Democrats Try to Save Themselves by Breaking Independent and Culling Aged Incumbents

By Jennifer Oliver O'Connell | 4:02 PM on August 15, 2026
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So, Democrats are trying to bring different tools to the tool chest. One method is for Democrat Senate nominees in ruby red states to drop out, in order to clear the way for independents, who some voters may view as more moderate than the current crop of Democrats/DSA candidates. Democrats see this as their only chance to take the seat from Republicans.

Yeah, good luck with that.

"Democrats trying to unseat Republican senators in deep-red states have pursued a new strategy this year: dropping out.

The Democratic Senate nominees in Nebraska, Idaho and South Dakota — all heavily Republican states — withdrew from the ballot after their primaries, clearing the field for independent candidates. Some Democrats hope that these moderate independents will draw enough crossover support from Republicans and centrist voters who would never back a Democrat to make the races competitive.

"We have to do things differently, or more out-of-the-box, to try and expand the playing field," said Doug Sosnik, a Democratic strategist and former political director for President Bill Clinton."

Idaho is another example. U.S. Senate incumbent Jim Risch (R-ID) won his May 19 primary by 67 percent. His challenger, Democrat David Roth, won his by 62 percent. Yet two months later, Roth dropped out of the race, supposedly to shift his efforts to other areas.

In terms of Nebraska, things are not looking very good either, particularly since the Democrat candidate for U.S. Senate, Cindy Burbank, had drawn controversy even before she decided to drop out of the race. Burbank had been previously accused, even by Democrats, of entering the race solely to boost the candidacy of Independent for U.S. Senate, Dan Osborn, who now faces incumbent Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE).

Ricketts' campaign released a statement Friday on Burbank dropping out: "Dan Osborn has rigged yet another party's ballot because he is the Democrats' nominee," the statement said.