Dan Osborn

Dan Osborn is a U.S. Navy veteran, steamfitter, industrial mechanic, labor union leader and an independent politician.

As president of Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union Local 50G. he led the strike at Kellogg's Omaha plant in 2021. He is running as an independent candidate in the regular 2024 United States Senate election in Nebraska.

Early life and family
Osborn was born in 1975. He moved to Nebraska with his family when he was seven. His father Gary was once Dodge County Commissioner.

Osborn graduated from Roncalli Catholic High School in Omaha in 1994. He and his wife Megan have three children.

Military career
Osborne was enlisted in the United States Navy. He served for 4 years as storekeeper (SK) aboard the USS Constellation (CV-64), completing two Western Pacific cruises and two Exercise RIMPAC cruises.

He later joined the Nebraska Army National Guard. He attended the 19K Tanker school at the Idaho Army National Guard and served in the Tennessee National Guard.

Union leader
Osborn started working at an industrial mechanic at the Kellogg's Omaha plant in 2004. He eventually became president of Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union Local 50G.

He rose to national prominence when he led the 2021 Kellogg's strike at the plant in 2021. The strike, which was prompted by a two-tier system of pay and included other plants across the United States, lasted 77 days.

Osborn was later fired by Kellogg's. He is employed doing boiler maintenance and repair work at Boys Town and is a member of Steamfitters and Plumbers Local 464.

U.S. Senate candidacy
Nebraska has a dominant-party system favouring Republicans. There are two elections for U.S. Senator from Nebraska in 2024: the special election and the regular election. Osborn is running in the latter, in which there will likely be no Democratic challenger, and claims he can represent working and middle-class constituencies better than wealthy, establishment politicians.

He officially announced his candidacy as an independent on October 5, 2023. He must garner 4,000 signatures from Nebraska voters before September 2024 for eligibility, which he had by March 2024. Osborn had been a registered Democrat until 2016. Democrats elected not to run a candidate in the race, and Osborn said he would not seek their endorsement. Jane Kleeb, Democratic state party Chair, said that the party considered running a write in candidate, though this effort seemed to stall.

A poll taken by Change Research in December 2023 showed Osborn with a slight lead over the incumbent, Deb Fischer. Observers have questioned methodology and results of the poll.

Osborn says his priorities are protecting small businesses, family farmers and workers. He supports raising the national minimum wage and a lower tax rate on overtime work; guaranteeing access to abortion; facilitating union organizing; protecting gun rights; securing U.S. borders and exploring ways to legalize some undocumented workers; legalizing and taxing marijuana; and improved railroad safety. He has said he supports a "libertarian approach" to hot-button issues and that government should be kept out of private lives. He believes in a "right to-repair" of consumer goods such as cars and electronics.

Asked about his prospects in the race by the New York Times, he said, "I’ve gone up against a major American corporation. I stood up for what I thought was right, and I won." Of the major candidates in the 2024 United States presidential election he said: “I think they’re both too old; I think they’re both incompetent. There’s a good chance I won’t vote for president.”

In pre-primary filing, Osborn out raised incumbent Senator Deb Fischer. According to reports, he raised $456,000 in the latest fiscal quarter, putting him at $609,000 in total funds, more than any independent candidate has ever raised in state history. Most of his donations were small dollar.