Tony Raimondo, CEO of Behlen Industries, has indicated that he is about to decide upon entering the race for Nebraska's U.S. Senate seat, the one currently held by Sen. Chuck Hagel. Raimondo, a close personal friend of Sen. Ben Nelson, was actively pursuing the intent to run for the office as a Republican as recently as last fall. The only thing that seems to have made him change his mind was that Nebraska's past Governor, and George W. Bush's past Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Johanns, entered the fray.
Seeing that the party he'd spent a lifetime supporting, including very generous financial donations, was not going to cuddle up to him, he followed the advice of his good Senatorial buddy and switched parties to see if you couldn't convince his state's Democrats to support him. Evidently, through the auspices of Sen. Nelson's office, Mr. Raimondo was able to convince at least some people on the DSCC to give him a cursory nod.
My problem with all this is that the fact Mr. Raimondo showed an obvious "intent" to run as a Republican puts him at odds with the Constitution and Bylaws of the Nebraska Democratic Party. It very plainly states that, "no person shall be permitted to file or be filed on a primary ballot of the Democratic Party as a candidate for nomination, election, or preferential vote who has announced his/her intention to be a candidate for public office on the ticket of any political party other than the Democratic Party."
Evidently the leadership of the NDP has no respect for those delegates to our State Convention, the supreme governing body of the NDP, who wrote that rule, and they intend to push forward with this travesty. Given that this "candidate" was hand delivered to them by the de-facto "leader" of the party, I'm certain their search for other viable candidates ended upon his introduction.
Scott Kleeb, our 2006 Congressional candidate from CD3, is still considering the race for the U.S. Senate, but without sufficient financial resources, it is appearing less likely that he will enter that race. We are yet without a single candidate for any of the three Congressional races.
It is time for a change, a radical change, in the leadership of the Nebraska Democratic Party.
Raimondo Senate Bid Moving Forward
Posted: Jan 28, 2008 11:45 AM
Omaha, NE.- It looks like Nebraska businessman Tony Raimondo is ready to run for the U.S. Senate.
Raimondo, who switched from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party last month tells Action 3 News his Senate plans are "moving forward." .
According to Raimondo: "I'm not ready to file yet, but I'm more enthused every day. I don't want to file on Super Tuesday (i.e. the news media will be pre-occupied with the Presidential race) but it'll be pretty close to it." Super Tuesday is February 5th.
Raimondo is the head of Behlen Manufacturing in Columbus. His entry into the race would pit him against former Governor (and former Secretary of Agriculture) Mike Johanns.
Sources also tell Action 3 News that Scott Kleeb's Senate fever may be fading away. Kleeb is apparently having trouble getting the financial backing needed to make a Senate run.