Aug. 4, 2025, 3:12 p.m.
Independent Dan Osborn stunned the campaign world last year when he came within 7 points of unseating Republican Sen. Deb Fischer in ruby-red Nebraska. Now Osborn is back for another Senate campaign, joined by a handful of fellow independent Senate hopefuls across the map.
Amid increasing unfavorability ratings for both political parties, four independent candidates are trying a different path. Idaho’s Todd Achilles, Mississippi’s Ty Pinkins, and South Dakota’s Brian Bengs—all three former Democrats—are following in Osborn’s 2024 footsteps as they challenge GOP incumbents in red states. All four are veterans who say they don’t intend to caucus with either Republicans or Democrats if elected.
“People are sick of the status quo,” Osborn told National Journal. “They’re sick of what they see in Washington: people trading stocks and getting rich, and both parties not really working together and getting anything done.”
Osborn said he’s had several conversations with Achilles and Bengs about his experience running as an independent, bouncing ideas and sharing stories in a group chat between the three.
“They seem to be pretty good guys, and they just want to do right by working people,” Osborn said.
Osborn, a former labor union leader, received roughly 66,000 more votes than former Vice President Kamala Harris in a state that President Trump carried by 20 points. Next year he is running against Sen. Pete Ricketts, who won his 2024 special election by 25 points. An Osborn internal poll released in April found Ricketts ahead of him by 1 point, suggesting a competitive race.
The strategy won’t change much this time around, Osborn told National Journal, arguing that an early start and a higher name identification will help him. He emphasized his focus on improving his performance in the solidly Republican 3rd Congressional District—which was the only district Fischer carried, although the size of her margin ensured victory state-wide.
But Osborn might not catch the GOP by surprise this time around, especially with a former two-term governor in Ricketts.
“They’re going to try to paint me out to be somebody I’m not, because they want to win an election,” Osborn said. “Ultimately for me, I want to represent the people and I want to represent working people.”
Nebraska Democratic Party Chair Jane Kleeb said in a post on X that she is supporting Osborn’s comeback bid. Republicans are looking to exploit her and other Democrats’ support for Osborn to tie him to the unpopular national party. Republicans highlight the last-minute donations to his 2024 campaign from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s leadership PAC, and a $3.9 million contribution from the Schumer-aligned Senate Majority PAC to a pro-Osborn super PAC.
“Nebraska Democrats have their Senate candidate for 2026: Dan Osborn,” said Ricketts campaign spokesperson Will Coup in a statement. “Fake Dan Osborn can continue pretending to be an Independent, but he is endorsed by the Nebraska Democratic Party, funded by Democrats, and backs Democrats’ most extreme policy positions.”
Achilles, Bengs, and Pinkins aren’t expected to receive the same courtesy from their states’ Democratic parties.
Idaho
Achilles, a former state representative who left the Democratic Party and resigned from the Idaho state House this year, is challenging 82-year-old Sen. James Risch. He told National Journal he views himself as the best candidate to take on the senator, putting the onus on the Idaho Democratic Party to decide if they’ll back his independent bid.
David Roth, the 2022 Democratic nominee against Sen. Mike Crapo and a Democratic National Committee member, is also running. Roth told National Journal that he couldn’t see the independent “garnering much Democratic support.”
A July poll sponsored by Conservation Voters for Idaho found Risch at 41 percent, Roth at 16 percent, Achilles at 5 percent, independent Natalie Fleming at 5 percent, and 31 percent undecided in a hypothetical general election matchup.
South Dakota
Bengs, who lost against current Majority Leader John Thune by 43 points in 2022, is now challenging Sen. Mike Rounds. Bengs told National Journal he didn’t intend to run for elected office again, citing the difficulty of running with the Democratic label despite being a registered independent most of his life. However, he cited the Trump administration’s cuts to the federal workforce and federal spending while he worked as a ranger at Wind Cave National Park as his reason for trying again.
“The takeaway was that the letter next to my name was far more important than what I was saying, because they agreed with, for the most part, what I was saying,” Bengs said.
Former state trooper Julian Beaudion is also in the race, running with the backing of the South Dakota Democratic Party. Beaudion told National Journal he believes Bengs will split away more Republican votes than Democratic votes, citing Bengs’s opposition to birthright citizenship.
South Dakota Democratic Party Executive Director Dan Ahlers, who unsuccessfully challenged Rounds in 2020, told National Journal the party will support Beaudion over Bengs, adding of the latter: “How he wants to run is up to him.”
Rounds campaign advisor Rob Skjonsberg called Bengs a “Democrat” in a statement to National Journal. He added that if both Beaudion and Bengs make the ballot next year, “the left wing of the Democrat party will have two choices to choose from in the general election.”
Mississippi
Pinkins was not spurred to run as an independent by Osborn’s 2024 candidacy, but rather by his experience running as the Democratic nominee against Sen. Roger Wicker last year. Pinkins is returning to challenge Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith next year as an independent, arguing that the Democratic Party didn’t support him during his 2024 bid.
“There are a few party insiders who are upset and have called to express their dismay and their disappointment at me leaving the Democratic Party,” Pinkins said. “But partly because of those types of responses is the reason why I left the Democratic Party to become an independent.”
Mississippi Democratic Party Executive Vice Chair Jodie Brown told National Journal in a statement that party members “showed up” for Pinkins’s previous campaigns and the party “provided resources, including access to our headquarters, and encouraged every available volunteer to put their full effort behind his race.”
“We’re committed to supporting a candidate who will fight for our families, our schools, and our future,” Brown said.
Democrats are looking to make a play in Mississippi next year. Schumer is pushing District Attorney Scott Colom to challenge Hyde-Smith after she blocked him from being appointed to a federal judgeship. Mississippi Democratic Party Chairman Cheikh Taylor said Colom told him he intends to launch a Senate run.
