Indie Senate bids test Democrats as red states fear vote-splitting

In deep-red Montana, Nebraska, Idaho and South Dakota, liberal independents have filed Senate bids, but local Democrats won’t back non-Democrats, risking vote-splitting that could hand the GOP a larger majority; the dynamics echo Nebraska’s 2024 Osborn run, while Montana’s Bodnar faces a party pledge to back only Democrats, leaving independents to contend with fractured fields and intensified intra-party tension.