Dave Heineman became governor early in 2005, after Mike Johanns resigned to become U.S. agriculture secretary.

In 2006, he pulled off arguably the most stunning victory in Nebraska politics, defeating Tom Osborne — a wildly popular congressman and former Nebraska football coach — in the Republican gubernatorial primary. Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel and other prominent Republicans lined up behind Heineman, who finished with 50 percent of the vote to 44 percent for Osborne. Heineman went on to win his first full term as governor, defeating Democratic challenger David Hahn by an overwhelming 74 percent of the vote.

Heineman's campaign committee is already raising money for a 2010 re-election bid, with year-end 2008 reports showing $293,000 in cash and investments on hand. As of mid-March 2009, no one had announced plans to challenge Heineman, although Democratic leaders promised they would have a candidate.

If he wins another term, Heineman could be the longest-serving governor in Nebraska history.

Heineman was first elected to the Fremont (Neb.) City Council in 1990, where he served one term.

He was elected state treasurer in 1994 and re-elected in 1998, getting 61 percent of the vote against Democrat Dave Tagart.

He was later appointed lieutenant governor in 2001, and was on the 2002 ticket when Gov. Mike Johanns became the first Republican governor to win re-election in Nebraska in 46 years.

(Last updated by Anna Jo Bratton on March 16, 2009.)

Mike Johanns was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2008.

The 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, Johanns established campaign offices in every county and spent most days on the road. After easily winning the Republican primary on May 13, Johanns took 58 percent of the vote in the general election against Democrat Scott Kleeb.

President George W. Bush appointed Mike Johanns agriculture secretary in 2004.

He won his first gubernatorial race in 1998 and was re-elected in 2002, enjoying high approval ratings throughout his tenure. He became mayor of Lincoln in 1991, and was re-elected in 1995.

He started his political career as a Democrat, serving as chairman of the Lancaster Board of Commissioners in 1982. Johanns switched parties in 1988 and was elected to the Lincoln City Council in 1989 as an at-large member.

Johanns has never lost a statewide election.

(Last updated by Anna Jo Bratton on March 16, 2009.)

Ben Nelson was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2000, after Democratic Sen. Bob Kerrey announced he would not seek re-election. Nelson faced only token opposition in the Democratic primary and won with 93 percent of the vote.

In the general election, Nelson beat Republican Don Stenberg, who served three terms as Nebraska's attorney general, by only 12,000 votes, or 51 percent to 49 percent — the closest race since Nebraska began directly electing senators in 1916.

Nelson was re-elected in 2006 with 64 percent of the vote, beating millionaire Republican and former Ameritrade COO Pete Ricketts.

Before running for the Senate, Nelson upset incumbent Gov. Kay Orr in 1990 in the state's fourth-closest gubernatorial race in history.

His 1994 re-election made him the first Nebraska governor to win re-election in 20 years. He defeated Republican Gene Spence with 74 percent of the vote in the nation's largest state-race landslide that year.

When Nelson left the governor's office in 2000, the moderate Democrat had an 80 percent approval rating — among the most popular in state history.

In 1996, Nelson ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Democratic Sen. Jim Exon. He was defeated by Omaha millionaire businessman Chuck Hagel, who won 56 percent of the vote.

(Last updated by Anna Jo Bratton on March 16, 2009.)