# Ricketts leads independent candidate Osborn by 6 points in latest Nebraska Senate poll

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/ricketts-leads-independent-candidate-osborn-by-6-points-in-latest-nebraska-senate-poll/
- Published: 2026-10-31T14:03:52+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-04T00:23:24+00:00
- Original publisher: The Hill (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/6186054-ricketts-osborn-nebraska-senate/
- Topics: Elections, Government, Politics

## Key points

- Ricketts led Osborn 49% to 43% in the Nebraska Senate poll.
- The survey covered 809 likely voters and had a 4.2-point margin of error.
- Most respondents saw Osborn as more similar to Democrats than as an independent.

## Summary

Republican Senator Pete Ricketts led independent challenger Dan Osborn by six percentage points, 49% to 43%, in a New York Times/Siena University poll of likely Nebraska voters released on 31 October. The survey interviewed 809 voters from 23 to 29 October and reported a margin of error of 4.2 percentage points. It offered a snapshot of the race before the 3 November election, rather than a result.

Osborn is running without a Democrat on the Senate ballot, as he did in 2024, when he lost to Republican Senator Deb Fischer by just over six points. His independent status remains a question in the current contest: 55% of respondents said they regarded him as more similar to Democrats, while 33% saw him as more of an independent. Ricketts’s lead comes in a state Donald Trump won by more than 20 points in 2024, making the size of Osborn’s support notable even as the poll puts the incumbent ahead.

## Coverage

- [The Hill: Ricketts leads independent candidate Osborn by 6 points in latest Nebraska Senate poll](https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/6186054-ricketts-osborn-nebraska-senate/)
- [Siena Research Institute: NYTimes/Siena Poll of Likely Nebraska Voters](https://sri.siena.edu/2026/10/31/nytimes-siena-poll-of-likely-nebraska-voters/)

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.