A New Vote in a Town That Lost Its Job

A big meat plant in Lexington, Nebraska shut down at the end of January. The closure cost about 3, 200 jobs, wiping out roughly a third of the town’s people. Juan Laguna Jr. , 20, had never attended a political gathering before. He joined his family to hear Dan Osborn speak about the Senate. Osborn, a mechanic and former union leader, is running as an independent. He wants to win the Senate seat without relying on the Democratic label, which feels out of place in many rural areas. His strategy is to win over voters in the conservative parts of Nebraska, like Lexington, while also gaining support in the more liberal cities of Omaha and Lincoln. If he can pull enough votes from towns like Lexington, he may beat the Republican incumbent, Senator Pete Ricketts.The town of Lexington is unusual for a campaign stop. It lies in a district that President Trump won by 50 points, yet its population is mostly Hispanic. This shift began in the early 1990s when Mexican workers came to work at the meat plant. The plant’s closure has left many families, including Juan’s parents, without jobs. Osborn’s message—“Replace a Billionaire with a Mechanic”—sounds like a Democratic slogan, but his independent run reflects a broader trend. Candidates in Idaho, Montana and South Dakota are also trying to avoid the Democratic brand that feels alien to many voters in the Midwest. The political scene in Nebraska is changing. With a major employer gone, people are looking for new solutions and new voices. Whether Osborn can harness that shift remains to be seen, but the town’s recent experience has made politics a pressing issue for many of its residents.