DON WALTON / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Wednesday, April 25, 2007 7:00 pm
On the heels of this week’s firefight between Sen. Chuck Hagel and Attorney General Jon Bruning, the senator on Wednesday fired a cannon shot across Bruning’s bow.
The Hagel for Senate committee revealed plans for a six-figure fundraising dinner next month hosted by Gov. Dave Heineman and a bevy of Omaha’s corporate leaders.
Participants will be asked to contribute between $1,000 and the federal maximum of $4,600 per individual, or $9,200 a couple.
A $100-per-person fundraising reception on the same day co-hosted by a separate list of hosts will be announced later, Hagel political director Kevin Chapman said.
The dinner reception May 18 will be held at the Happy Hollow Country Club in Omaha.
The early display of Hagel’s fundraising prowess followed Bruning’s release of poll results from his own campaign organization showing him leading Hagel by 9 percentage points in a 2008 Republican Senate match.
Chapman has dismissed those results as not credible.
Among the co-hosts for the Hagel dinner are Walter Scott, chairman of Level 3 Communications and former chairman of Peter Kiewit Sons; Jim Young, president of Union Pacific; Ken Stinson, chairman and CEO of Peter Kiewit Sons; Bruce Lauritzen, chairman of First National Bank; and ConAgra Foods CEO Gary Rodkin.
Others include HDR chairman Richard Bell; Valmont CEO Mogens Bay; Tenaska CEO Howard Hawks; and Mike McCarthy, chairman of the McCarthy Group.
Also on the list were Duane Acklie of Lincoln, chairman of Crete Carrier; and retired businessman and former national Republican operative Dick Herman.
Although neither Hagel nor Bruning have announced plans to enter the Senate race, both are positioning themselves as potential candidates.
The attorney general has said he’s preparing to challenge Hagel over his opposition to the Bush administration’s Iraq war policies and the senator’s criticism of the president.
Hagel has said he’ll announce later this year whether he’ll seek a third term, pursue the presidency or leave elective office at the end of next year.
Reach Don Walton at 473-7248 or at dwalton@journalstar.com.