CNN
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Republican Sen. Deb Fischer will win re-election 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 in Nebraska to be elected to a full term. Before being elected to Congress, she served in the unicameral Nebraska legislature.

Osborn, a Navy veteran and industrial mechanic, presented Fischer with a tougher challenge than he expected.

Osborn and his allies spent more money than Republicans and drew attention with attention-grabbing ads, including one in which he burned the word “LIE” into a television to keep attack ads away from his opponent. At another point, he called Fischer and her colleagues in the U.S. Senate “a bunch of millionaires controlled by billionaires.”

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

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

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

Osborn, meanwhile, portrayed himself as a populist and represented political positions that did not fit with any party. He said he was personally opposed to abortion but thought it should be legal and described himself as a supporter of the Second Amendment. He supported reducing taxes on overtime pay, increasing benefits for military members and veterans, and legalizing cannabis.

He rejected the Democratic Party's endorsement and refused to say which party he would partner with if elected, or to say who he voted for in 2020 or planned to vote for in 2024.

Nebraska Democrats, who once said they were in talks with Osborn about forming a coalition, did not field a candidate or publicly endorse Osborn.

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