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Johanns’ background and record while serving as both governor and Agriculture secretary did nothing to diminish himself in the eyes of Cornhusker State voters.

He wins in a walk.

Possibly if Democrat Scott Kleeb had a little bit more of Sen. Ben Nelson (D) or former Sen. Bob Kerrey (D) in him, Johanns would have had a real challenge. But Kleeb, a rancher and college professor who ran unsuccessfully for the House in 2006, remains underfunded and out of touch with the political sensibilities of most Nebraskans.

House

2nd district
Incumbent: Lee Terry (R)
5th term (55 percent)
Outlook: Likely Republican

Businessman Jim Esch (D), who lost to Terry in 2006, is back for another round. His chance was that Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) presidential bid would pick up in red states such as Nebraska and lift down-ticket Democrats to victory in districts where they otherwise face a decided partisan disadvantage.

Although Esch is an appealing candidate and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee considers this a sleeper race, he will probably fall short; Terry, partly thanks to Mike Johanns’ Senate candidacy and Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) presidential bid, wins Round 2.

North Dakota

House

At-large
Incumbent: Earl Pomeroy (D)
8th term (66 percent)
Outlook: Safe Democratic

Pomeroy has won most of his races with little difficulty. Duane Sand (R), who lost to Pomeroy by 20 points in 2004, isn’t likely to change things in November.

Sand’s fundraising isn’t where it needs to be, and he hasn’t given the voters a reason to throw out Pomeroy.

Even as Republicans continue to rack up huge wins in White House races in North Dakota, Democrats continue to dominate the Congressional delegation, controlling both the at-large House seat and both Senate seats.

With Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) recently pulling his presidential campaign out of the Peace Garden State, that trend is set to continue.

South Dakota

Senate

Incumbent: Tim Johnson (D)
2nd term (50 percent)
Outlook: Safe Democratic

Johnson is headed toward an easy general election victory on Nov. 4.

Johnson’s fundraising is strong, his Republican opponent is second- tier at best, and he has benefited from the fact that the GOP hasn’t bothered to attack him out of respect for his continuing recovery from a December 2006 brain aneurysm.

Johnson has been back in the Senate for more than a year, and during that time he hasn’t missed a vote. He is campaigning, albeit a bit less vigorously than he did during his 2002 nail-biter win over then-Rep. John Thune (R).

State Rep. Joel Dykstra (R) could be setting himself up for a future successful run for statewide office. But there is simply no compelling case that has been made to oust Johnson, and Dykstra doesn’t have Thune’s rock-star appeal (Thune went on to defeat then-Sen. Tom Daschle in 2004).

Dykstra has hinted that Johnson’s illness could pose a problem before the Senator’s next six-year term were to lapse. But in a state like South Dakota, where everybody knows everybody, everybody is pretty nice, and many of those people tend to like the incumbent, that sort of harsh political attack would probably fail if it was if launched in an overt, pointed way.

House

At-large
Incumbent: Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D)
3rd term (69 percent)
Outlook: Safe Democratic

There’s a reason you’re not hearing much about this race, and that’s because it isn’t much of a race.

Businessman Chris Lien (R) has a good profile and could use this year’s contest as a practice run for a future bid for statewide office. But for now, Herseth Sandlin appears to have solidified her standing with South Dakota voters — potentially vulnerable against an A-list challenger but not likely to be ousted otherwise — barring a serious self-inflicted wound. And assuming she wins big, there will certainly be talk about Herseth Sandlin, whose grandfather served as governor from 1958 to 1960, running for the state’s top job herself in 2010.