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Johanns joining race for Hagel's Senate seat, GOP source saysOMAHA, Neb. (AP)--U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns will resign his Cabinet post to run for the U.S. Senate in Nebraska, a state Republican official said Sept. 19. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Johanns was planning to announce his bid to replace outgoing Republican Chuck Hagel as early as Sept. 24. A run by Johanns would make him the fourth declared Republican candidate. The others were Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning, Schuyler businessman Pat Flynn and former U.S. Rep. and Omaha mayor Hal Daub. Johanns' primary spokeswoman, Terri Teuber, did not immediately return a phone call and e-mail from The Associated Press seeking comment. Another U.S. Department of Agriculture spokeswoman, Corinne Hirsch, said no announcement was planned and that Johanns had not resigned as secretary of agriculture. "He's content serving the president," Hirsch said. Johanns would have to resign before announcing his candidacy under the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from being candidates for public office in partisan elections. Johanns would be the most high-profile candidate for the Republicans in Nebraska, who are fighting to keep the Democrats from widening their national majority. Democrats control the 100-member Senate with 49 seats plus two independents who usually vote Democratic. Republicans must defend 22 seats next year, compared with 12 for Democrats. Virginia Sen. John Warner and Colorado Sen. Wayne Allard both intend to retire, and incumbents in New Hampshire, Oregon, Minnesota and Maine face extra-tough races. In addition, Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens faces a federal corruption investigation, and Idaho Sen. Larry Craig is struggling after his arrest in an airport men's room sex sting. Democrats are hoping that Bob Kerrey, a former Nebraska governor and U.S. senator, will return to Nebraska politics. Kerrey has said he is considering it, as are Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey and Scott Kleeb, who lost the 3rd District House contest last year. Kerrey is president of New School University in New York. The 64-year-old served as governor of Nebraska, 1983-1987, and in the Senate from 1997 to 2001. Republicans have said that if Kerrey does enter, his connections and popularity among some in the state would make him tough to beat. Johanns, 57, was mayor of Lincoln from 1991 to 1998, when he was elected governor. He won re-election to a second term in 2002. Johanns has so far refused to say publicly whether he is interested in Hagel's seat. But Sept. 15, as the state GOP dedicated its headquarters to the former governor and his wife, Stephanie, Johanns said he and his family will end up back in Nebraska when his Cabinet job is done. He said he and his wife "miss Nebraska every day. Our home is Nebraska. We'll be back." At the same gathering in Lincoln, Hagel said Johanns has what a candidate needs: "Mike has been privileged to be able to have the trust of the people, and that's what elections are about." Date: 9/27/07
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