‘Independent’ Nebraska Senate Hopeful Courts Conservatives, But His Democrat Ties Raise Red Flags

The campaign team for U.S. Senate candidate Dan Osborn, which refers to him as a “lifelong Independent” as he challenges incumbent Nebraska Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts in 2026, has launched a group called “Conservatives for Osborn.”

That’s curious, since Brandon Philipczyk and James Vihstadt, the treasurers of the Osborn campaign and also “Conservatives for Osborn,” have strong ties to the Democratic Party.

Philipczyk “served as director of operations in Nevada for the Hillary Clinton campaign in 2016 and national coordinated operations director for the Democratic National Committee until 2017, according to his LinkedIn profile,” The Washington Free Beacon reported, adding that he also worked on Mike Bloomberg’s Democratic presidential primary campaign in 2020. “Vihstadt is a delegate for the Nebraska Democratic Party and has donated exclusively to Democratic political candidates over the years,” the Beacon noted.

Osborn narrowly lost his race against incumbent Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE) in 2024, but during the campaign, the Senate Majority PAC, run by then-Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), gave $3.8 million to the PAC Retire Career Politicians, which supported Osborn. “Nearly $30 million, that’s the amount of money out-of-state Democrats spent trying to buy a Nebraska Senate seat,” Fischer stated. “It did not happen. … They wasted their money.”

“Osborn launched his campaign in 2023 with the help of a member of the Democratic Socialists of America who authored a blueprint on how to achieve ‘socialism in our lifetime,’” the Washington Free Beacon noted.

In September 2024, Osborn gushed over hard-Left Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), saying, “I love Bernie. But the bottom line is we do have to peel off some conservatives.” Then-GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump posted on Truth Social, “Dan is a ‘Bernie Sanders Democrat’ who does not stand for Nebraska Values, and never will.” Arkansas GOP Sen. Tom Cotton said Osborn “supports socialist Bernie Sanders but pretends to be non-partisan. A total fraud.”

.@realDonaldTrump is right. @DebforNebraska is a strong conservative who fights for secure borders and to stop the Biden-Harris inflation.

Her opponent supports socialist Bernie Sanders but pretends to be non-partisan. A total fraud.

Support Deb here: https://t.co/wbtahofbhs https://t.co/7ci5pWkAzb

— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) September 10, 2024

“Dan Osborn is a Bernie Sanders Democrat who apparently can’t take no for an answer,” National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Communications Director Joanna Rodriguez declared. “Nebraskans rejected Democrat Dan after Chuck Schumer and national Democrats spent millions to prop up his fake ‘independent’ campaign and they’ll do it again in 2026.”

The NRSC recently released an ad highlighting Osborn’s admiration for Bernie Sanders and inappropriate internet activity:

Maybe Chuck Schumer should've checked Democrat Dan Osborn's search history before recruiting him to run as an "independent" pic.twitter.com/Nr8z2eykjx

— Senate Republicans (@NRSC) July 8, 2025