Trump to rally in deep-red Nebraska, where a Senate seat and key House seat are on the line
President Donald Trump is heading to Grand Island, Nebraska, for a rally on Monday evening, the latest in a campaign travel swing that includes notable stops in red states and one that comes as both parties eye critical races in the state.
Last week, Trump held rallies in Alabama, Oklahoma and Ohio; Nebraska is similarly red-leaning. Trump won the statewide vote in Nebraska three times by around 20 points each time. In 2020 and 2024, the Democratic candidate each time got one electoral college vote from Nebraska because Nebraska splits its electoral college votes.
But in the Senate race this year in Nebraska, incumbent Sen. Pete Ricketts, first elected to the Senate in 2024 in a special election after previously serving as Nebraska's governor, is facing a closely watched general election matchup against independent Dan Osborn, a union steamfitter who ran a closer-than-expected race for Senate in 2024 against GOP Sen. Deb Fischer.
Early in-person voting in Nebraska begins on Monday, the day of the rally.
Ricketts has argued that he’s best suited to keep delivering for Nebraska and that his opponent is secretly a Democrat.
There is no Democrat on the ballot for Senate in Nebraska, as the Democrat who won the Senate primary withdrew. Democrats are rallying behind Osborn as one of a few red-state independents running for Senate this year, although Osborn has insisted he won’t caucus with either party.
Ricketts has alleged that "Democrat Dan," as he nicknamed Osborn during a recent debate, is trying to mislead voters while planning to effectively serve as a Democrat.
Ricketts has also faced newfound scrutiny after an ad released by an outside group last week featured a woman who called out his vote in 2022, while governor, to pardon a man who served a prison sentence for sexually assaulting her. Ricketts told reporters after the ad was released, "The pardon was granted nearly three decades after the crime, and anyone who knows me knows that I have always protected Nebraskans. That is my job, and it always has been."
Osborn, meanwhile, has argued that he will be a fully independent voice for Nebraska and that voters there need change.
He also recently apologized for leaked audio from a campaign event where he maligned hypothetical Trump voters as having lives that "suck," saying he was trying to discuss the anger he said Trump tapped into during his presidential runs.
ABC News has not independently obtained the audio; Osborn has not disputed the remarks.
Trump, in a recent video he posted on his social media platform, praised Ricketts as someone who "will always put Nebraska first, and he'll always put America first," while slamming Osborn as someone who "will say anything to win. He's dying to get to Washington so he can betray you, but we will not let that happen."
There's also a major U.S. House race in Nebraska, although it's not in the congressional district where Trump is going on Monday. Grand Island is in the state's 3rd District, represented by Rep. Adrian Smith and favored to remain Republican-held.
But the state’s 2nd Congressional District, which includes Omaha, is a top target for Democrats. Incumbent Republican Rep. Don Bacon is retiring; Omaha City Council member Brinker Harding, a Republican, and businesswoman Denise Powell, a Democrat, are running.
Ricketts has indicated during recent interviews that he will attend Monday's rally, telling media outlets on Wednesday, "We will welcome President Trump to Grand Island on Monday, and we will be talking about the things we've done between Senate Republicans and the president to put more money back in people's pockets."
Harding, however, will not be at the rally, his spokesperson confirmed to ABC News on Thursday, because of "previously scheduled events." Harding has Trump's endorsement, although he has also sought sometimes to show where he disagrees with Trump.
Given Nebraska's agriculture industry, the rises in the prices of fertilizer and fuel because of the war with Iran hurting trade have become major issues, as has the administration’s temporary lift on beef tariffs, which both Ricketts and Osborn have criticized.
