2026-09-05T16:00:29.752Z / 美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）
内布拉斯加州苏厄德——
斯蒂芬妮·南特克斯是一名坚定的民主党人。但当被问及本州民众如何看待民主党时，她没有丝毫掩饰。
“说实话，口碑不太好，”退休教师南特克斯说道，“一点都不好。”
她身着一件浅灰色的“苏厄德县民主党”T恤，前来会见她支持的美国参议院候选人——而这位候选人实际上并非民主党人。
事实上，本次秋季参议院选举的选票上并没有民主党候选人。民主党领导层决定放弃参选，转而支持无党派人士丹·奥斯本，以期提升他击败共和党参议员皮特·里基茨的胜算。
“如今民众对华盛顿的愤怒比以往更甚，”南特克斯表示，“两年前他差一点就成功了。所以你觉得这次会怎么样？”
奥斯本在2024年的内布拉斯加州参议院选举中以不到7个百分点的差距落败，如今他再次参选——而且这一次，他并非孤军奋战。
民主党同时也在南达科他州和爱达荷州支持无党派候选人。在蒙大拿州，一名胜算渺茫的民主党候选人拒绝退选后，部分民主党领导层转而支持独立候选人、前大学校长赛斯·博德纳。
战略人士认为，奥斯本的参选之路是一份行动蓝图。
“我们将在2028年及以后看到更多人挺身而出，采用这种模式在各自州赢得选举，”奥斯本说道，“这样我们就能集结一群愿意做正确之事的人。”
尽管全美各地各界都在为民主党发展方向忧心忡忡，但民主党领导层故意放弃多个州的参选提名，直白地承认了该党在这片曾定期选举民主党人担任州和联邦公职的地区声名狼藉。
二十年前，内布拉斯加州拥有一名民主党参议员，北达科他州和南达科他州各有两名。前蒙大拿州参议员乔恩·泰斯特在特朗普第一任期内成功连任，但2024年以7个百分点的差距落败，而当年特朗普在该州以20个百分点的优势胜出。
“你知道，我们党的形象还有很长的路要走，”内布拉斯加州民主党主席简·克莱布说道，她同时兼任民主党全国委员会副主席，“我完全理解民众为何对全国民主党感到失望。电视上看到的都是沿海地区的民主党人，所以我们正努力改变这一现状。”
克莱布将支持奥斯本的决定称为“务实之举”，她告诉CNN：“这向民众表明，我们愿意跨越党派界限，不让党派利己主义阻碍对內布拉斯加州最有利的事。”
“别再左右观望”
诚然，在唐纳德·特朗普总统取得三次两位数得票率胜利的深红州，所有无党派候选人的参议院竞选之路都举步维艰。任何无党派人士想要获胜，都必须获得大量独立选民的支持，再加上相当一部分厌倦现状的共和党人，同时还要团结民主党选民。
但如今疲软的农业经济，以及民众对关税等政府政策的不满——包括近期放宽外国牛肉进口的决定——正在考验共和党人的耐心，并动摇其在11月选举中的主导地位。
“这就像把装满洗澡水的浴缸拔下排水塞，”退休的奥马哈消防队长迈克·穆尔霍兰说道，他前来参加奥斯本的市政厅会议，“不会一夜之间发生剧变，但我看到支持‘让美国再次伟大’的力量正在慢慢流失，因为我认为民众正在觉醒，他们渴望变革。”
奥斯本是一名机械师，曾担任奥马哈市家乐氏谷物工厂的工会主席，该工厂已于上月关闭。他明确表示，自己对两大政党都没什么好感，也毫无忠诚可言，他认为选民愿意接受新的政治选择。
“我们必须停止左右观望、互相指责，转而抬头看向未来，”奥斯本在采访中说道，“我们必须直指那些幕后操纵者、说客，以及驱动政治工业综合体的政治资金。”
奥斯本即将走遍内布拉斯加州全部93个县举办市政厅会议，他表示自己感受到了与2024年竞选时不同的政治氛围。当时他败给了参议员黛比·费舍尔。他看到选民情绪不稳，甚至在他遇到的保守派人士中也是如此，并认为随着越来越多选民寻求变革，出现了潜在的获胜机会。
“2024年竞选时最大的不同是伊朗局势，”奥斯本说道，“还有不断飙升的生活成本，每个家庭都在为此挣扎。”
奥斯本和另外三名无党派候选人都是退伍军人。他曾在海军服役，演讲中经常提到自己四次前往中东、途经霍尔木兹海峡的经历。
“我们曾被告知不会有新的战争——不会有新的海外战争——但如今我们却身处其中，”奥斯本在近期一个周日下午于内布拉斯加州东南部小镇克里特的退伍军人俱乐部举行的市政厅会议上说道，当时约有80人到场。“我们现在的处境比开战前更糟。”
内布拉斯加州乃至全美都面临一个核心问题：如果这些无党派参议院候选人真的当选，他们会怎么做？
尽管民主党伸出援手，希望在席位差距极小的参议院中阻止共和党获得多数席位，但奥斯本和其他无党派候选人都承诺保持独立立场。他表示自己从未登记为民主党人，并经常提到父亲是终身保守派。
“我不需要依附任何一个党派核心小组，”奥斯本在本周内布拉斯加州博览会上的一场辩论中说道，“没人能垄断好点子。我会与共和党人合作推动法案通过，但一切都是为了内布拉斯加州。这就是我的目标：为内布拉斯加州民众服务，而非某个政党领袖。”
曾担任两届内布拉斯加州州长、如今寻求连任参议员的里基茨，对奥斯本的独立性提出了强烈质疑。
在两人唯一一场预定的竞选辩论中，他在一小时的论坛中三十多次称呼对手为“民主党人丹”。
“民主党人丹试图向你们推销自己是内布拉斯加州普通人的形象，”里基茨说道，“但他被那些想要加利福尼亚或纽约参议员、而非内布拉斯加州参议员的沿海势力买通了。”
这些无党派候选人很少提及文化议题，偶尔还会采取传统上被共和党支持的立场。
“如果我们能有多名无党派人士进入美国参议院，我们就能成为关键的投票集团，”退役空军中校、独立候选人布莱恩·本格斯说道，他正在挑战南达科他州共和党参议员迈克·朗兹，“这是我们试图在这里推广的新理念。”
在采访中，本格斯表示他不会依附任何一个党派核心小组，并希望无党派人士能够“在席位接近的参议院中阻止任何一方获得多数席位”。
“只要能有少数几名无党派人士进入参议院，我们就能成为撬动任何法案通过的支点，”本格斯说道，“你们需要我们，而这是有代价的，我们想要良好的政府改革。”
在爱达荷州，前州议员、退伍军人托德·阿基利斯正在挑战连任三届的共和党参议员吉姆·里施。尽管在两年前特朗普以37个百分点优势胜出的州，他的无党派参选仍被视为胜算渺茫，但共和党官员正密切关注着他的竞选，深知本党正面临政治逆风。
在所有参议院竞选中，打破华盛顿一党独大、腐败问题和企业主导地位，都是这些无党派候选人的核心竞选主题。
“超越党派界限的最关键一点，也是根源问题，就是腐败，”奥斯本说道，“我们都能感觉到华盛顿特区已经腐朽了。”
尽管奥斯本试图利用选民的不满情绪，但他在市政厅会议上几乎从不直接提及特朗普的名字——即便被问到，也是如此。林恩·韦克在近期一次下午的竞选活动中见到奥斯本时，就问了他对总统的看法。
现场响起几声轻笑后，他给出了冗长的回答，几乎没有提到特朗普。韦克表示，她并不介意他回避这个问题，因为她知道任何获胜之路都必须包括投票给特朗普的内布拉斯加人组成的联盟。
“我们现在不需要抨击特朗普，”韦克说道，“那些话都说过、做过了。”
她表示，民主党领导层决定放弃参选、不在选票上推出民主党候选人，是经过深思熟虑的决定，目的是帮助奥斯本，这让她很满意。
“他是个优秀的候选人，”韦克说道，“我认为民主党不想妨碍他的竞选。”
Control of the Senate could hinge on these independents running where Democrats aren’t
2026-09-05T16:00:29.752Z / CNN
Seward, Nebraska—
Stephanie Nantkes is a proud Democrat. But when asked how her political party is perceived here, she doesn’t sugarcoat the answer.
“I mean, not well,” said Nantkes, a retired teacher. “Not well at all.”
She wore a light blue “Seward County Democrats” shirt to meet her preferred US Senate candidate, who is actually not a Democrat.
In fact, there is no Democrat on the fall Senate ballot. Party leaders decided to stand down and support Dan Osborn, an independent, in hopes of boosting his chances against Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts.
“People are more outraged by Washington now than they were then,” Nantkes said. “Two years ago, he almost pulled it off. So what do you think might happen this time?”
After losing a Senate race here in 2024 by fewer than 7 percentage points, Osborn is trying again — and this time, he’s not alone.
Democrats are also backing independent candidates in South Dakota and Idaho. In Montana, some party leaders are supporting Seth Bodnar, an independent former university president, after a long-shot Democratic nominee declined to drop out.
Osborn’s candidacy is seen by strategists as a roadmap.
“We are going to start to see in 2028 and beyond people stepping up and using this model to win in their perspective states,” Osborn said. “So we can get a group of people that want to do the right thing.”
For all the handwringing in all corners of the nation over the direction of the Democratic Party, the decisions by party leaders to intentionally not run nominees in several states is a blunt acknowledgment of the party’s toxicity in a stretch of the country that once routinely elected Democrats to state and federal office.
Two decades ago, Nebraska had one Democratic senator and North and South Dakota each had two. Former Montana Sen. Jon Tester won reelection during Trump’s first term but lost by seven points in 2024 while Trump won the state by 20.
“You know, our brand still needs a lot of help,” said Jane Kleeb, chairwoman of the Nebraska Democratic Party who also serves as vice chair of the Democratic National Committee. “I deeply understand why they’re frustrated with the Democratic Party nationally. All you see on TV is coastal Democrats, so we’re working hard to change that.”
Kleeb called it a “pragmatic” decision to support Osborn’s candidacy, telling CNN: “It shows people that we are willing to cross party lines and not let our ego of partisanship get in the way of what’s best for Nebraska.”
‘Stop looking left and right’
To be sure, the Senate races are an uphill climb for all the independent candidates in deep-red states where President Donald Trump recorded a trio of double-digit victories. A robust mix of independent voters along with a healthy share of exhausted Republicans would have to join Democrats for any independent to have a shot at winning.
Yet a battered agricultural economy as well as frustration with tariffs and other administration policies, including a recent decision to allow more foreign beef imports into the country, is testing Republican patience and dominance in November.
“I compare it to pulling a drain plug in a full tub of bathwater,” said Mike Mulholland, a retired Omaha fire captain who came to see Osborn at a town hall meeting. “It’s not going from one extreme to the other, but I see the support for MAGA slowly circling the drain, because I think people are waking up and they want change.”
Osborn, a mechanic and former union president at the Kellogg’s cereal plant in Omaha that closed last month, makes clear that he has little use — and no loyalty — for either political party and believes voters are open to finding a new way.
“We have to stop looking left and right and pointing fingers and we have to start looking up,” Osborn said in an interview. “We have to start looking up at the puppet masters, the lobbyists, the money in politics that drives the political-industrial complex.”
As Osborn moves closer toward holding town meetings in all 93 counties across Nebraska, he said he notices a different political climate than two years ago when he lost to Sen. Deb Fischer. He sees a restive electorate, even among conservatives he meets, and believes there is a potential opening as more voters seek change.
“The significant difference between when I was campaigning in 2024 is the war in Iran,” Osborn said. “And costs are skyrocketing that families are struggling with.”
Osborn and the three other independent candidates are military veterans. He served in the Navy and peppers his speeches with references to passing through the Strait of Hormuz during four stints in the Middle East.
“We were promised no new wars — no new foreign wars — but yet here we are,” Osborn told a town hall meeting at the VFW Club in Crete, a southeast Nebraska town, where about 80 people turned out to see him on a recent Sunday afternoon. “We are worse off now than we were when we started.”
A central question in Nebraska and beyond is what the Senate candidates would do if they actually win.
While Democrats have extended a hand in hopes of denying Republicans a majority in a narrowly divided Senate, Osborn and other contenders pledge to maintain their independence. He says he has never been a registered Democrat and frequently points out his father is a lifelong conservative.
“I don’t need to caucus with either party,” Osborn said during a debate this week at the Nebraska State Fair. “Nobody’s got a monopoly on a good idea. I will work with Republicans to get things passed, but it’s about delivering for Nebraska. That’s what I intend to do, is to work for the people of Nebraska, not a party boss.”
Ricketts, who served as the state’s governor for two terms and is now running for reelection to the Senate, sharply questions Osborn’s independence.
In their only scheduled debate of the campaign, he called his rival “Democrat Dan” more than three dozen times during an hourlong forum.
“Democrat Dan is trying to sell you a message about how he’s this regular guy from Nebraska,” Ricketts said. “But he’s being bought and paid for by people on the coast who want a senator from California or New York, not one from Nebraska.”
The independents seldom mention cultural issues and occasionally take positions traditionally favored by Republicans.
“If we get multiple independents into the United States Senate, we become the power bloc,” said Brian Bengs, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and independent who is challenging South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds, a Republican. “It is a new concept that we’re trying to sell here.”
In an interview, Bengs said he would not caucus with either party and was hopeful that independents could “deny either team a majority” in a closely divided Senate.
“If you can get just a handful of independents in there, we become the fulcrum through which you need to move anything through the Senate,” Bengs said. “You’re going to need us and there’s going to be a price for that, and we want good government reforms.”
In Idaho, Todd Achilles, a former state legislator and Army veteran, is challenging three-term Republican Sen. Jim Risch. His independent candidacy, while still seen as a long shot in a state Trump won by 37 percentage points two years ago, is being closely watched by GOP officials, mindful of the political headwinds the party is facing.
In all of the Senate contests, a desire to break up one-party rule in Washington, corruption and corporate dominance are central themes for the independent hopefuls.
“The biggest thing that transcends party lines, the root cause, is the corruption,” Osborn said. “We can all feel that Washington, DC, is broken.”
While Osborn is seeking to tap into feelings of discontent among voters, he rarely mentions Trump’s name directly in his town hall meetings — even when asked, which Lynn Wake did when she met Osborn at a recent afternoon campaign stop.
She wondered what Osborn thought of the president. After a few open laughs in the room, he delivered a long reply that barely mentioned Trump at all. She said she didn’t mind him skirting the question, knowing that any path to victory must include a coalition of Nebraskans who voted for Trump.
“We don’t need to do Trump bashing now,” Wake said. “That’s all been said and done.”
She said she was pleased Democratic leaders decided to stand down and not replace a Senate candidate on the ballot, a calculated decision designed to help Osborn.
“He’s a good candidate,” Wake said. “I don’t think Democrats wanted to get in the way of that.”
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