Sen. Ben Nelson (D) Elected 2000, 1st term up 2006
Born:	May 17, 1941, McCook
Home:	Omaha
Education:	U. of NE, B.A. 1963, M.A. 1965, LL.B. 1970
Religion:	Methodist
Marital Status:	married (Diane)
Elected  Office:	NE Gov., 1990-98.
Professional Career:	Gen. Cnsl., Central Natl. Group Insurance, 1972-74, Pres. & CEO, 1977-81; NE Insurance Dir., 1975-76; Exec. V.P., Natl. Assn. of Insurance Commissioners, 1982-85; Practicing atty., 1985-90.
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Ben Nelson, two-term Democratic governor of Nebraska, was elected to the Senate in 2000 in his second try. Nelson grew up in McCook, the home town of Senator George Norris and novelist Willa Cather; his high school principal, Ralph Brooks, a Democrat, was elected governor in 1958, by a 50.2%-49.8% margin. Nelson went to the University of Nebraska, practiced law, served as state insurance director and headed a major insurance company. He has collected several hundred clocks and is an avid hunter of turkeys and bears. In 1990 he ran for governor, taking on former Bob Kerrey staff aide Bill Hoppner in the primary, and won by all of 42 votes. In the general he beat Governor Kay Orr 50%-49%, because she raised taxes and her political consultants failed to place many of her paid-for TV spots in October. He cut spending increases by two-thirds and used his line-item veto to cut appropriations. In 1992 he got the Senate to pass and voters to approve a lottery, with proceeds to go to creative education and environmental projects. He built more prisons, trimmed workmen's comp and reorganized the human services department. He cut property taxes and reduced the income and sales taxes. His record won him high job ratings and re-election by a 73%-26% margin in the Republican year of 1994. When he ran for the Senate in 1996, he led in polls most of the way, but then fell behind in October and lost to Republican Chuck Hagel by a 56%-42% margin.

In 2000 Nebraska's other Senate seat came up. Everyone expected easy re-election for Senator Bob Kerrey, one of the Democratic Party's national stars--recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor for service in Vietnam, popular governor of Nebraska in the 1980s, elected to the Senate in 1988, presidential candidate in 1992. But in January 2000 he shocked Democrats and just about everyone else when he said that he would not run for reelection that fall. Nelson, a lawyer in Omaha with an interest in a public affairs firm in Washington, was obviously the strongest possible Democratic nominee and entered the race a month later. Six Republicans ran in the May primary. The winner was Attorney General Don Stenberg, with 50% of the vote.

Nelson and Stenberg agreed on some issues; both opposed abortion and backed tax cuts. But there were significant differences in style and a considerable history of partisan differences between the two in the 1990s. Nelson never mentioned his Democratic Party affiliation, unless asked directly about it. Instead he noted, "Nebraska has always supported a bipartisan approach to things and the independent-minded approach, or we wouldn't continue to have a nonpartisan legislature." Stenberg ran as part of the "Bush-Hagel-Stenberg Team," sometimes bringing in Governor Mike Johanns as well. To which Nelson responded, "My opponent hasn't given us a single reason to vote for him apart from his party registration and the fact that he's associated with two people who are more popular than he is." Then there was style: Nelson is gregarious, has a good sense of humor, seems to enjoy campaigning; Stenberg was described as serious and studious--not a natural meeter-and-greeter. There were some serious differences on issues. Stenberg was for individual investment accounts as part of Social Security; Nelson was against. The two sparred over who was responsible for Nebraska's parlous position in a lawsuit brought by the four other states in a five-state compact to build a radioactive waste disposal site in Boyd County which Nebraska regulators blocked. Nelson led always in the polls and raised and spent more money; the big difference here was PAC contributions, of which the Democrat received three times as much as the Republican. Nelson was helped also by active campaigning by Bob Kerrey; George W. Bush, in a close national race, couldn't afford to spend time in locked-up (for him) Nebraska. Nelson's poll leads narrowed in October, to 12% in the Omaha World-Herald, and memories went back to 1996, when Nelson's poll leads vanished altogether. This time that didn't quite happen. Nelson won 51%-49%. Nelson carried the Omaha area 54%-46% and the Lincoln area 60%-39%; he lost the remaining half of the state 54%-46%. Nelson ran 16% ahead of Al Gore in the Omaha area, 18% in the Lincoln area and 19% ahead in the rest of the state--just enough to win.

In February 2001 Nelson accompanied George W. Bush to Nebraska in February--the state's second presidential visit in two months--and got a Bush nickname, "Nellie"; he wrote back, "How about something more macho, like 'Tiger' or 'Killer?' I need to preserve my image." Nellie or no, Nelson turned out to be, after Zell Miller, the Senate Democrat most likely to support Bush and differ from most Democrats. He was one of three Democrats to vote against the McCain-Feingold campaign finance bill and in May was one of five Democrats to vote for the Republican budget resolution (although in April he had voted against an earlier version). He was one of 24 Democrats to vote for trade promotion authority in May 2002. Many of his legislative initiatives were aimed squarely at Nebraska problems. He and Hagel tried to amend the energy bill in March 2002 to increase consumer options for evaluating energy consumption levels--one option being the "smart metering" technology produced at the American Meter Company in Nebraska City. He got a white wheat initiative into the farm bill in April 2002; hard white wheat isn't produced in the U.S., but there's a big market for it in Asia. He voted for the farm bill in May 2002, saying that it provided $1.1 billion for Nebraska.

The Great Plains were hit by a drought in summer 2002, and Nelson argued that affected areas should get disaster relief, in the same way that places hit by hurricanes and floods do; the compensation would be for crops or livestock lost, rather than property destroyed. Twice in 2002 he got the Senate to pass disaster relief, first in the farm bill and then in the Interior Department appropriations; both times it was rejected in the House. He reintroduced the same measure in November 2002 and tried to get it included in the homeland security bill, again in vain. In January 2003, he started applying a name to the drought, as names are applied to hurricanes, and filed his bill again for relief from "Drought David." He chose the name at random, he said, and evidently was fearless of the reaction of Nebraska voters named David.

Nelson argues that, in a closely divided Senate, centrist members like him can fashion compromises that can resolve difficult issues, and he attempted to do this on the homeland security bill. Democrats claimed their version of the bill retained the collective bargaining rights of the 42,000 employees of the new department currently represented by unions; George W. Bush argued that it actually strengthened them, and made it more difficult to manage the department. Nelson came up with a compromise in September 2002 which, he said, would give federal employees whose collective bargaining rights were abolished by the president the right to an expedited non-judicial review by a federal labor relations board, with the burden of proof on the employees and their union. This was still unacceptable to Bush, and the bill was not passed before the November election. A week after the election, Bush and Trent Lott, Nelson, John Breaux and Lincoln Chafee produced another compromise that would allow the president to cancel collective bargaining rights but allow that decision to be overturned by a future president and that allowed workers to appeal to a federal mediation board new rules or salary scales; they would be imposed after one month, but the unions could bring a case in court. Outgoing Majority Leader Tom Daschle, aware now that his previous stance was politically disastrous, accepted the terms. But Nelson was infuriated when House Majority Leader Dick Armey inserted three amendments to the bill, one of which designated Texas A&M as the site for a new bioterrorism laboratory; Nelson wanted the University of Nebraska's Medical Center at Omaha to be eligible to compete for the lab, and was pleased when Lott promised the issue would be revisited in the next Congress.

Republicans have hoped that Nelson would switch parties. In September 2002 Lott said, "I think Ben is somebody who would be more comfortable on the Republican side--I really do. He is from a state that is pretty conservative and pretty Republican." But Nelson said, "As long as I am comfortable, I don't entertain the idea seriously about leaving." Nelson's seat comes up in 2006. One possible candidate is Republican Governor Mike Johanns, who will be ineligible to run for a third term then.

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DC Office
720 HSOB 20510, 202-224-6551; Fax: 202-228-0012; Web site: www.senate.gov/~bennelson

State Offices
Chadron, 308-260-2278; Lincoln,402-437-5246; McCook,308-340-1264; Omaha,402-391-3411; Scottsbluff,308-631-7614.

Committees

• Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry: Forestry, Conservation & Rural Revitalization; Marketing, Inspection & Product Promotion.
• Armed Services: Personnel (RMM); Readiness & Management Support; Strategic Forces.
• Veterans' Affairs.

Group Ratings (More Info)
	ADA	ACLU	AFS	LCV	CON	ITIC	NTU	COC	ACU	NTLC	CHC
2002	50	60	63	24	36	75	35	63	55	9	--
2001	70	--	50	38	--	--	43	71	56	--	60

National Journal Ratings (More Info)
	2001 LIB	--	2001 CONS		2002 LIB	--	2002 CONS
Economic	47%	--	49%		44%	--	55%
Social	51%	--	48%		49%	--	50%
Foreign	36%	--	54%		48%	--	49%
For National Journal's complete 2002 Vote Ratings, as well as previous ratings dating back to 1995, please click here.

Key Votes Of The 107th Congress (More Info)
1. Approve Bush Tax Cuts Y 2. Expand Patients' Rights Y 3. Campaign Finance Reform N 4. Permit ANWR Development N 5. Confirm Ashcroft as AG Y 6. Bar Gays in the Boy Scouts N		7. $ for Hate Crime Prosecution Y  8. Overseas Military Abortions N  9. Bar Coop. with Intl. Court Y 10. Trade Promotion Authority Y 11. Authorize Force in Iraq Y 12. Homeland Sec. Dept. Union Y

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
2000 general	Ben Nelson (D)	353,093	51%	$2,794,887
	Don Stenberg (R)	337,977	49%	$1,795,402
2000 primary	Ben Nelson (D)	105,661	92%
	Al Hamburg (D)	8,482	7%
1994 general	Bob Kerrey (D)	317,297	55%	$5,009,792
	Jan Stoney (R)	260,668	45%	$1,821,778