Don Stenberg entered the 2006 Senate race Thursday with a focus on cultural concerns and judicial nominees as well as economic and security issues.

Aligning himself with what he described as the Republican vision, the former attorney general called for "a traditional definition of marriage, an acknowledgement of God's role in our national life (and) support for a culture of life." Stenberg pledged to support a strong national defense, robust homeland security, lower taxes, less government and protection of 2nd Amendment gun rights.

As a member of the Senate, he said, he would support President Bush's judicial nominees.

"The Democrats oppose this type of nominee because they count on the courts to impose their liberal ideology on America," Stenberg told a Lincoln news conference.

Stenberg's Senate bid will be his third over a 10-year span.  If he wins the Republican nomination next May, it would set the stage for a rematch with Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson in November.

Nelson defeated Stenberg by 15,000 votes in 2000.

But, Stenberg said, Nebraska's political landscape has changed dramatically since then.

The Republican voter registration advantage over Democrats has increased by 34,000, he said, and Rep. Jeff Fortenberry demonstrated last November that a conservative Republican can even win Lincoln and Lancaster County, which traditionally lean Democratic.

Stenberg said he is not worried that the White House might lend tepid support to a Republican challenger to Nelson, who harvested  public praise from Bush when the president spoke in Omaha in February.

"He is a man with whom I can work, a person who is willing to put partisanship aside to focus on what's right for America," Bush declared at a rally before more than 10,000 Nebraskans. 

Nevertheless, Stenberg asked: "Does anyone really believe that in one of the most Republican states, the White House and the Republican Senate committee would give a free pass to a Democratic senator?"

Stenberg said he would be "a Republican senator President Bush can work with even better."

Thursday's announcement formed a committee to begin raising funds for what Stenberg said would be a multi-million dollar campaign.  Formal entry into the race will come at a later date.

Stenberg jumped the gun on a long list of potential Republican candidates who have been gathering near the starting line. 

"I have the experience needed, as an elected public official and as a statewide candidate, to run the strongest possible Republican campaign for the U.S. Senate," he said.

Stenberg won three statewide races in serving 12 years as attorney general.  He left office in 2003 to enter private law practice.

Democratic state executive director Barry Rubin took a shot at the nature of Stenberg's practice, suggesting he has "devoted himself to helping big companies escape legal trouble with state attorneys general," perhaps to help pay nearly $200,000 in previous campaign debts.

Most of the $194,000 in campaign debt listed at the end of 2004 represented his own money, Stenberg said through spokesman Dan Parsons.

Nelson's media spokesman, David DiMartino, said the senator has kept his 2000 campaign promise to "put aside partisan politics (and) be no political lapdog in the Senate.  He's been a strong, independent voice for all Nebraskans."

In his first Senate bid in 1996, Stenberg was defeated in the Republican primary by Chuck Hagel, who subsequently  beat Nelson.

Asked about his early entry after initially indicating he would wait until later in the year to decide, Stenberg said he and his wife, Sue, agreed that "if the decision has been made, we'd better get going."

Touching on a couple of issues raised at the news conference, Stenberg expressed support for the president's decision to go to war in Iraq and indicated he is open to Social Security reform that embraces personal investment accounts.

"I think we did the right thing" in Iraq, he said.

"Private accounts are one way to address concerns" about the low rate of return on Social Security investment and the inability to transfer Social Security contributions to survivors, he said.

Bush has proposed reforms that would give younger workers the option of investing a portion of their Social Security payroll taxes in personal accounts.

In support of his allegation that liberal judges have imposed their own ideological agenda, Stenberg pointed to decisions "redefining marriage, removing the words ‘under God' from the pledge of allegiance and decreeing that there is a constitutional right to kill a partially-born child."

The lesson is clear, Stenberg said: "If we want our values represented, we need Republicans in Congress."

Nelson has voted for 214 of the 215 confirmed judges appointed by Bush, DiMartino said.  He has supported only one judicial filibuster  when he was denied access to the Court of Federal Claims nominee's background file, DiMartino said.

Other potential GOP candidates include former Republican State Chairman David Kramer of Omaha, GOP National Committeeman Kerry Winterer of Omaha, Speaker of the Legislature Kermit Brashear of Omaha, former Lt. Gov. Dave Maurstad and State Treasurer Ron Ross.

Reach Don Walton at 473-7248 or at dwalton@journalstar.com.