OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Republican U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer faces her strongest reelection challenge yet Tuesday as she takes on a former labor union boss who eschewed both major political parties to run as an independent while painting himself as a working class champion.

Recent polling suggests that challenger Dan Osborn's message that the Senate is run by the wealthy elite resonated with Nebraska voters.

A close race is unfamiliar territory for Fischer, a two-term Republican representing a very conservative state.

Fischer has had to deflect criticism not only from her challenger, but also from her own party. 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.

John Hibbing, a retired University of Nebraska-Lincoln political science professor, said there are several factors aside from Osborn's working-class roots helping him fare better than other opponents of well-known Republican incumbents. They include Fischer's relatively limited legislative record for having served 12 years and her decision to seek a third term even though she supported a bill early in her tenure that would have limited senators to serving two terms, he said.

“Osborn is not running as a Democrat, and this is important and makes him more palatable in much of the state,” Hibbing said.

Much of Osborn's appeal comes from his blue-collar background as a 20-year industrial mechanic and veteran of the Navy and Nebraska Army National Guard. He successfully led a 2021 strike at the Kellogg's cereal plant in Omaha to gain higher wages for roughly 1,400 workers following a year in which the company saw soaring revenue.

Osborn has leaned into that background in centering his platform on what he says is a need for equitable economic policies. In his political ads, he's contrasted his own story with Fischer's, accusing her of enriching herself while in office as average families struggle financially.

Osborn often refers to the late U.S. Sen. George Norris as "the last independent senator from Nebraska" and promises to follow suit, saying that if he's elected, he won't caucus with either Republicans or Democrats. Norris served in the Senate from 1913 to 1943, switching from Republican to independent for his last term.

“That’s one of the main reasons I’m doing this: to be beholden only to the people that elect me,” Osborn said during a recent campaign stop.

Although Fischer refused to debate Osborn, she has countered his rising popularity with televised attack ads that call him a liberal and claim that an Osborn win could cost Republicans control of the Senate.

Fischer held a recent news conference to showcase the backing of several state Republicans, including popular former Gov. Dave Heineman. She also leaned into her support for former President Donald 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. Trump has endorsed Fischer for reelection, which she has touted in her campaign ads.

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