I thought he was, too, but he revealed himself to be soft on illegals (and since that has moved into becoming the premier yardstick for Conservatives today...) What put Heineman over the top in the primary was his opposition to granting of resident college tuition rates to the children of illegals. Osborne favored it, and it blew up in his face.
BTW, where did you hear Osborne had any intention of running for the Senate ? He’d be nearly 72 upon taking office, a bit too long in the tooth for embarking on a Senate career. The only 3 Republicans considering it (or having declared) is the AG, Jon Bruning, ex-Rep. and fmr. Omaha Mayor Hal Daub, and a businessman named Tony Raimondo. I’d personally prefer ex-AG Don Stenberg, who narrowly lost to Ben Nelson in 2000.
Well, the Senate has 2 ‘rats in their 80s(Lautenberg and Byrd, wastes of space, I know) so 72 isn’t all that bad. If Osborne is really that soft on illegals, then he shouldn’t waste his time running for anything.