Republican former Gov. Mike Johanns, now the U.S. agriculture secretary .. if he decides to run .. I think he could definitely win the Republican primary. But the *if*, in *if* he runs .. is pretty *ify*.
Republican Hal Daub is interested and may decide to run. He has served in the house and has been Mayor of Omaha.
Republican Columbus, NE businessman Tony Raimondo wants to run. His advantage is that he is a very good friend of Dem. Ben Nelson who might even endorse him. This means he could cross party lines and get both GOP and Dem votes. Democrat Bob Kerrey is being persued and may just decide to come back and run for office again. If he does .. we (Republicans) will be in big trouble. Kerrey is really popular in Nebraska and I think he would win if he ran. Democrat Scott Kleeb, who lost a race to Republican Adrian Smith in the 3rd Congressional District last year. He ran well, way out in western Nebraska which is strongly republican. Someone sabotaged him by making phone calls, in the middle of the night to people, "Hi, I'm Scott Kleeb, etc" and really misrepresented his views. Democrat current Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey is leftist right down the line .. very anti gun.
Bob Kerry??? The guy has been living in NYC for six years, is fully tainted by the Hsu scandal, and has a very liberal record on many issues. Which is not to say that if he runs we will not have a fight on our hands, but if Brunning or Johanns gets the nomination, I can’t see how either won’t be able to beat Kerry, especially with the increase of Republicans in the state since Kerry left.