Nebraska Republican Deb Fischer is elected to a third US Senate term

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U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer speaks during the Republican election night watch party, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, at the Beardmore Event Center in Bellevue, Neb. (Chris Machian/Omaha World-Herald via AP)

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Dan Osborn, Independent candidate for U.S. Senate, speaks to University of Nebraska-Lincoln students at the UNL City Union on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Lincoln, Neb. (Kenneth Ferriera/Lincoln Journal Star via AP)

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Oliver Barragan, 2, center, waits for his mother, Richelle Barragan, left, as she votes on Election Day at Werner Park, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Papillion, Neb. (Liz Rymarev/Omaha World-Herald via AP)

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Voters line up to cast their ballots at Dundee Elementary School in Omaha, Neb., on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Bonnie Ryan)

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Voters walk into Ronald Wilson Reagan Elementary School to vote, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024 in Omaha, Neb. (Nikos Frazier/Omaha World-Herald via AP)

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A cutout of Jesus watches over voters at the voting station at Redeemer Lutheran Church on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Lincoln, Neb. (Kenneth Ferriera/Lincoln Journal Star via AP)

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People line up to vote outside a polling station at Bethel Lutheran Church in Omaha, Neb., on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (Chris Machian/Omaha World-Herald via AP)

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A voter walks into the Milton R. Abrahams Branch of Omaha Public Library to vote, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024 in Omaha, Neb.(Nikos Frazier/Omaha World-Herald via AP)

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FILE - Dan Osborn, Independent candidate for U.S. Senate, speaks during a news conference announcing he will not accept any party or political endorsements, May 15, 2024, at his Omaha, Neb. home. (Nikos Frazier/Omaha World-Herald via AP, File)

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FILE - Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., speaks during a hearing, March 14, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

By MARGERY A. BECK

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska Republican Deb Fischer won reelection Tuesday to a third term in the U.S. Senate, besting challenger Dan Osborn, a former labor union boss and military veteran who gained traction during the race by rejecting both major parties to run as an independent.

Fischer won her previous elections by wide margins in the conservative state. But she faced her toughest challenge yet in Osborn, a working-class industrial mechanic and veteran of the U.S. Navy and Nebraska Army National Guard who outraised Fischer by more than $1 million.

Political action committees and interest groups also poured almost $29 million into the race, according to FEC filings. Nearly $20 million of the money benefitted Osborn.

In her victory speech, Fischer took issue with money that she said “out-of-state Democrats spent trying to buy a Nebraska Senate seat.”

“They wasted their money,” she said. “As it turned out, no matter how much the media and the Democrats wanted it to happen, Nebraskans still vote for candidates who share their values.”

The close race was unfamiliar territory for Fischer in a state where Republicans hold every statewide office. Fischer not only had to deflect criticism from her challenger, but from her own party, too. The state GOP, whose leadership was taken over by those loyal to former President Donald Trump, endorsed primary challengers to all five of the Republicans who represent Nebraska in Congress, including Fischer.

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Much of Osborn’s appeal came from his blue-collar background. He gained a name for himself in 2021 by successfully leading a strike at the Kellogg’s cereal plant in Omaha as part of a national strike at four plants to gain higher wages and other benefits for roughly 1,400 workers following a year in which the company saw soaring revenue.

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In his political ads, Osborn painted Fischer as part of an elitist group of wealthy self-dealers who focus on the needs of corporate interests and lobbyists.

Fischer countered with a barrage of televised ads in the last weeks of the race labeling Osborn a liberal who would caucus with Democrats. She also warned that an Osborn win could cost Republicans control of the Senate.

She shored up support among the Republican base by leaning into her support for Trump, despite having called for him to leave the 2016 race after audio emerged of Trump bragging about kissing, groping and trying to have sex with women who were not his wife as he waited to make a cameo appearance on a soap opera in 2005. Despite their past issues, Trump endorsed Fischer for reelection, which she touted in her campaign ads.