Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns has decided to resign from President Bush’s cabinet to return to Nebraska and enter the 2008 Senate race.

Johanns, the former two-term Republican governor, began placing phone calls to a number of friends and supporters in the state Tuesday night to inform them of his decision.

A formal announcement is expected in Nebraska next week after Johanns has submitted his resignation to the White House, according to a source close to Johanns.

Johanns and his wife, Stephanie, went house-hunting over the weekend when he was in Lincoln to attend a Saturday event at which he was honored by the Nebraska Republican Party.

The final decision to seek the GOP nomination for the seat being vacated by Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel was nailed down during the last 24 hours.

Johanns is “very excited, very pumped up,” according to the source.

The decision will be enthusiastically welcomed by a number of leading Republicans who urged Johanns to enter the race.

Former GOP State Chairman David Kramer of Omaha has been among those who were outspoken in promoting Johanns as the party’s strongest possible candidate in a potential contest with former Democratic Sen. Bob Kerrey.

Kerrey, who represented Nebraska in the Senate for two terms from 1989 to 2001 and served one term as governor, is actively considering a 2008 Senate bid.

The prospect of a Johanns-Kerrey clash has been touted by the national media and political pundits as one of the premier Senate showdowns in 2008.

Both men are nationally prominent and have enjoyed unbroken political success in Nebraska. Kerrey was a Democratic presidential candidate in 1992 and Johanns has served in President Bush’s cabinet since 2005.

With Hagel leaving the Senate, a Republican seat in Nebraska will be open and at risk.

Kerrey already has informed trustees at New School University in New York City that he may resign as president to return to Nebraska to enter the Senate race. He’s led the university since 2001.

A decision from Kerrey is expected soon.

Although Johanns has headed the list of potential Republican Senate candidates, two high-profile names already are in the race.

Attorney General Jon Bruning declared his candidacy long before Hagel announced last week that he would not seek a third term.

Former Omaha Mayor Hal Daub, a former four-term congressman, formally entered the GOP race this week.

Columbus industrialist Tony Raimondo is considering a Republican bid and Schuyler businessman Pat Flynn has entered the race.

Johanns, 57, served as Lincoln mayor from 1991 to 1998, when he was elected governor. He won re-election to a second term in 2002.

Republican leaders, including Hagel, previously urged Johanns to seek the Senate seat held by Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson in the 2006 election.

But Johanns opted instead to accept the president’s nomination as secretary of agriculture. He resigned as governor in 2005 to fill the Cabinet post.

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