It looks like incumbent Dave Heineman, who took the place of Ag. Sec. Mike Johanns, has weathered the storm of the coach, Tom Osborne's run for Nebraska's governor's seat. A year or so ago when Osborne announced he was leaving his House seat for the governorship most observers immediately called the election for Osborne since he had led the state's university to three national championships in football.Even ESPN was on the Osborne bandwagon despite the criminal history he attempted to conceal. What did the good coach in? "Some" might say it was his hubris. He didn't do a damn thing in his six years in the house and he was trying to replace a governor who'd done a good job of doing nothing during his year in office. Could he run on football forever? Or would Dave Heineman's promise of election year tax cuts save his bacon?
There were other factors at work in this primary. The recent and widely misunderstood Omaha school district split may have played a role.
No matter what the voters in Omaha and Lincoln may have thought This post from a local blog says it all. The rural vote was not there for Osborne. There's also good news in that post for the Dems in November.