CNN
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Republican Sen. Deb Fischer will win reelection in Nebraska, defeating an unexpectedly strong challenge from independent Dan Osborn, CNN projects.

Fischer was first elected to the Senate in 2012, when she became the first female senator elected to a full term in Nebraska. Before being elected to Congress, she served in the unicameral Nebraska Legislature.

Osborn, a Navy veteran and industrial mechanic, gave Fischer a tougher challenge than expected.

Osborn and his allies outspent Republicans and drew attention with buzzy ads, including one in which he burned the word “LIE” into a TV to fend off attack ads from his opponent. Elsewhere, he called Fischer and her colleagues in the US Senate “a bunch of millionaires controlled by billionaires.”

He often called Fischer a “career politician” and criticized her for going back on her promise to run for just two terms in the Senate. Fischer, who begins her third term in the Senate in January, said she changed her mind after realizing how important seniority is for members of Congress.

Fischer portrayed Osborn as a “Trojan Horse” for Democrats and tried to tie him to party figures such as Vice President Kamala Harris, President Joe Biden and independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. Former President Donald Trump also tried to tie Osborn to the left in his support of Fischer.

“Dan is a ‘Bernie Sanders Democrat’ who does not and never will stand up for Nebraska values,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in September.

Osborn, meanwhile, portrayed himself as a populist and took policy positions that did not sit well with either party. He said he personally opposes abortion but believes it should be legal and called himself a supporter of the Second Amendment. He supported lowering taxes on overtime, increasing benefits for military personnel and veterans, and legalizing cannabis.

He declined support from the Democratic Party and declined to say which party he would align with if elected, or to share who he voted for in 2020 or planned to vote for in 2024.

Nebraska Democrats, who at one point said they were in talks with Osborn to form a coalition, did not field a candidate or publicly endorse Osborn.

The state also held a special election for the Senate to fill the other seat left vacant by the resignation of Republican Ben Sasse.