Something is SERIOUSLY OFF about the reporting on Bill Forbes and the Nebraska U.S. Senate election.

[pat_k]

Last edited Tue Mar 31, 2026, 01:41 AM - Edit history (2)

There has been a mini flood of stories today about the Nebraska Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate William "Bill" Forbes. The stories are generally framed in a way that leaves the impression that the Nebraska Democrats have been clueless about what Bill Forbes was (a Trumpublican plant) and are now at serious risk of having Forbes spit the vote against Ricketts.

Big Problem: Reporting from CNN, Raw Story, and others completely IGNORES the sequence of events and the actual situation. Specifically, they completely ignore 2), 5), 6) and 7) from the following summary:

1) Dan Osborne is running for the U.S. Senate as an Independent. The deadline to file paperwork/signatures to get on the ballot is August 3.

2) The Nebraska Democratic Party endorsed Dan Osborn months ago, on August 25, 2025.

3) William "Bill" Forbes filed to run as a Democrat on March 2, which was the LAST day to file for the May 12 primary.

4) Bill Forbes is an obvious Trumpublican plant.

5) The Democratic Party was apparently prepared for this sort of dirty trick. Cindy Burbank also filed to run as a Democratic Candidate AGAINST Bill Forbes on March 2. Her stated purpose: 1) Defeat Forbes, 2) Drop out, 3) Endorse Dan Osborne to give him a shot at a FAIR election against Ricketts.

6) The Republican Party filed an objection to Burbank's candidacy. The Republican Secretary of State agreed with the objection and refused to put her on the ballot.

7) Cindy Burbank filed a lawsuit to enjoin the SOS to put her on the ballot. Lancaster County District Court dismissed her lawsuit. She appealed to the Nebraska Supreme Court. They deemed the objection was filed too late to be considered. They ordered the SOS to put her on the ballot on MARCH 23.

So, what I want to know is why, today, on March 30, 28 days after Burbank and Forbes filed, and 7 days after the Nebraska Supreme Court ordered the SOS to put Burbank on the ballot, is there this little flood of stories about William Forbes that completely IGNORE the existence of Cindy Burbank?

The bottom line is that the Nebraska State Democrats aren't the bunch of idiotic rubes that the reports make them out to be. When I looked earlier today, the ONLY report I could find that mentioned Cindy Burbank was from TNR.

The Dems knew EXACTLY what they were dealing on March 2. And, as far back as March 4 Cindy Burbank's site called out the dirty trick and gave voters a solution.

To me, the failure to emphasize (or even report at all) that voters have a simple way to defeat Forbes' dirty trick sure feels like another dirty trick. Keep the electorate as uninformed as possible and let the dirty tricks reign supreme all with the added bonus of making the Democrats sound like idiots (e.g., Raw Story headline" "Democratic Party slams own Senate candidate as GOP plant after Trump support revealed" )

It was "revealed" the day he filed for god's sake!

From a March 4 snapshot of https://cindyburbank.com/

Pete Ricketts, who is running for reelection, is putting in a candidate loyal to him in the DEMOCRATIC primary – to split the vote against him, so he wins easily. He’s running an anti-abortion activist named Bill Forbes, who has posted in support of Pete Ricketts!

He knows he’s losing to Dan Osborn and this is his plan to cheat his way to victory. We can’t let that happen.

Support me – and I’ll make sure Pete Ricketts’s stooge never gets anywhere near our November ballot!

[bonzotex]

1. Thanks for this! Good clarification. rec n/t

[progressoid]

2. The media is fucking us again.

They are mostly owned and operated by the right wing.

Thanks for the update!

[Easterncedar]

3. Thanks. The reporting is off indeed

I had not heard that the court had ordered the Secretary of State to put Burbank on the ballot. That is really good news.

[littlemissmartypants]

4. Me either. It's great to hear she prevailed! ❤️

[pat_k]

5. Here's the March 23 report from Nebraska Examiner

Court orders Nebraska candidate back on U.S. Senate ballot, says Evnen acted late
Cindy Burbank is second Nebraska Democrat to successfully sue back onto the ballot for 2026 election
March 23, 2026

https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/03/23/nebraska-u-s-senate-candidate-back-on-ballot-state-high-court-rules-sos-acted-too-late/