Osborn Brings His 93-County Tour Launch to Omaha

by Lewis Thune

(Picture credit Lewis Thune)

OMAHA — Independent Senate candidate Dan Osborn touted his union support in a Thursday night rally at La Vista’s Astro Theater.

The hourlong event welcomed about 400 supporters for the kickoff announcement of Osborn’s 93-county tour, which has presently reached 33 counties. After opening with the national anthem, the Osborn campaign welcomed Nebraska City real estate agent Janet Palmtag and Teamsters 554 business agent Keith Gamerl to the podium.

Palmtag, who ran as a Republican for the state senate in 2020, was awarded $500,000 in damages in a years-long suit against the Nebraska Republican Party over defamatory campaign mailers, the party having backed her Republican opponent Julie Slama.

“Political parties twist the truth, they make up their own facts, and they unfairly put down their opponents,” she said. “Dan Osborn does not take orders from any political party.”

Gamerl has organized with local Teamsters 554 members in their strike against Premier Midwest Beverage, now nearing its sixth month.

“The decisions that shape working-class lives have been made by people who maybe never lived them, or have forgotten what those lives are really like,” he said. “It’s time to send one of us.”

When Osborn did take the stage, tossing campaign-branded footballs into the crowd, he immediately seized on Gamerl’s message and recalled his career as an industrial mechanic.

“These out-of-state owners came in after 30 years of fair contracts that allowed hardworking Nebraskans to make a living,” he said. “I’m assuming you know that this is a familiar story for me.”

He recounted working at the Omaha Kellogg’s plant while serving as president of his union during the pandemic.

“We were working 12 hours a day, seven days a week. The factory never stopped, and in that time, Kellogg’s made crazy record profits. The CEO gave himself a $2 million raise. The board got rich, and the shareholders got rich.”

Boos erupted before Osborn asserted he did not have a problem with that fact.

“We made our money too. But at the end of the pandemic, our contract expired.”

When Kellogg and BCTGM’s negotiations fell through over health insurance and wage restructuring, the union went on strike. Osborn drew applause while narrating the 77-day standoff that ensued in Omaha and three other cities across the nation.

“In that time, I was able to get Don Bacon to come to our picket line. I even got the governor to draft a letter to support us.”

The fact that said governor was Osborn’s now opponent, incumbent GOP Senator Pete Ricketts, did not stall the former’s attack that the latter is out of touch. He accused Ricketts of siding against labor on behalf of corporate interests.

“We have been abandoned by our elected officials. They run to their donors and make sure that the corporations and special interests funding their campaigns are satisfied. They work for them,” he said. “Last year, Pete Ricketts voted to give one of the largest tax cuts to the wealthy in history, a tax cut for himself,” he said.

He went further, likening Ricketts to tech billionaires and Gilded Age industrialists.

“The corporations and the oligarchs: Bezos, Thiel, Zuckerburg, and Ricketts — they want you to pay more and then own less… they’re the modern-day robber barons stripping this country bare.”

When reached for comment by The Plains Sentinel, the Ricketts campaign took aim at Osborn’s leadership in light of the imminent closure of the Omaha Kellogg’s plant, a decision Osborn laid at the feet of “greedy CEOs.”

“Dan Osborn’s leadership has consequences. Next month, 500 Nebraska workers will lose their jobs when the Kellogg’s plant shuts down,” Deputy Campaign Manager Max Oberg said.

He also criticized Ricketts once again for his campaign spending over the years.

“He spent over $17 million to get himself elected for governor and senator. The Ricketts family spent $8 million in 2024 alone on Nebraska elections. When Pete wants something, he buys it.”

In his closing pitch, he made his juxtaposition between labor and corporate interests explicit.

“Beating Pete Ricketts won’t be easy: he’s in the pocket of the corporations and special interests,” he said, naming Tyson, JBS, Union Pacific, and Norfolk Southern. “Unlike Pete Ricketts, I want to hear from the people of Nebraska.”

And to that end, he closed by plugging his 93-county tour and invoking the legacy of Nebraska Hall-of-Famer William Jennings Bryan.

“I will give every Nebraskan from our farms to our factories a chance to hear my vision for the state,” he said. “Together, we can stand up to our modern day robber barons, the same way that William Jennings Bryan stood up against the original robber barons… we can fight back against the uber-wealthy.”

With August fast approaching and with it the kickoff of college football season, Osborn closed the rally with a “Go Big Red.” His campaign website lists eight impending events on his 93-county tour.

— Lewis Thune is a writing fellow with The Plains Sentinel.