The Seattle Times - Former GOP AG Secretary Johanns Wins in Nebraska

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The Seattle Times - Former GOP AG Secretary Johanns Wins in Nebraska

By ANNA JO BRATTON

Mike Johanns had been out of office for nearly four years, but he certainly wasn't forgotten: Shaking hands outside a Nebraska football game in October, the former governor got high fives and even a cheer when a passing fan yelled: "Mike Johanns, everybody!"

Johanns - who rose from mayor to governor to U.S. agriculture secretary - staged a triumphant return to politics Tuesday, defeating newcomer Scott Kleeb to keep the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Chuck Hagel in Republican hands.

Johanns said he was eager to get to work in the Senate, where many members already know who he is from his time in President Bush's Cabinet, and that he expected to be able to work with Democrats, who expanded their control of the chamber.

"It does not look like it's going to get to 60, so you'll still have an effective minority," he said.

Johanns' campaign resembled his first bid for governor, in 1998. Mayor of Lincoln but unknown elsewhere, he crisscrossed the state in a Chevrolet Corsica, visiting each of Nebraska's 93 counties and logging more than 142,000 miles.

This time around, the 58-year-old Johanns established campaign offices in every county and spent most days on the road, often accompanied by his wife, Stephanie.

Johanns was a Democrat when he entered politics in 1982 and was elected to the Lancaster County Board of Commissioners. But he switched parties, served on the Lincoln City Council and was elected to two terms each as mayor of Lincoln and as governor. He resigned in 2005 to serve as agriculture secretary, then stepped down from that job last year to launch his Senate bid.

Johanns has two adult children with his first wife. He married Stephanie, who served with him on the county board, in 1986.

Johanns, the son of an Iowa dairy farmer, said his parents didn't travel outside the state more than once or twice in their lives. Their son has been to dozens of foreign countries, negotiating trade deals and promoting American agriculture.

He campaigned for Senate as a fiscal conservative, and one with experience in the capital.

"Like it or not, cuss it or what, that's a complicated system" in Washington, he said. "And I don't have to ask where the front door of the USDA building is.

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