Three independent Senate candidates from Nebraska, Montana and South Dakota insisted Monday they will not join either party caucus, even as Republicans call them Democrats in disguise.
South Dakota’s Brian Bengs, Montana’s Seth Bodnar and Nebraska’s Dan Osborn used a joint press conference to push back hard against Republican warnings that they would caucus with Democrats if elected. Breitbart News reported the three framed themselves as true independents who answer only to voters in their states, not to Chuck Schumer or John Thune.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee struck first. NRSC National Press Secretary Bernadette Breslin released a statement ahead of the event labeling it the “Fake Independent circus” and charging that Bengs, Osborn and Bodnar “are Democrats who would caucus with Democrats and fight for the radical left’s agenda if elected to the U.S. Senate.”
That charge lands against a backdrop of real Democratic money, endorsements and past party labels. Osborn is challenging Sen. Pete Ricketts in Nebraska. Bengs is challenging Sen. Mike Rounds in South Dakota. Bodnar is running in Montana. All three states lean heavily Republican, and the candidates know the caucus question will decide whether they can claim real independence or simply serve as vehicles for the other side.
Bengs opened with a flat rejection of both sides. He said career politicians in Washington created the current mess and that South Dakotans deserve a senator who answers to them, not national party leaders.
“Let me be absolutely clear. I stand in the position that I will not caucus with Republicans or the Democrats. I will not support Chuck Schumer or John Thune for Senate leader.”
He added that remaining outside both caucuses would give him freedom to work with anyone willing to deliver results for South Dakota. “As an independent senator, I won’t owe my seat to either party,” Bengs said. “I’m running to represent South Dakotans, not a political party. In the Senate, as a true independent, I can and will put South Dakota first every single time.”
Bodnar, a military veteran and former University of Montana president, tied his stance to service. He said his Army oath was to the Constitution, not a party, and that nobody in uniform ever asked what party the soldier next to him belonged to. If elected, he vowed to serve as “a true independent, caucusing with neither party and answering only to the people of this great state.”
He argued that nothing happens in the Senate without a majority, so independent votes create leverage when party leaders need them. Bodnar said he would work with Republicans when they are right for Montana, work with Democrats when they are right for Montana, and stand up to either side when they are wrong for the state.
Osborn struck the same note. “We’re not going to caucus with either party. In fact, we’ll caucus with everybody, you could say, and independent means independent,” he said. Doing otherwise “would be a slap in the face to people of Nebraska.” He takes his cues from voters, not Schumer, Thune “or whoever happens to be in the White House at the time.”
“I’m not interested in going to Washington just to fight for Team Red or Team Blue. I’m going to fight for Nebraska.”
Osborn also called an independent seat “a powerful bargaining position” in a closely divided Senate and repeated, “I will not caucus with either party. Again, caucus with everyone. I’m a lifelong independent.”
Those pledges come as Senate control remains a live fight. Tim Scott has told Senate Republicans they face a record number of toss-up races yet still see a path to keep the majority. Any independent who lands in a tight chamber could tip committee power and floor votes.
Breslin’s release did more than name-call. The NRSC noted that senators who refuse to caucus with a party do not receive committee assignments. It pointed to Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine, both elected as independents who still caucus with Democrats.
That practical reality undercuts the pure-outsider pitch. Without a caucus, the three candidates would lack the committee seats that shape legislation affecting ranchers, energy workers and border communities in their states. Republicans argue the “independent” brand is packaging, not substance.
Bodnar tried to broaden his coalition on the record. He listed endorsements from former Democratic senators John Tester and Max Baucus alongside former Republican Gov. Marc Racicot and former Montana Republican Party chair Susan Geise. He said his backers also include labor unions, conservation groups, Planned Parenthood, Reproductive Freedom for All and Citizens United.
The mix sounds bipartisan until the fundraising and registration history surface. Bodnar previously registered as a Democrat in Connecticut, donated to Democrats, attended a 2012 presidential debate with Michelle Obama and staffed his campaign with Democrats. His campaign raised more than $3.2 million through June 30; roughly half, and $1.76 million specifically, came through ActBlue.
Republican Senate candidate Kurt Alme called on Bodnar to return that ActBlue money and branded him a “far-left Democrat in disguise” trying to “hide who he really is.” Establishment Democrats earlier pressured Montana Democrat nominee Alani Bankhead and her family to withdraw to clear a path for Bodnar; she stayed in the race.
Osborn’s record shows even heavier Democratic infrastructure. The Nebraska Democratic Party endorsed him. Democratic groups spent tens of millions backing his 2024 Senate run, including nearly $4 million from groups associated with Schumer and more than $14 million from George Soros-connected groups. Sen. Elizabeth Warren has donated to his campaign.
This cycle, 72 percent of Osborn’s second-quarter individual donations arrived through ActBlue and 83 percent came from outside Nebraska. A progressive forum, Democratic Underground, promoted a nearly $9,000 ActBlue drive for him as a “rare exception to the Support Democrats rule.” Users on that forum posted comments wishing death on President Trump, celebrating the killing of Charlie Kirk, mocking Christians and joking about the assassination attempt on Rep. Steve Scalise.
Nebraska Democratic Party chair and DNC vice chair Jane Kleeb has been blunt about the strategy. She previously said that in states where Democrats are only 32 percent of the electorate, “this is a long-term strategy for us. We have to build a coalition with independents in order to win elections so we can do good work for the people. Period.”
Osborn also drew fire over the SAVE America Act, which he called “unconstitutional” and “Essentially, it’s going to be a poll tax.” Warren has opposed the same bill. He has said he takes no corporate money because he wants to be part of the solution, not the problem.
Then came the audio. Days before the joint event, Townhall published a recording it said captured Osborn making crude remarks: “It was either fat chicks or black c***s,” and “The brown people are coming up to kill us and rape us.” In a confrontation video, Osborn answered, “It’s AI, man. It’s AI.” The reporter shot back, “It’s not. It’s what you said.”
A separate leaked recording from September captured a speaker deriding Trump supporters, saying a supporter’s life “probably suck[s] so f***ing bad.” Asked if that voice was his, Osborn replied, “It sure sounds like me,” while denying he holds the view. He dismissed an earlier Plains Sentinel report that he would not caucus with Republicans as “fake news,” insisting outlets take snippets and twist them. “All I can say is what we’ve said again definitively here today. I’ve got no interest in caucusing with either party.”
Party-switch and caucus drama is nothing new in this Senate. Trump has invited Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman to join the GOP, underscoring how fluid labels can become when majorities hang in the balance.
Bengs ran against Thune as a Democrat in 2022 and lost by 43 points. He has used ActBlue to raise money. He said the South Dakota Democratic Party declined to endorse him after its candidate withdrew “because he’s been an independent his whole life.” Bengs called the absence of a Democrat “good for me” because it sets up a head-to-head with Rounds on issues that matter to South Dakotans. The 2022 experience, he said, “soured me on running again in any party system.”
Prior reporting linked to the coverage also noted Bengs endorsed Osborn for Senate majority leader in one claim, supported gun restrictions, criticized bans on men in women’s sports and compared January 6 to the September 11 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 Americans. Those positions sit uncomfortably with the “just a South Dakota independent” pitch.
Bodnar closed the press conference by returning to Iraq. He recalled that in the middle of service one question never entered his head: what party the men beside him belonged to. He said military experience is a big reason the three are running, and a big reason they are running as independents.
Institutional stakes remain high. Justice Alito has said he will stay put even if Democrats flip the Senate, a reminder that chamber control shapes everything from confirmations to the daily grind of legislation. Voters watching these three races will decide whether the independence talk holds once the gavel falls.
Accountability questions keep surfacing across politics. High-profile figures sometimes step aside only after findings force the issue, and voters rarely forget who funded the campaigns that put them there.
The three candidates have now said the words on camera. The money trails, the old party labels, the progressive endorsements and the NRSC’s warning about committee power all remain on the table. Red-state voters can judge which story matches the record.