A screenshot of Cindy Burbank's campaign website on March 3, 2026.
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LINCOLN — Nebraska Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Cindy Burbank is off the ballot, the state’s top election official confirmed Tuesday.
The Nebraska Republican Party filed a complaint with Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen last week about Burbank, arguing that she is not a “good-faith” candidate, because she has no plans to serve in the office she seeks. State law says that the secretary of state can reject a candidate filing if the state’s top election official determines someone is not a “good-faith candidate.”
The state GOP pointed to her website, which she named “NOT a Pete Ricketts plant,” where Burbank wrote that if she won the Democratic nomination, she would support nonpartisan candidate Dan Osborn against Republican U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts to give him a “fair shot against Ricketts.”
State Democratic officials have said her candidacy was an answer to what they believe was a GOP-planted candidate to help Ricketts.
Forbes isn’t the only candidate some have alleged as a “plant” in the Senate race. Legal Marijuana NOW Party candidate Mike Marvin has been accused by the marijuana party’s former chair, Mark Elworth Jr., of being a “Dan Osborn plant” on the party’s Facebook page — pointing to him being a union leader with ties to Osborn, himself a former Omaha union leader.
Marvin has said he’s not a “plant.”
Ricketts and Osborn are currently in a heated race for one of Nebraska’s Senate seats, in a race considered Ricketts’s toughest general election matchup of his career. Ricketts served two terms as governor before being appointed to the seat and winning a special election in 2024.
“Burbank’s statements are irreconcilable with her oath given under Nebraska law that, the only explanation appears to be that Burbank is not actually campaigning for herself, but is a proxy for Osborn to prevent another member from her party from passing through the primary,” part of the state GOP complaint reads.
The complaint also points to comments from Nebraska Democratic Party chair Jane Kleeb, who it alleged said Burbank’s candidacy was to “protect the party line.”
The Nebraska Democratic Party had said last year it wasn’t actively pursuing a candidate, but that a Democrat could still join the race. Burbank joined the race at the filing deadline, along with Democrat William Forbes, an anti-abortion pastor whom Burbank has called “loyal” to Ricketts.
Burbank’s website showed what it described as Facebook photos of Forbes, an anti-abortion Democrat, attending a banquet for Nebraska Right to Life and a photo of Ricketts speaking at the Capitol for the 2025 Nebraska Walk for Life. Forbes has sidestepped a question about whether he wanted address allegations of being “loyal” to Ricketts.
The state Democratic party has openly encouraged its voters to vote for Burbank and has described Forbes’ bid as “a political maneuver engineered by Pete Ricketts to split the opposition vote and protect his Senate seat.”
Ricketts’ campaign has denied any involvement with Forbes. Osborn’s campaign denies involvement with Marvin.
Burbank, through her attorney’s filing with the Secretary of State’s Office, argued the Nebraska GOP wants her off the ballot because of “political speech,” which they said could violate her First Amendment rights. Her lawyer also said her website and news articles aren’t evidence, and the only evidence Evnen should consider is her statement from her filing that she is “qualified to be elected and that I will serve if elected.”
“At no point has Ms. Burbank stated that she would refuse to serve in the United States Senate if elected,” Burbank’s response to the state GOP complaint reads. “Her website reflects a political strategy, one shared publicly and transparently, in which she campaigns in the Democratic primary while expressing the view that Osborn is the strongest general-election candidate against Ricketts. This is not a repudiation of the obligation to serve. Candidates regularly express strategic preferences, endorse rivals and adjust their campaigns based on evolving circumstances. None of this negates the oath to serve if ultimately elected by the voters.”
Burbank is the 2nd Democrat to get kicked off the ballot this cycle, joining Democratic Douglas County sheriff’s candidate Mark Martinez, who is asking the Nebraska Supreme Court to overturn a decision last week by the new Douglas County election commissioner.
The local election commissioner determined that Martinez doesn’t qualify to run for county sheriff after the Douglas County Republican Party filed a complaint questioning Martinez’s eligibility. The county election commissioner is a Republican. Her deputy is a Democrat.
Mary-Jane Truemper, the Nebraska GOP party chair, said, “Secretary of State Evnen made the right call removing Cindy Burbank from the ballot. Nebraskans deserve real candidates, real choices, and real elections.”
The state Democratic party had no immediate comment.
The deadline for a judge to overturn these decisions is Wednesday, as it would be 55 days before the primary election, according to state law. Nebraska’s primary election is May 12. The general election is Nov. 3.
- 12:01 pmEditor's note: This story has been updated with comment from the state GOP.
This story is provided by States Newsroom, a nonprofit state news network and Blox Digital content partner.
