votes on May 12th
Senator Pete Ricketts faces his primary on May 12th, and if Burbank wins the Democrat side and immediately disappears as planned, Osborn gets a clean two-person race without a Democrat splitting the anti-Ricketts vote.
The NRSC called it directly: Osborn is "a fake independent handpicked by Chuck Schumer, funded by Democrats, and backed by radical socialists."
Democrats know their own brand is toxic in red states.
Jon Tester said it out loud – the Democrat label in Montana is "poison."
Nebraska Democrat Chair Jane Kleeb is endorsing Osborn publicly while steering Burbank's voters toward him at the same time.
They're not hiding it anymore.
They've just decided that red state voters are too dumb to notice.
Sources:
- Maisey Jefferson, "This Is A Con: Democrats Use Nebraska Senate Primary To Boost Fake Independent," The Federalist, May 8, 2026.
- "Fake Independent Dan Osborn Is Funded by Chuck Schumer, Claims to Not Know Schumer," KCSR/KBPY, February 12, 2026.
- "Dan Osborn Endorsed by NE Democratic Party for 2026 Senate Race," Nebraska TV, August 1, 2025.
- "Fake Independent Senate Candidate Funded by DC Democrats, Filings Show," Fox News, October 21, 2025.
- Rusty Weiss, "Grifter Dan Osborn's Secret Weapon Wife Crashed Out As He Funneled $350K+ to Family," RedState, May 6, 2026.
- "Seth Bodnar Announces Independent Run for Senate," KTVH, March 4, 2026.