By Jan Schultz
The Imperial Republican
A Republican candidate for U.S. Senate will be in Imperial this Friday morning.
Pat Flynn, 52, of Schuyler said he is on a swing through western and southwestern Nebraska this week, and will start his day early in Imperial Friday at 6 a.m., joining the coffee group at Bart’s Corner.
He plans to stop at individual businesses in Imperial later in the morning, concluding with lunch at 12 noon at the Imperial Community Center.
He was in Kearney, Elwood and Arapahoe Wednesday, traveling on to McCook that evening, where he also planned to spend Thursday morning.
Later today (Thursday), he was scheduled to visit Hayes Center, Trenton and Benkelman.     
After being in Imperial Friday morning, the rest of Friday is scheduled in Grant, Wallace, Maywood, Curtis and Eustis.
Flynn said he is the only businessman in the race. He operates his own investment and insurance business.
In 2008, Flynn captured about 22 percent of the vote in the Republican Primary contest with Mike Johanns, who subsequently was elected to the U.S. Senate.
This election cycle, Flynn is going up against several others in the May 2012 Republican Primary, with hopes of unseating Democrat U.S. Senator Ben Nelson next November.
Flynn said he notified the Federal Election Commission of his intent to enter the 2012 Senate race in October, 2009. He said he filed that early to send a signal to Nelson prior to the healthcare vote.