Cindy Burbank asked Nebraska officials to remove her from the Senate ballot after concluding she had no path to win, according to a letter confirmed by the secretary of state's office.
Secretary of State Bob Evnen's office will now ask the attorney general whether to honor the request, a step that could leave Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts facing only independent Dan Osborn.
Burbank did not endorse Osborn, but Nebraska Democrats signaled they would back the anti-Ricketts coalition behind him rather than move quickly to refill the vacancy.
The shift reflects Nebraska's difficult terrain for Democrats: the party has not won a Senate seat there since 2006, and Osborn lost his 2024 Senate race by nearly 7 points.