Fischer, Osborn polls show differing perspectives on U.S. Senate race

Incumbent Republican Deb Fischer and independent Dan Osborn have differing perspectives on how competitive their U.S. Senate race is.

Osborn’s campaign touted that an internal poll found both candidates tied at 42%.

But according to a separate poll from the Fischer campaign, she has a 26-point lead over Osborn.

In a statement, Fischer said she is in her, “strongest position yet for re-election,” touting nearly $3 million in cash on hand and a grassroots network in all 93 counties.

Osborn said he won’t take money from corporate political action committees.

“We don’t have the billions of dollars like corporations do, but we certainly still have the power and when enough of us come together and rally around a cause, we can make a difference,” he said.

Osborn said he believes his campaign’s poll numbers are accurate based on what he’s heard from Nebraskans.

Both polls were conducted between July 8-11 and include at least 500 likely voters.

“Nebraskans know and trust Deb Fischer and aren’t fooled by dated bogus polls or political science experiments pretending to be U.S. Senate campaigns," said Fischer’s campaign manager, Derek Oden.

Kevin Smith, a political science professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said in his opinion, the polls are so disparate that at least one of them must have an unrepresentative sample of Nebraska voters.

“You have to take internal campaign polls with a pinch of salt, because the polling operations are working for a campaign,” he said.

Kerry Eddy, who won the Legal Marijuana NOW primary in April, has previously hinted at dropping out to support Osborn and says she will make a major campaign announcement next Tuesday.

“We did some polling and we’re discussing what those polls look like and I will be making a formal announcement on the 30th,” Eddy said.

For now, she remains in the race.

In fundraising, Fischer’s campaign holds a significant advantage over Osborn in cash on hand, but Osborn raised more money between April and June of this year than his opponent, according to the Federal Election Commission.

Eddy is a distant third in all three categories of spending, disbursements and cash on hand.