Cindy Burbank won Nebraska's Democrat Senate primary with nearly 90 percent of the vote and then quit.
Democrat nominees in Idaho and South Dakota walked away from their Senate races within weeks of her.
Then Pete Buttigieg made a move in Montana that told voters exactly what those exits were for.
Nebraska Democrats Handed Their Ballot Line to Dan Osborn
Her landslide came on May 12.
On July 17, she filed paperwork to take her name off the ballot.
That left one man standing against Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts – independent Dan Osborn.
Nebraska Republicans saw it coming months earlier.
Before the primary, state GOP Chair Mary-Jane Truemper said of Burbank, "She is a placeholder, and everyone knows it."
The Nebraska Democrat Party had already endorsed Osborn in August 2025, and its chair, Jane Kleeb, said the party wouldn't bother recruiting a candidate.
Osborn calls himself an independent.
His donor list tells a different story.
During his 2024 run against Sen. Deb Fischer, Chuck Schumer's allies at Senate Majority PAC poured $3.85 million into backing him.
Leadership PACs tied to Schumer, Dick Durbin, and Sheldon Whitehouse sent him $5,000 checks.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee chipped in close to $60,000 in the final days of that race.
Ricketts' campaign summed it up – Osborn is "bought and paid for by his liberal, out-of-state, coastal donors."
Idaho and South Dakota Democrats Cleared the Road Too
Idaho Democrat David Roth won his party's Senate nomination on May 19.
In late July, he ended his campaign against Sen. Jim Risch, citing long odds.
That cleared the field for Todd Achilles, a former Democrat state lawmaker now running as an independent.
Roth had lost to Sen. Mike Crapo by more than 30 points in 2022, and a second blowout was the obvious outcome.
On August 5, South Dakota Democrat nominee Julian Beaudion dropped out, citing a house fire and financial hardship at home.
Independent Brian Bengs became Sen. Mike Rounds' only challenger.
Bengs is a familiar face – he ran for Senate in 2022 as a Democrat against John Thune.
He greeted the news by taking a swipe at "Big Money Mike Rounds."
Three states, three Democrat nominees gone, and three independents left holding the ballot line.
Buttigieg Picked Seth Bodnar Over Montana's Democrat Nominee
Montana is where the scheme hit a wall.
Sen. Steve Daines stepped aside on the last day of filing, and former U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme became the Republican nominee.
Seth Bodnar, the former University of Montana president and Green Beret, jumped in as an independent with Jon Tester and Max Baucus in his corner.
Bodnar is a West Point graduate and Rhodes scholar who has never held public office.
Democrat nominee Alani Bankhead refused to get out of the way.
So her party went around her.
Bankhead says the DSCC sent the Montana Democrat Party nothing this cycle through August 31, after $2.8 million in 2024.
On October 12, state party chair Shannon O'Brien resigned and endorsed Bodnar.
She wrote that Bankhead "does not have the momentum, resources or will to win this race."
On October 23, Pete Buttigieg – Joe Biden's Transportation Secretary – endorsed Bodnar over the Democrat on the ballot.
A national Democrat doesn't cross his party's nominee to help a man who will vote against him.
He does it because he knows which way that vote will go.
Trump rallied for Alme in Montana in October, in a state he has carried by double digits.
Greg Orman Ran the Same Disguise in Kansas in 2014
Kansas voters already watched this exact move.
In September 2014, Democrat Chad Taylor withdrew from the Senate race to give independent Greg Orman a clear shot at Sen. Pat Roberts.
Roberts called Orman "a liberal Democrat posing as an independent."
Kansas sent Roberts back for a fourth term.
In 2022, Utah Democrats skipped nominating a candidate and lined up behind independent Evan McMullin against Mike Lee.
Lee won comfortably.
In 2024, Nebraska voters turned down Osborn by more than six points.
Chuck Schumer Needs Four Seats and a New Label to Get Them
Republicans hold 53 Senate seats, and Schumer needs a net gain of four to take the majority back.
Only two of the 22 Republican seats on the ballot sit in competitive states.
Schumer can't win Nebraska, Idaho, South Dakota, or Montana with a D next to the candidate's name.
So the letter came off.
The money didn't change – only the label did.
Bodnar and Achilles both promise they won't caucus with either party.
A senator who skips Schumer's caucus lunch can still vote with Schumer on every bill that matters – the judges, the spending, the tax hikes.
Every one of them is running on Democrat voters and Democrat money.
That isn't independence.
It's a costume.
Whatever the returns show on November 3, voters in these four states now know who stitched it together.
Sources:
- Adam Turner, "Don't Forget About the Other Democrat Dirty Trick – the Indy Imitation Game," RedState, November 1, 2026.
- Maisey Jefferson, "'This Is a Con': Democrats Use Nebraska Senate Primary to Boost 'Fake Independent'," The Federalist, May 8, 2026.
- Alec Schemmel, "National Dems Bankroll Campaign of 'Fake Independent' Senate Candidate From Midwestern State," Fox News, October 21, 2025.
- Alex Nitzberg, "Dem Drops US Senate Bid, Leaving Independent Candidate as Lone Challenger to Incumbent GOP Sen. Mike Rounds," Fox News, August 5, 2026.
- Troy Myers, "With Early Voting Underway, Montana Democratic Party Chair Resigns, Backs Independent Senate Candidate," The Epoch Times, October 12, 2026.
- The Washington Times, "Pat Roberts Defeats Greg Orman for Fourth Term in Senate," The Washington Times, November 4, 2014.
Related posts:
Bill Maher Just Revealed a Second White House Dinner and the Friendship It Already Cost Him
Ben Stiller Made One Post About His New Movie With Robert De Niro and Got Instantly Savaged
The Top Democrat Busted Laundering Her Drug Empire’s Cash is Not the Only One in Trouble as Midterms Loom