OSBORN


Where Did Osborn Come From?


F FISCHER


or a time, it seemed, stalwart conservative


Republican Sen. Deb Fischer would mail in her campaign for a second term. Democrats could not even come up with a candidate to


challenge the two-term senator. But then the unexpected happened. Dan Osborn,


an apprentice for a local steamfitters union in Omaha, filed as an independent. Osborn, 48, attracted eager volunteers who


got more than the 4,000 signatures needed to get on the fall ballot. People liked the saga of a true working-class candidate (“There’s nobody like me in the United States Senate, somebody who goes to work every day, gets dirt underneath my fingernails”) — a onetime union president who led a strike at Kellogg’s in 2021, was fired from his job, and sandwiches in campaigning between his 40 hours of weekly work as a steamfitter apprentice. Osborn seemed to be Eddie Quinn, hero of the late


Fletcher Knebel’s 1972 novel Dark Horse come to life. Chosen as a substitute when the Republican


nominee for president dies, Quinn is an obscure highway commissioner in New Jersey whose hobbies are bowling, cars, and women. (On the latter point Osborn differs — he’s happily married with three children.) But like Quinn, Osborn offers an agenda that


takes stands on the right (support for gun ownership and closing the border until immigration reform is passed) and left (full abortion access, marijuana legalization, and breaking down barriers for unions to organize). As of April, Osborn raised more than $609,000 —


a record for an independent in the Cornhusker State — and has the endorsement of the state AFL-CIO. But Fischer is well-liked, has raised more than


$3.3 million, and is close to Donald Trump in a state he is almost sure to carry in his bid for president with over 60% of the vote. In the climax of Dark Horse, Quinn narrowly


loses the presidency. But he has clearly energized a lot of people and he is quickly boomed a sure thing to be elected governor of his home state. A similar fate may await Osborn.


12 Years Later, Is It Hovde’s Time?


I


n 2012, barely a year after he returned from Washington,


D.C., to the state of his childhood, real estate tycoon Eric Hovde announced for an open U.S. Senate seat. With a campaign based primarily on his own money, Hovde came a close second in a four-candidate race to unseat former four-term Gov. Tommy Thompson. Hovde had hit hard at Thompson in the primary, but did endorse him after the race was over. In November, however, Rep. Tammy Baldwin took advantage of the scar tissue left from the GOP brannigan and won a close contest over Thompson. In so doing, she became the


first-ever openly LGBTQ senator in history. This year, Hovde is back —


older, grayer, and, friends say, matured and mellowed a dozen years after his first foray into politics. His nomination is secure


— in part because of early


endorsements from the National Republican Senatorial Committee and former President Donald Trump. His major issue is the national debt (he wants to pay it down). Baldwin has hit back hard,


HOVDE


As of April, Osborn raised more than $609,000 — a record for an independent in the Cornhusker State — and has the endorsement of the state AFL-CIO.


BALDWIN


charging Hovde wants to pass a national abortion ban, repeal the Affordable Care Act (a major issue in Hovde’s ’12 campaign but not this time), and cut Social Security and Medicare. “An out-of-touch megamillionaire” is how Baldwin’s campaign spokesman characterized her Republican opponent. Given the targeting on


Wisconsin from both presidential candidates, it seems likely the Senate race will go the way of the state’s electoral votes.


POLLS: A Marquette University Law School survey in April showed Trump edging Biden by 42%-41% and Baldwin and Hovde tied 50%-50%. Van Mobley, former board president of Thiensville, Wisconsin, told us: “The closer Hovde gets to Trump, the better he will do.”


JUNE 2024 | NEWSMAX 37


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