Independents Are Closing the Gap in Three U.S. Senate Races

Three independent veterans are running for the U.S. Senate in Idaho, Nebraska and South Dakota — and over the past year, all three have closed the gap on their Republican opponent by 6 to 10 points.

Dan Osborn has crossed from trailing to leading in Nebraska, moving from R+1 to I+5 against Pete Ricketts. Todd Achilles has turned a 14-point deficit into 4 against Jim Risch in Idaho. Brian Bengs has done the same in South Dakota against Mike Rounds, cutting a 13-point gap to 4 while picking up 12 points of new support — the biggest jump of the three.

All three races are now two-way contests. The Democratic nominees in Idaho, Nebraska and South Dakota have each withdrawn, leaving the independent as the only challenger to the Republican incumbent.

The full polling record is published with every number sourced: six polls, two per race, straight head-to-head questions only, with sample sizes, field dates, and sponsors named — including the surveys funded by the independent side and the Republican internal poll that is worse for our candidate. These are individual public polls, not averages and not forecasts of November. See every number and where it came from →