The same couple that helped recruit Graham Platner to run for Senate in Maine also recruited Dan Osborn, an independent candidate for Senate from Nebraska who is widely backed by the state’s Democrats, according to reports.
In a video obtained by Townhall, a woman they identified as a member of Osborn’s campaign staff named Colleen claimed he recruited Democrat Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner. She alleged Osborn kicked off a move to recruit “working class candidates” for elections but declined to name anyone else. However, strategists Daniel Moraff and Leanne Fan helped recruit and guide both Platner and Osborn, Politico reported in December.
Osborn rejected the claims in the video in a statement to the Daily Caller. “The woman in the video is a former staffer for our campaign. What she said is false, and she was not speaking on behalf of me or our campaign,” the candidate said. “I have never recruited or supported Graham Platner, full stop. Our politics have nothing in common, and clearly neither do our values. I haven’t spent five minutes thinking about the Maine Senate race and neither have most Nebraskans, but I do know that Graham Platner should not be a U.S. Senator.”
Platner recounted meeting the couple on The Weekly Show with John Stewart. “They had found me because I did a video a few years ago fighting against a Norwegian salmon farm that was trying to come into our bay,” Platner said. “They looked me up, and they saw that I donated to Bernie Sanders, and they were like, ‘Oh!’”
Platner said they were “looking specifically for a kind of working-class person on working-class economic policies.”
Osborn had a similar story with Moraff and Fan, who previously helped recruit him to run in 2024, according to Politico. Osborn is running again for Senate in Nebraska as an independent. Moraff and Fan met on Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign, the Washington Examiner reported.
Nebraska’s senate primary took an interesting turn when Cindy Burbank, the Democrat nominee, vowed to drop out of the race ahead of her primary in support of Osborne. Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers said in May that the Secretary of State’s office pressed for guidance on if Bob Enven, the highest election official, can keep Burbank’s name on the general election ballots, the Nebraska Examiner reported. There are no indications that Burbank is officially out of the race as of publication, and her campaign website is still live.
As of publication, the race features Burbank as the Democrat nominee, Osborn as an independent, and incumbent Republican Nebraska Sen. Pete Ricketts. (RELATED: Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts To Face Off With Independent, Democrat Who Already Vowed Call It Quits)
Platner has faced allegations of impropriety from multiple women in recent weeks. A now-infamous Nazi tattoo also prompted scandal. One woman’s allegation that Platner sexually assaulted her has promting numerous calls from Democratic politicians and organization for him to drop out of the race.
The campaign team for Graham Platner did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller.