Daily Nebraskan

Issue date: 2/26/08 Section: News

Scott Kleeb

Scott Kleeb has officially entered the 2008 race for Nebraska's open seat in the U.S. Senate.

"After a lot of thinking, I decided now is the right time," Kleeb said Monday after filling out the paperwork required to file as a candidate for the Democratic nomination.

Kleeb said he feels a need to bring together both Democrats and Republicans.

"We're all in this together," Kleeb said. "We need a clean break."

Kleeb will join Columbus business executive Tony Raimondo in the race for the Democratic nomination. Raimondo officially announced his candidacy Monday afternoon at an event in Columbus. Raimondo was a Republican until last December, when he switched parties.

Larry Marvin, a Democrat from Fremont, is also running for the nomination.

Whoever wins May 13's Democratic primary will most likely run against Republican candidate Mike Johanns in the November general election.

Kleeb first entered the public eye in 2006, when he ran a closely contested congressional race against Republican Adrian Smith in Nebraska's 3rd district. Kleeb ended up losing by 10 percentage points after President George W. Bush came to the deeply conservative district and campaigned for Smith.

Despite the loss, Kleeb held onto a loyal group of supporters. One of them even formed a Web site, DraftKleeb.com, and started an online petition to persuade Kleeb to enter the Senate race.

Kleeb mentioned in an interview posted online that the Web site and petition played a factor in his decision to join the Senate race, said Mike Nellis, a freshman political science major at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and the creator of DraftKleeb.com.

"I think we have two great but very different candidates," said Eric Van Horn, the field organizer for the Nebraska Democratic Party. "It'll be interesting to see the direction they go."

Despite having two strong candidates, Van Horn said the candidates would face an up-hill battle against Johanns.

Neither Democratic candidate will have much of a chance defeating Johanns, a former two-term Nebraska governor who served as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture for two years, said John Hibbing, a professor of political science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

"I think Johanns could beat almost any Democrat," Hibbing said.

Despite the strong competition, both Van Horn and Nellis said there is excitement surrounding the Democratic Party that hasn't been seen in years.

"I think we have a great chance this cycle to prove we're the party of the future," Nellis said. "It's not going to be easy, but we have a great opportunity."

katiesteiner@dailynebraskan.com

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