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Deb Fischer Survived a Tough Challenge in Nebraska’s Senate Race

The Republican senator defeated independent Dan Osborn.

Deb Fischer
Andrew Harnik/AP

Senate Republicans can breathe a sigh of relief: Nebraska’s Deb Fischer fended off her toughest challenger yet, beating independent candidate Dan Osborn.

It was a tight race until the end, as polls indicated. The AP called Fischer’s win at 12:06 a.m.

October polls found Fischer within a point of Osborn, forcing Republicans to invest in the state. The official campaign arm for Senate Republicans invested $1.4 million in the race, National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesperson Philip Letsou told NOTUS. That’s significantly more than the NRSC invested in Fischer’s previous contests — per OpenSecrets, they put just under $12,000 into her 2012 run and no money into her 2018 run.