NEW YORK (AP) — Facing difficulties competing in traditionally Republican territories where their party image struggles, Democratic officials are adopting an unconventional midterm election approach: supporting candidates outside their own party.
Across states including Nebraska and Alaska, Democratic leadership is bypassing their party’s nominees while quietly endorsing — or actively championing — independent contenders they believe can perform better than candidates carrying the Democratic brand. The Democratic National Committee along with Washington allies are discreetly backing this unconventional approach.
Several independent candidates are coordinating through group messaging as they develop strategies that could disrupt Congress, currently paralyzed by partisan divisions.
This week in Nebraska, Democrats selected a Senate nominee, Cindy Burbank, who stated her main campaign goal was preventing a Democrat from appearing on the November ballot to avoid splitting votes away from independent Dan Osborn. Following the primary election, Burbank confirmed her intention to withdraw from the race within weeks during a private discussion with a party representative, according to state Democratic chair Jane Kleeb.
Democratic officials believe Osborn, who narrowly lost a Senate race by 7 percentage points in 2024, offers the strongest opportunity to unseat Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts.
The Democratic shift toward independent candidates represents a deliberate plan in certain areas — while resembling subtle encouragement elsewhere — spanning multiple prominent Senate, House, and state legislative competitions. Independent Senate contenders are also campaigning in states including Idaho, South Dakota and Montana, where Democratic leadership has remained hesitant to fully support the independents, though many consider them the party’s strongest hope against Republicans this election cycle.
“For some states, and Nebraska is one of them, where Democrats are 32% of the electorate, this is a long-term strategy for us,” said Kleeb, who also serves as a vice chair to the Democratic National Committee.
Kleeb explained her state party is supporting independents in no fewer than four state legislative races beyond the U.S. Senate contest: “We have to build a coalition with independents in order to win elections so we can do good work for the people. Period.”
Elements of the Democratic Party’s national political infrastructure appear supportive of this approach.
The party’s fundraising platform, ActBlue, assists several independent candidates, along with well-known Democratic-affiliated website development services. Simultaneously, some party campaign organizations in Washington discretely offer logistical assistance in certain situations, while refraining from publicly criticizing independent candidates even in races featuring Democratic nominees.
Several Democratic contributors, strategists and party officials from other states have privately objected, arguing Democrats should not abandon their own candidates for temporary political advantages. They prefer Democratic leadership, both in Washington and locally in red states, to focus harder on improving the Democratic brand’s appeal — even if achieving competitiveness requires several additional years.
In Alaska, some Democrats think commercial fisherman Bill Hill, a retired school superintendent, may offer their strongest possibility for defeating first-term Republican Rep. Nick Begich in the state’s sole House seat.
