Ben Nelson
Encyclopedia
Earl Benjamin "Ben" Nelson (born May 17, 1941) is the senior U.S. Senator
from Nebraska
. He is a member of the Democratic Party
and was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2000.
Nelson entered politics in 1990, when he was elected the 37th Governor of Nebraska
. He was re-elected in 1994 with 74% of the vote. Nelson ran for an open seat in the U.S. Senate
in 1996, losing to Republican Chuck Hagel
, and left the Governor's office in January 1999 due to term limits, after serving two full terms. Nelson was elected to the U.S. Senate in the 2000 election after incumbent Bob Kerrey
retired.
, in southwestern Nebraska. He is the only child of Birdella Ruby (née Henderson) and Benjamin Earl Nelson. He earned a B.A.
in 1963, a M.A.
in 1965, and a J.D.
in 1970 from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Nelson made his name and money in the insurance industry. After graduating from law school, Nelson landed a job as assistant general counsel for Central National Insurance Group of Omaha. In 1975, he became state insurance director before going back to work for Central National Insurance as an executive vice president and eventually president. He won his first elected office in 1990 when he became governor of Nebraska.
In 2011, Nelson was named one of the wealthiest members of Congress, with an estimated net worth of at least $6.6 million. He owns investment and rental properties in Nebraska, in Washington, and in Chicago; he and his wife both have significant holdings of Berkshire Hathaway
stock.
's gubernatorial campaign. Boosalis was defeated by state treasurer Kay Orr, who captured 53% of the vote to Boosalis's 47%.
, the first Republican
woman to be elected Governor in United States history.
During his tenure, Nelson cut spending from the previous administration by 64% while it was scheduled to rise by 13%. He introduced legislation to cut crime through the Safe Streets Act and Juvenile Crime Bill, advocated for low-income families through the Kids Connection health care system, and enacted welfare reforms. He also cut taxes for over 400,000 middle income families in Nebraska.
As governor, Nelson took some conservative stances on issues in right-leaning Nebraska. He pushed welfare reform before it was done at a national level and opposed President Bill Clinton
's efforts on health care.
During the 1990 campaign, Nelson attacked Orr's support for a proposed low-level nuclear waste dump in the state. During his tenure, the Nebraska State Department of Environmental Quality denied the dump's application for an operating license, prompting a lawsuit that Nebraska settled for $145 million.
Nelson ran for a seat in the U.S. Senate
in 1996 when fellow Democrat Jim Exon retired. He was soundly defeated by Republican businessman and Vietnam veteran Chuck Hagel
in one of the political upsets of 1996.
In 1998, Nelson was ineligible to run for re-election because of Nebraska's term-limits law. He was succeeded as governor by Mike Johanns
, the Republican mayor of Lincoln
.
Nelson was again nominated by the Democrats for the Senate in the 2000 election after his fellow Democrat, incumbent Bob Kerrey
, announced his retirement. His opponent was Attorney General
Don Stenberg
. Nelson won that election with 50.99% of the vote after a campaign in which he spent 50% more ($1,004,985) than his opponent. Despite initially pledging to work together, Nelson and Hagel had a somewhat frosty relationship.
In November 2004, it was widely rumored that President George W. Bush
would choose Nelson as his agriculture secretary
in the cabinet. In the end, the position went to Nelson's gubernatorial successor, Mike Johanns
.
". In the 2006 election, he was endorsed by Nebraska Right to Life and Nebraskans United for Life, the two largest pro-life organizations in the state. Nelson expressed strong support for the Stupak-Pitts Amendment to the House of Representatives' 2009 Affordable Health Care for America Act
, which placed limits on taxpayer-funded abortions. However, he lost the support of Nebraska Right to Life after he voted in favor of the Senate's version of health-care legislation, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
, which did not contain the Stupak language.
," a bloc of 14 Senators who, on May 23, 2005, forged a compromise on the Democrats' use of the judicial filibuster
, thus blocking the Republican leadership's attempt to implement the so-called "nuclear option
". Under the agreement among the Gang of 14, Democrats would retain the power to filibuster one of President George W. Bush's judicial nominees only in an "extraordinary circumstance", and the three most conservative Bush appellate court
nominees (Janice Rogers Brown
, Priscilla Owen
and William Pryor
) would receive a vote by the full Senate. Subsequently, he was the only Democrat to vote in favor of Brown; he was later the first Democratic senator to support Samuel Alito
's confirmation to the Supreme Court of the United States
. Nelson also voted twice, with three other Democrats, to end Senate debate over Bush's United Nations
Ambassador nominee John Bolton
.
In an op-ed
column, Nelson wrote: "The president's nominees, especially to the Supreme Court, deserve an up-or-down vote, even if the nominee isn't popular with the special-interest groups in Washington
."
As a result of traveling to Iraq four times, the latest being in September 2007, Nelson took the position that a transition of the mission was necessary in Iraq as opposed to a full withdrawal of troops. His view was supported by the Jones Commission on September 6, 2007 when General James L. Jones
presented a report to Congress claiming that, "The circumstances of the moment may continue to present the opportunity for considering a shift in the disposition and employment of our forces... such a strategy would include placing increasing responsibilities for the internal security of the nation on the ISF, especially in urban areas. Coalition forces could be re-tasked to better ensure the territorial defense of the state by increasingly concentrating on the eastern and western borders and the active defense of the critical infrastructures essential to Iraq." The premise that stability in Iraq would only be achieved through political reconciliation acted on through legislation, a view long held by Nelson, was also recommended by Jones, reporting, "The future of Iraq ... hinges on the ability of the Iraqi people
and the government to begin the process of achieving national reconciliation and to ending sectarian violence."
In the spring of 2007, Senators Nelson, Susan Collins
of Maine
, and John Warner
of Virginia
authored a list of measures, or "benchmarks", that were included in the Iraq Supplemental bill. These benchmarks allowed for progress to be measured in certain areas such as recognition of minority groups, strengthening of internal security forces, and equal distribution of oil revenue. President George W. Bush
and General David Petraeus
were then required to report on the advancement of these "benchmarks".
Nelson and Collins (a Republican) also introduced legislation on July 11, 2007 that would transition U.S. troops out of Baghdad
. The legislation called for turning over internal security efforts to Iraqi forces after which time the U.S. military would secure the borders, protect the infrastructure, and continue to search for al-Qaeda
forces.
. In 2001, Nelson was one of a handful of Democratic Senators that helped craft the proposal to cut taxes by $1.3 trillion that was ultimately signed into law. In addition to passing the third-largest tax cut in American history, the compromise that Nelson supported freed up more funds for special education, agriculture, and defense spending. Provisions of the tax cut included immediate tax relief, accelerated tax relief for middle-income workers and a repeal of the estate tax. He was also the deciding vote for passage of the 2003 tax cut
which accelerated many of the provisions in the 2001 tax cut in addition to benefits for small businesses. As part of this tax package, Nelson teamed up with Senator Susan Collins to include fiscal relief for states suffering from the downturn in the economy. The final package included $20 billion to ensure that low-income families, children, seniors, and persons with disabilities were able to get the health and social services they needed from the state.
The conservative Americans for Tax Reform
organization stated, in October 2009, that Nelson is the only Democratic Senator to have signed their Taxpayer Protection Pledge, and launched an advocacy campaign to urge him to oppose the current health care reform proposals
in Congress, which they assert contain "billions of dollars in income tax hikes."
criticized pork barrel spending Nelson had inserted into the 2007 defense spending bill. Coburn alleged that the earmarks would benefit Nelson's son Patrick's employer with millions in federal dollars and that the situation violated terms of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006
, which was passed by the Senate but has not yet been voted on in the House. Nelson's spokesperson said the Senator did nothing wrong and was only acting under "an abundance of caution" when he withdrew the amendment after the new Senate Ethics Rules were passed. Some government watchdogs, including Public Citizen
, commented that the earmark probably didn't violate ethics rules. Additionally, Coburn's motives were called into question by more than one publication, as his earmark blasts fell silent about his own state delegation's earmark requests.
, the Senate's version of health-care legislation. To end a Republican filibuster
and pass the measure, the Democrats needed the votes of all 58 of their senators, plus those of two independents who caucused with their party. Nelson was the 60th and last senator to agree to vote for cloture.
According to Nelson, he wanted to ensure that the final version of the law prohibited the use of public funds to pay for abortions.
His cloture vote came after the measure was amended to permit states to opt out of allowing insurance exchange plans to provide abortion coverage. Persons enrolling in plans that covered abortion costs would pay for that coverage separately from their payment for the rest of the plan.
The bill also provided full and permanent federal reimbursement for the expenses that Nebraska would incur in its mandated expansion of Medicaid eligibility,
an amount estimated by the Congressional Budget Office
at $100 million.
The health-care measure was controversial, and Nelson's vote provoked a strong response. The Medicaid reimbursement scheme was derided by the measure's opponents as the "Cornhusker Kickback".
Among those denouncing the provision was Dave Heineman
, Nebraska's Republican governor.
To these criticisms, Nelson responded that he had been attempting to eliminate an unfunded federal mandate upon the states,
and that the Nebraska item was a "placeholder", intended from the start to be replaced by a revision that would provide reimbursement for the increased Medicaid costs of all states.
Pro-life
organizations also responded negatively to Nelson's vote. Nebraska Right to Life decried the anti-abortion language in the health-care bill as "bogus",
and in April 2010 declared that they would never again give their endorsement to Nelson.
Nelson's popularity fell among Nebraskans in the wake of his cloture vote. A December 2009 Rasmussen
poll indicated that in a hypothetical Nelson–Heineman race, the Republican would get 61% of the vote to Nelson's 30%. In the same poll, 64% of the Nebraska voters surveyed were opposed to the health-care bill.
With the victory of Republican Scott Brown
in the special election to fill the Senate seat vacated by the death of Senator Edward Kennedy
, the Democrats lost their filibuster-proof majority. Since Brown had declared himself opposed to the health-care measure, the party's leadership opted to enact the legislation through the budget reconciliation
process.
Nelson voted against the final version of the legislation, the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010
.
His vote at this stage was not particularly critical, since the reconciliation bill was not subject to filibuster and required only a simple majority.
The measure as ultimately passed eliminated the special Medicaid reimbursement for Nebraska, as Nelson had requested in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
about a month after his crucial cloture vote. Nelson stated that his opposition to the final measure arose from newly-added provisions related to student loans, which would adversely affect Nebraska-based student-lending firm Nelnet
. Despite his vote against it, he subsequently defended the law, declaring "I am willing to fight to improve it, but not to repeal it."
congressional vote rating from 2006 placed him to the right of five Senate Republicans (Gordon Smith, Olympia Snowe
, Arlen Specter
, Susan Collins
, and Lincoln Chafee
). Mary Landrieu
was the only other Democrat to place to the right of any Republicans (she placed to the right of Chafee). A similar 2007 National Journal congressional vote rating went even
further, placing him to the right of eight Senate Republicans (the
above five as well as Richard Lugar, Norm Coleman
, and Mike DeWine
), with Landrieu once again placing to the right of Chafee and
being the only other Democrat to place to the right of any Republicans. Most recently, the American Conservative Union
rated his overall performance for 2010 at 48 percent, the highest given to any Democratic senator.
Nelson was one of only two Democratic senators to vote against the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act
of 2002. Nelson is strongly opposed to replacing the income tax with a national sales tax, a position that finds favor with increasingly many conservatives. He has voted with Republicans on matters of bankruptcy reform, environmental protection, lawsuit reform, and trade. In 2004 he was one of only three Democratic senators to vote to invoke cloture
on the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment
; in 2006 he was one of only two Democratic Senators to vote that way. He was the only Democratic senator to vote against a 2006 bill that would have extended federal funding for Stem Cell Research. He has, however, voted consistently against drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
. He has also opposed President Bush's plan to send an additional 21,500 troops to Iraq. Early in Bush's first term he voted with the majority of his party against scrapping President Bill Clinton
's expansive new rules on ergonomics regulation for workers; many of his fellow conservative Democrats like John Breaux
, Max Baucus
, Blanche Lincoln
, and Zell Miller
voted with Republicans on the issue. On April 26, 2010, Nelson was one of two Democratic senators in attendance to vote against the motion to move a financial regulations bill forward, siding with Senate Republicans. The other was Harry Reid
, who voted against his own proposed bill out of procedure.
On August 5, 2010, Nelson was the only Democrat to vote against Elena Kagan
for confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court.
On December 18, 2010, Nelson voted in favor of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010
.
Nelson was thought to be in danger of losing his seat in 2006
, as it was thought his successor as governor, Mike Johanns
, was almost certain to run against him. However, that speculation ended when Johanns was appointed U.S. Secretary of Agriculture
. With Johanns' move to Washington, few high-profile Republicans stepped up to run against Nelson, as the state party focused its attention on the governor's race
. The Republican nomination was won by Pete Ricketts
, a former TD Ameritrade
executive.
In the general election, Nelson was endorsed by the National Rifle Association
, Nebraska Right to Life (National Right to Life's state affiliate), Nebraskans United for Life, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
, the National Federation of Independent Businesses, Nebraska Farmers Union PAC, National Farmers Union PAC, the Veterans of Foreign Wars
PAC, the Business-Industry Political Action Committee, and the Omaha Police Union, all of which are conservative-leaning groups.
Nelson easily defeated Ricketts 64-36%, the highest victory margin for a Democratic Senate candidate in Nebraska since Edward Zorinsky
won 66 percent of the vote in his 1982 reelection bid. In doing so, he received the votes of 42% of Republicans and 73% of Independents on top of 96% of those from his own party. He also won all but 13 counties in the western part of the state, a surprising feat in normally heavily Republican Nebraska.
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
from Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
. He is a member of the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
and was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2000.
Nelson entered politics in 1990, when he was elected the 37th Governor of Nebraska
Governor of Nebraska
The Governor of Nebraska holds the "supreme executive power" of the State of Nebraska as provided by the fourth article of the Nebraska Constitution. The current Governor is Dave Heineman, a Republican, who assumed office on January 20, 2005 upon the resignation of Mike Johanns . He won a full...
. He was re-elected in 1994 with 74% of the vote. Nelson ran for an open seat in the U.S. Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
in 1996, losing to Republican Chuck Hagel
Chuck Hagel
Charles Timothy "Chuck" Hagel is a former United States Senator from Nebraska. A member of the Republican Party, he was first elected in 1996 and was reelected in 2002...
, and left the Governor's office in January 1999 due to term limits, after serving two full terms. Nelson was elected to the U.S. Senate in the 2000 election after incumbent Bob Kerrey
Bob Kerrey
Joseph Robert "Bob" Kerrey was the 35th Governor of Nebraska from 1983 to 1987 and a U.S. Senator from Nebraska . Having served in the Vietnam War, earning the Medal of Honor for his actions, he moved into politics. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1992...
retired.
Early life and career
Nelson was born in McCookMcCook, Nebraska
McCook is a city in Red Willow County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 7,994 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Red Willow County...
, in southwestern Nebraska. He is the only child of Birdella Ruby (née Henderson) and Benjamin Earl Nelson. He earned a B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in 1963, a M.A.
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in 1965, and a J.D.
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
in 1970 from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Nelson made his name and money in the insurance industry. After graduating from law school, Nelson landed a job as assistant general counsel for Central National Insurance Group of Omaha. In 1975, he became state insurance director before going back to work for Central National Insurance as an executive vice president and eventually president. He won his first elected office in 1990 when he became governor of Nebraska.
In 2011, Nelson was named one of the wealthiest members of Congress, with an estimated net worth of at least $6.6 million. He owns investment and rental properties in Nebraska, in Washington, and in Chicago; he and his wife both have significant holdings of Berkshire Hathaway
Berkshire Hathaway
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, that oversees and manages a number of subsidiary companies. The company averaged an annual growth in book value of 20.3% to its shareholders for the last 44 years,...
stock.
Political career
In 1986, Nelson served as state chairman of Democrat Helen BoosalisHelen Boosalis
Helen G. Boosalis was a Nebraska Democratic Party politician.Helen Boosalis was born as Helen Geankoplis in Minneapolis, Minnesota to Greek immigrant parents, where she grew up working in her father's Minneapolis restaurant.In 1945 she married Michael Gus "Mike" Boosalis, a World War II veteran...
's gubernatorial campaign. Boosalis was defeated by state treasurer Kay Orr, who captured 53% of the vote to Boosalis's 47%.
Governor
Nelson was elected governor in the state's fourth-closest gubernatorial race in history in 1990. He was easily re-elected in 1994 with 74% of the vote – the largest margin of victory for a governor in half a century. During his first race for governor, Nelson ran against incumbent Kay A. OrrKay A. Orr
Kay Orr , is a United States Republican Party politician from the state of Nebraska. She served as the 36th Governor of Nebraska from 1987 to 1991.-Background and political roots:...
, the first Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
woman to be elected Governor in United States history.
During his tenure, Nelson cut spending from the previous administration by 64% while it was scheduled to rise by 13%. He introduced legislation to cut crime through the Safe Streets Act and Juvenile Crime Bill, advocated for low-income families through the Kids Connection health care system, and enacted welfare reforms. He also cut taxes for over 400,000 middle income families in Nebraska.
As governor, Nelson took some conservative stances on issues in right-leaning Nebraska. He pushed welfare reform before it was done at a national level and opposed President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
's efforts on health care.
During the 1990 campaign, Nelson attacked Orr's support for a proposed low-level nuclear waste dump in the state. During his tenure, the Nebraska State Department of Environmental Quality denied the dump's application for an operating license, prompting a lawsuit that Nebraska settled for $145 million.
Nelson ran for a seat in the U.S. Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
in 1996 when fellow Democrat Jim Exon retired. He was soundly defeated by Republican businessman and Vietnam veteran Chuck Hagel
Chuck Hagel
Charles Timothy "Chuck" Hagel is a former United States Senator from Nebraska. A member of the Republican Party, he was first elected in 1996 and was reelected in 2002...
in one of the political upsets of 1996.
In 1998, Nelson was ineligible to run for re-election because of Nebraska's term-limits law. He was succeeded as governor by Mike Johanns
Mike Johanns
Michael Owen "Mike" Johanns is an American Republican politician who has been the junior United States Senator from Nebraska since 2009. Previously he was the 38th Governor of Nebraska from 1999 to 2005 and was U.S. Secretary of Agriculture from 2005 to 2007, becoming the fourth Nebraskan to hold...
, the Republican mayor of Lincoln
Lincoln, Nebraska
The City of Lincoln is the capital and the second-most populous city of the US state of Nebraska. Lincoln is also the county seat of Lancaster County and the home of the University of Nebraska. Lincoln's 2010 Census population was 258,379....
.
Election to the Senate
Bob Kerrey
Joseph Robert "Bob" Kerrey was the 35th Governor of Nebraska from 1983 to 1987 and a U.S. Senator from Nebraska . Having served in the Vietnam War, earning the Medal of Honor for his actions, he moved into politics. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1992...
, announced his retirement. His opponent was Attorney General
Nebraska Attorney General
The Nebraska Attorney General is the chief law enforcement officer and lawyer for the U.S. state of Nebraska.-List of Attorneys General:-Notes:Term began February 21, 1867.Joint Populist-Democratic ticket.Resigned....
Don Stenberg
Don Stenberg
Don Stenberg is a Republican politician and attorney from Nebraska. He served as Attorney General of Nebraska from 1991 to 2003 and currently serves as State Treasurer of Nebraska to which he took office in 2011. He also served as legal counsel to Governor Charles Thone from 1979 to 1983.-Stenberg v...
. Nelson won that election with 50.99% of the vote after a campaign in which he spent 50% more ($1,004,985) than his opponent. Despite initially pledging to work together, Nelson and Hagel had a somewhat frosty relationship.
In November 2004, it was widely rumored that President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
would choose Nelson as his agriculture secretary
United States Secretary of Agriculture
The United States Secretary of Agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The current secretary is Tom Vilsack, who was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on 20 January 2009. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of agriculture ministers in other...
in the cabinet. In the end, the position went to Nelson's gubernatorial successor, Mike Johanns
Mike Johanns
Michael Owen "Mike" Johanns is an American Republican politician who has been the junior United States Senator from Nebraska since 2009. Previously he was the 38th Governor of Nebraska from 1999 to 2005 and was U.S. Secretary of Agriculture from 2005 to 2007, becoming the fourth Nebraskan to hold...
.
Committee assignments
- Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
- Subcommittee on Rural Revitalization, Conservation, Forestry and Credit
- Subcommittee on Energy, Science and TechnologyUnited States Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Energy, Science and TechnologyThe U.S. Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Jobs, Rural Economic Growth and Energy Innovation is one of five subcommittees of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry....
- Subcommittee on Domestic and Foreign Marketing, Inspection, and Plant and Animal Health
- Committee on AppropriationsUnited States Senate Committee on AppropriationsThe United States Senate Committee on Appropriations is a standing committee of the United States Senate. It has jurisdiction over all discretionary spending legislation in the Senate....
- Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies
- Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government
- Subcommittee on Homeland SecurityUnited States Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland SecurityU.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security is one of twelve subcommittees of the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations. It was formally established in 2003 in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 to oversee national security programs and the newly created...
- Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
- Subcommittee on Legislative BranchUnited States Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Legislative BranchU.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Legislative Branch is one of twelve subcommittees of the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations.-Jurisdiction:...
(Chairman) - Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies
- Committee on Armed ServicesUnited States Senate Committee on Armed ServicesThe Committee on Armed Services is a committee of the United States Senate empowered with legislative oversight of the nation's military, including the Department of Defense, military research and development, nuclear energy , benefits for members of the military, the Selective Service System and...
- Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and CapabilitiesUnited States Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and CapabilitiesThe Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities is one of six subcommittees within the Senate Armed Services Committee.-Jurisdiction:...
- Subcommittee on PersonnelUnited States Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on PersonnelThe Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel is one of six subcommittees within the Senate Armed Services Committee.-Jurisdiction:The Personnel Subcommittee has jurisdiction over all matters relating to active and reserve military personnel, including pay rates, military health care and...
- Subcommittee on Strategic ForcesUnited States Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic ForcesThe Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces is one of six subcommittees within the Senate Armed Services Committee.-Jurisdiction:...
(Chairman)
- Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities
- Committee on Rules and AdministrationUnited States Senate Committee on Rules and AdministrationThe Senate Committee on Rules and Administration is responsible for the rules of the United States Senate, with administration of congressional buildings, and with credentials and qualifications of members of the Senate, including responsibility for dealing with contested elections.The committee...
Caucus memberships
- International Conservation CaucusUnited States Congressional International Conservation CaucusThe U.S. Congressional International Conservation Caucus is a bipartisan congressional organization that was founded in September 2003 with the conviction that “the United States of America has the opportunity, the obligation and the interests to advance the conservation of natural resources for...
- Senate Air Force Caucus
- Space Power Caucus
- Sportsmen's Caucus
Abortion
Nelson describes himself as "pro-lifePro-life
Opposition to the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-life, or anti-abortion, movement, a social and political movement opposing elective abortion on moral grounds and supporting its legal prohibition or restriction...
". In the 2006 election, he was endorsed by Nebraska Right to Life and Nebraskans United for Life, the two largest pro-life organizations in the state. Nelson expressed strong support for the Stupak-Pitts Amendment to the House of Representatives' 2009 Affordable Health Care for America Act
Affordable Health Care for America Act
The Affordable Health Care for America Act was a bill that was crafted by the United States House of Representatives in November 2009. At the encouragement of the Obama administration, the 111th Congress devoted much of its time to enacting reform of the United States' health care system...
, which placed limits on taxpayer-funded abortions. However, he lost the support of Nebraska Right to Life after he voted in favor of the Senate's version of health-care legislation, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is a United States federal statute signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. The law is the principal health care reform legislation of the 111th United States Congress...
, which did not contain the Stupak language.
Judicial appointments
Nelson was the lead Democratic Senator among the "Gang of 14Gang of 14
The Gang of 14 was a term coined to describe the bipartisan group of Senators in the 109th United States Congress who successfully negotiated a compromise in the spring of 2005 to avoid the deployment of the so-called nuclear option over an organized use of the filibuster by Senate...
," a bloc of 14 Senators who, on May 23, 2005, forged a compromise on the Democrats' use of the judicial filibuster
Filibuster
A filibuster is a type of parliamentary procedure. Specifically, it is the right of an individual to extend debate, allowing a lone member to delay or entirely prevent a vote on a given proposal...
, thus blocking the Republican leadership's attempt to implement the so-called "nuclear option
Nuclear option
In U.S. politics, the "nuclear option" allows the United States Senate to reinterpret a procedural rule by invoking the argument that the Constitution requires that the will of the majority be effective on specific Senate duties and procedures...
". Under the agreement among the Gang of 14, Democrats would retain the power to filibuster one of President George W. Bush's judicial nominees only in an "extraordinary circumstance", and the three most conservative Bush appellate court
United States court of appeals
The United States courts of appeals are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal court system...
nominees (Janice Rogers Brown
Janice Rogers Brown
Janice Rogers Brown is a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She previously was an Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court, holding that post from May 2, 1996 until her appointment to the D.C. Circuit.President George W. Bush...
, Priscilla Owen
Priscilla Owen
Priscilla Richman Owen is a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. She was previously a Justice on the Texas Supreme Court.-Early life:...
and William Pryor
William H. Pryor, Jr.
William Holcombe "Bill" Pryor, Jr. is a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Previously, he was the Attorney General of the State of Alabama from 1997 to 2004.-Background:...
) would receive a vote by the full Senate. Subsequently, he was the only Democrat to vote in favor of Brown; he was later the first Democratic senator to support Samuel Alito
Samuel Alito
Samuel Anthony Alito, Jr. is an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. He was nominated by President George W. Bush and has served on the court since January 31, 2006....
's confirmation to the Supreme Court of the United States
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
. Nelson also voted twice, with three other Democrats, to end Senate debate over Bush's United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
Ambassador nominee John Bolton
John R. Bolton
John Robert Bolton is an American lawyer and diplomat who has served in several Republican presidential administrations. He served as the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations from August 2005 until December 2006 on a recess appointment...
.
In an op-ed
Op-ed
An op-ed, abbreviated from opposite the editorial page , is a newspaper article that expresses the opinions of a named writer who is usually unaffiliated with the newspaper's editorial board...
column, Nelson wrote: "The president's nominees, especially to the Supreme Court, deserve an up-or-down vote, even if the nominee isn't popular with the special-interest groups in Washington
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
."
Iraq
On March 15, 2007, Nelson was one of two Democratic Senators to vote against invoking cloture on a resolution aimed at withdrawing most American combat troops from Iraq in 2008. The vote, requiring 60 votes to pass, was 50 to 48 against.As a result of traveling to Iraq four times, the latest being in September 2007, Nelson took the position that a transition of the mission was necessary in Iraq as opposed to a full withdrawal of troops. His view was supported by the Jones Commission on September 6, 2007 when General James L. Jones
James L. Jones
James Logan Jones, Jr. is the former United States National Security Advisor and a retired United States Marine Corps General....
presented a report to Congress claiming that, "The circumstances of the moment may continue to present the opportunity for considering a shift in the disposition and employment of our forces... such a strategy would include placing increasing responsibilities for the internal security of the nation on the ISF, especially in urban areas. Coalition forces could be re-tasked to better ensure the territorial defense of the state by increasingly concentrating on the eastern and western borders and the active defense of the critical infrastructures essential to Iraq." The premise that stability in Iraq would only be achieved through political reconciliation acted on through legislation, a view long held by Nelson, was also recommended by Jones, reporting, "The future of Iraq ... hinges on the ability of the Iraqi people
Iraqi people
The Iraqi people or Mesopotamian people are natives or inhabitants of the country of Iraq, known since antiquity as Mesopotamia , with a large diaspora throughout the Arab World, Europe, the Americas, and...
and the government to begin the process of achieving national reconciliation and to ending sectarian violence."
In the spring of 2007, Senators Nelson, Susan Collins
Susan Collins
Susan Margaret Collins is the junior United States Senator from Maine and a member of the Republican Party. First elected to the Senate in 1996, she is the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs...
of Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
, and John Warner
John Warner
John William Warner, KBE is an American Republican politician who served as Secretary of the Navy from 1972 to 1974 and as a five-term United States Senator from Virginia from January 2, 1979, to January 3, 2009...
of Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
authored a list of measures, or "benchmarks", that were included in the Iraq Supplemental bill. These benchmarks allowed for progress to be measured in certain areas such as recognition of minority groups, strengthening of internal security forces, and equal distribution of oil revenue. President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
and General David Petraeus
David Petraeus
David Howell Petraeus is the current Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, sworn in on September 6, 2011. Prior to his assuming the directorship of the CIA, Petraeus was a four-star general serving over 37 years in the United States Army. His last assignments in the Army were as commander...
were then required to report on the advancement of these "benchmarks".
Nelson and Collins (a Republican) also introduced legislation on July 11, 2007 that would transition U.S. troops out of Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
. The legislation called for turning over internal security efforts to Iraqi forces after which time the U.S. military would secure the borders, protect the infrastructure, and continue to search for al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
forces.
Taxes
Nelson played a vital role in passing the 2001 tax cutEconomic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001
The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 , was a sweeping piece of tax legislation in the United States by President George W. Bush...
. In 2001, Nelson was one of a handful of Democratic Senators that helped craft the proposal to cut taxes by $1.3 trillion that was ultimately signed into law. In addition to passing the third-largest tax cut in American history, the compromise that Nelson supported freed up more funds for special education, agriculture, and defense spending. Provisions of the tax cut included immediate tax relief, accelerated tax relief for middle-income workers and a repeal of the estate tax. He was also the deciding vote for passage of the 2003 tax cut
Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003
The Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 , was passed by the United States Congress on May 23, 2003 and signed into law by President George W. Bush on May 28, 2003...
which accelerated many of the provisions in the 2001 tax cut in addition to benefits for small businesses. As part of this tax package, Nelson teamed up with Senator Susan Collins to include fiscal relief for states suffering from the downturn in the economy. The final package included $20 billion to ensure that low-income families, children, seniors, and persons with disabilities were able to get the health and social services they needed from the state.
The conservative Americans for Tax Reform
Americans for Tax Reform
Americans for Tax Reform is an advocacy group and taxpayer group whose stated goal is "a system in which taxes are simpler, flatter, more visible, and lower than they are today. The government's power to control one's life derives from its power to tax...
organization stated, in October 2009, that Nelson is the only Democratic Senator to have signed their Taxpayer Protection Pledge, and launched an advocacy campaign to urge him to oppose the current health care reform proposals
America’s Healthy Future Act
The America’s Healthy Future Act is a proposed law by Democratic Senator Max Baucus of Montana, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, on September 16, 2009. It is also colloquially known as the Baucus Health Bill, the Baucus Health Plan, or BaucusCare. Baucus initially publicly released a...
in Congress, which they assert contain "billions of dollars in income tax hikes."
Earmarks
In July 2007, fellow Senator Tom CoburnTom Coburn
Thomas Allen "Tom" Coburn, M.D. , is an American politician, medical doctor, and Southern Baptist deacon. A member of the Republican Party, he currently serves as the junior U.S. Senator from Oklahoma. In the Senate, he is known as "Dr. No" for his tendency to place holds on and vote against bills...
criticized pork barrel spending Nelson had inserted into the 2007 defense spending bill. Coburn alleged that the earmarks would benefit Nelson's son Patrick's employer with millions in federal dollars and that the situation violated terms of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006
Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006
The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 is an Act of Congress that requires the full disclosure to the public of all entities or organizations receiving federal funds beginning in fiscal year 2007. The website opened in December 2007 as a result of the act, and is...
, which was passed by the Senate but has not yet been voted on in the House. Nelson's spokesperson said the Senator did nothing wrong and was only acting under "an abundance of caution" when he withdrew the amendment after the new Senate Ethics Rules were passed. Some government watchdogs, including Public Citizen
Public Citizen
Public Citizen is a non-profit, consumer rights advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., United States, with a branch in Austin, Texas. Public Citizen was founded by Ralph Nader in 1971, headed for 26 years by Joan Claybrook, and is now headed by Robert Weissman.-Lobbying Efforts:Public Citizen...
, commented that the earmark probably didn't violate ethics rules. Additionally, Coburn's motives were called into question by more than one publication, as his earmark blasts fell silent about his own state delegation's earmark requests.
Health care
In late 2009, the Senate's 40 Republicans unanimously opposed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care ActPatient Protection and Affordable Care Act
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is a United States federal statute signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. The law is the principal health care reform legislation of the 111th United States Congress...
, the Senate's version of health-care legislation. To end a Republican filibuster
Filibuster
A filibuster is a type of parliamentary procedure. Specifically, it is the right of an individual to extend debate, allowing a lone member to delay or entirely prevent a vote on a given proposal...
and pass the measure, the Democrats needed the votes of all 58 of their senators, plus those of two independents who caucused with their party. Nelson was the 60th and last senator to agree to vote for cloture.
According to Nelson, he wanted to ensure that the final version of the law prohibited the use of public funds to pay for abortions.
His cloture vote came after the measure was amended to permit states to opt out of allowing insurance exchange plans to provide abortion coverage. Persons enrolling in plans that covered abortion costs would pay for that coverage separately from their payment for the rest of the plan.
The bill also provided full and permanent federal reimbursement for the expenses that Nebraska would incur in its mandated expansion of Medicaid eligibility,
an amount estimated by the Congressional Budget Office
Congressional Budget Office
The Congressional Budget Office is a federal agency within the legislative branch of the United States government that provides economic data to Congress....
at $100 million.
The health-care measure was controversial, and Nelson's vote provoked a strong response. The Medicaid reimbursement scheme was derided by the measure's opponents as the "Cornhusker Kickback".
Among those denouncing the provision was Dave Heineman
Dave Heineman
David Eugene "Dave" Heineman is the 39th and current Governor of Nebraska. He is a member of the Republican Party.-Early life, education and career:...
, Nebraska's Republican governor.
To these criticisms, Nelson responded that he had been attempting to eliminate an unfunded federal mandate upon the states,
and that the Nebraska item was a "placeholder", intended from the start to be replaced by a revision that would provide reimbursement for the increased Medicaid costs of all states.
Pro-life
Pro-life
Opposition to the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-life, or anti-abortion, movement, a social and political movement opposing elective abortion on moral grounds and supporting its legal prohibition or restriction...
organizations also responded negatively to Nelson's vote. Nebraska Right to Life decried the anti-abortion language in the health-care bill as "bogus",
and in April 2010 declared that they would never again give their endorsement to Nelson.
Nelson's popularity fell among Nebraskans in the wake of his cloture vote. A December 2009 Rasmussen
Rasmussen Reports
Rasmussen Reports is an American media company that publishes and distributes information based on public opinion polling. Founded by pollster Scott Rasmussen in 2003, the company updates daily indexes including the President's job approval rating, and provides public opinion data, analysis, and...
poll indicated that in a hypothetical Nelson–Heineman race, the Republican would get 61% of the vote to Nelson's 30%. In the same poll, 64% of the Nebraska voters surveyed were opposed to the health-care bill.
With the victory of Republican Scott Brown
Scott Brown
Scott Brown is a United States senator.Scott Brown may also refer to:-Sportsmen:*Scott Brown , American college football coach of Kentucky State...
in the special election to fill the Senate seat vacated by the death of Senator Edward Kennedy
Ted Kennedy
Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy was a United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. Serving almost 47 years, he was the second most senior member of the Senate when he died and is the fourth-longest-serving senator in United States history...
, the Democrats lost their filibuster-proof majority. Since Brown had declared himself opposed to the health-care measure, the party's leadership opted to enact the legislation through the budget reconciliation
Reconciliation (United States Congress)
Reconciliation is a legislative process of the United States Senate intended to allow consideration of a budget bill with debate limited to twenty hours under Senate Rules...
process.
Nelson voted against the final version of the legislation, the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010
Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010
The Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 is a law that was enacted by the 111th United States Congress, by means of the reconciliation process, in order to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act...
.
His vote at this stage was not particularly critical, since the reconciliation bill was not subject to filibuster and required only a simple majority.
The measure as ultimately passed eliminated the special Medicaid reimbursement for Nebraska, as Nelson had requested in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
Harry Reid
Harry Mason Reid is the senior United States Senator from Nevada, serving since 1987. A member of the Democratic Party, he has been the Senate Majority Leader since January 2007, having previously served as Minority Leader and Minority and Majority Whip.Previously, Reid was a member of the U.S...
about a month after his crucial cloture vote. Nelson stated that his opposition to the final measure arose from newly-added provisions related to student loans, which would adversely affect Nebraska-based student-lending firm Nelnet
Nelnet
Nelnet is a Lincoln, Nebraska-based lending conglomerate that deals in the administration and repayment of student loans.-History:Nelnet was founded as the UNIPAC Loan Service Corporation in 1978 and renamed Nelnet in 1996. Its current Chairman & Chief Executive Officer is Michael S. Dunlap...
. Despite his vote against it, he subsequently defended the law, declaring "I am willing to fight to improve it, but not to repeal it."
Other votes
Nelson's votes in the Senate have often placed him at odds with the leadership of his party. A National JournalNational Journal
National Journal is a nonpartisan American weekly magazine that reports on the current political environment and emerging political and policy trends. National Journal was first published in 1969. Times Mirror owned the magazine from 1986 to 1997, when it was purchased by David G. Bradley...
congressional vote rating from 2006 placed him to the right of five Senate Republicans (Gordon Smith, Olympia Snowe
Olympia Snowe
Olympia Jean Snowe , née Bouchles, is the senior United States Senator from Maine and a member of the Republican Party. Snowe has become widely known for her ability to influence the outcome of close votes, including whether to end filibusters. She and her fellow Senator from Maine, Susan Collins,...
, Arlen Specter
Arlen Specter
Arlen Specter is a former United States Senator from Pennsylvania. Specter is a Democrat, but was a Republican from 1965 until switching to the Democratic Party in 2009...
, Susan Collins
Susan Collins
Susan Margaret Collins is the junior United States Senator from Maine and a member of the Republican Party. First elected to the Senate in 1996, she is the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs...
, and Lincoln Chafee
Lincoln Chafee
Lincoln Davenport Chafee is an American politician who has been the 74th Governor of Rhode Island since January 2011. Prior to his election as governor, Chafee served in the United States Senate as a Republican from 1999 until losing his Senate re-election bid in 2006 to Democrat Sheldon...
). Mary Landrieu
Mary Landrieu
Mary Loretta Landrieu is the senior United States Senator from the State of Louisiana and a member of the Democratic Party.Born in Arlington, Virginia, Landrieu was raised in New Orleans, Louisiana...
was the only other Democrat to place to the right of any Republicans (she placed to the right of Chafee). A similar 2007 National Journal congressional vote rating went even
further, placing him to the right of eight Senate Republicans (the
above five as well as Richard Lugar, Norm Coleman
Norm Coleman
Norman Bertram Coleman, Jr. is an American attorney and politician. He was a United States senator from Minnesota from 2003 to 2009. Coleman was elected in 2002 and served in the 108th, 109th, and 110th Congresses. Before becoming a senator, he was mayor of Saint Paul, Minnesota, from 1994 to 2002...
, and Mike DeWine
Mike DeWine
Richard Michael "Mike" DeWine is the Attorney General for the state of Ohio. He has held numerous offices on the state and federal level, including Ohio State Senator, four terms as a U.S. Congressman, Ohio Lt. Governor, and was a two-term U.S. Senator, serving from 1995 to 2007.- Biography :Born...
), with Landrieu once again placing to the right of Chafee and
being the only other Democrat to place to the right of any Republicans. Most recently, the American Conservative Union
American Conservative Union
The American Conservative Union is an American political organization advocating conservative policies, and is the oldest such conservative lobbying organization in the country.-Organization:...
rated his overall performance for 2010 at 48 percent, the highest given to any Democratic senator.
Nelson was one of only two Democratic senators to vote against the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act
The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 is a United States federal law that amended the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, which regulates the financing of political campaigns. Its chief sponsors were Senators Russell Feingold and John McCain...
of 2002. Nelson is strongly opposed to replacing the income tax with a national sales tax, a position that finds favor with increasingly many conservatives. He has voted with Republicans on matters of bankruptcy reform, environmental protection, lawsuit reform, and trade. In 2004 he was one of only three Democratic senators to vote to invoke cloture
Cloture
In parliamentary procedure, cloture is a motion or process aimed at bringing debate to a quick end. It is also called closure or, informally, a guillotine. The cloture procedure originated in the French National Assembly, from which the name is taken. Clôture is French for "ending" or "conclusion"...
on the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment
Federal Marriage Amendment
The Federal Marriage Amendment H.J. Res. 56 was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution which would have limited marriage in the United States to unions of one man and one woman...
; in 2006 he was one of only two Democratic Senators to vote that way. He was the only Democratic senator to vote against a 2006 bill that would have extended federal funding for Stem Cell Research. He has, however, voted consistently against drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a national wildlife refuge in northeastern Alaska, United States. It consists of in the Alaska North Slope region. It is the largest National Wildlife Refuge in the country, slightly larger than the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge...
. He has also opposed President Bush's plan to send an additional 21,500 troops to Iraq. Early in Bush's first term he voted with the majority of his party against scrapping President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
's expansive new rules on ergonomics regulation for workers; many of his fellow conservative Democrats like John Breaux
John Breaux
John Berlinger Breaux is a former United States senator from Louisiana who served from 1987 until 2005. He was also a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1972 to 1987. He was considered one of the more conservative national legislators from the Democratic Party...
, Max Baucus
Max Baucus
Max Sieben Baucus is the senior United States Senator from Montana and a member of the Democratic Party. First elected to the Senate in 1978, as of 2010 he is the longest-serving Senator from Montana, and the fifth longest-serving U.S...
, Blanche Lincoln
Blanche Lincoln
Blanche Meyers Lambert Lincoln is a former U.S. Senator from Arkansas and a member of the Democratic Party. First elected to the Senate in 1998, she was the first woman elected to the Senate from Arkansas since Hattie Caraway in 1932 and, at age 38, was the youngest woman ever elected to the...
, and Zell Miller
Zell Miller
Zell Bryan Miller is an American politician from the US state of Georgia. A Democrat, Miller served as Lieutenant Governor from 1975 to 1991, 79th Governor of Georgia from 1991 to 1999, and as United States Senator from 2000 to 2005....
voted with Republicans on the issue. On April 26, 2010, Nelson was one of two Democratic senators in attendance to vote against the motion to move a financial regulations bill forward, siding with Senate Republicans. The other was Harry Reid
Harry Reid
Harry Mason Reid is the senior United States Senator from Nevada, serving since 1987. A member of the Democratic Party, he has been the Senate Majority Leader since January 2007, having previously served as Minority Leader and Minority and Majority Whip.Previously, Reid was a member of the U.S...
, who voted against his own proposed bill out of procedure.
On August 5, 2010, Nelson was the only Democrat to vote against Elena Kagan
Elena Kagan
Elena Kagan is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, serving since August 7, 2010. Kagan is the Court's 112th justice and fourth female justice....
for confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court.
On December 18, 2010, Nelson voted in favor of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010
Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010
The Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 is a landmark federal statute that establishes a legal process for ending the Don't ask, don't tell policy , which since 1993 prevented openly gay and lesbian people from serving in the United States Armed Forces.The Act did not immediately repeal the...
.
2006 re-election campaign
United States Senate elections, 2006
Elections for the United States Senate were held on November 7, 2006, with 33 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate being contested. Senators are elected for six-year terms, with one third of the Senate seats up for a vote every two years. The term of office for those elected in 2006 runs...
, as it was thought his successor as governor, Mike Johanns
Mike Johanns
Michael Owen "Mike" Johanns is an American Republican politician who has been the junior United States Senator from Nebraska since 2009. Previously he was the 38th Governor of Nebraska from 1999 to 2005 and was U.S. Secretary of Agriculture from 2005 to 2007, becoming the fourth Nebraskan to hold...
, was almost certain to run against him. However, that speculation ended when Johanns was appointed U.S. Secretary of Agriculture
United States Secretary of Agriculture
The United States Secretary of Agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The current secretary is Tom Vilsack, who was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on 20 January 2009. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of agriculture ministers in other...
. With Johanns' move to Washington, few high-profile Republicans stepped up to run against Nelson, as the state party focused its attention on the governor's race
Nebraska gubernatorial election, 2006
The 2006 Nebraska gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 2006; the primary election was held on May 9, 2006. Republican incumbent Dave Heineman was re-elected over Democrat David Hahn.-Candidates:*Dave Heineman, incumbent Governor of Nebraska...
. The Republican nomination was won by Pete Ricketts
Pete Ricketts
John Peter "Pete" Ricketts is the former Chief Operating Officer of Ameritrade. He was the Republican nominee for the 2006 U.S. Senate race in Nebraska which he lost to incumbent Ben Nelson.-Biography:...
, a former TD Ameritrade
TD Ameritrade
TD Ameritrade is an American online broker with over 6 million U.S. customers, and many more internationally, that has grown rapidly through acquisition to become the 746th-largest US firm in 2008. TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation is the owner of TD Ameritrade Inc...
executive.
In the general election, Nelson was endorsed by the National Rifle Association
National Rifle Association
The National Rifle Association of America is an American non-profit 501 civil rights organization which advocates for the protection of the Second Amendment of the United States Bill of Rights and the promotion of firearm ownership rights as well as marksmanship, firearm safety, and the protection...
, Nebraska Right to Life (National Right to Life's state affiliate), Nebraskans United for Life, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
United States Chamber of Commerce
The United States Chamber of Commerce is an American lobbying group representing the interests of many businesses and trade associations. It is not an agency of the United States government....
, the National Federation of Independent Businesses, Nebraska Farmers Union PAC, National Farmers Union PAC, the Veterans of Foreign Wars
Veterans of Foreign Wars
The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States is a congressionally chartered war veterans organization in the United States. Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, VFW currently has 1.5 million members belonging to 7,644 posts, and is the largest American organization of combat...
PAC, the Business-Industry Political Action Committee, and the Omaha Police Union, all of which are conservative-leaning groups.
Nelson easily defeated Ricketts 64-36%, the highest victory margin for a Democratic Senate candidate in Nebraska since Edward Zorinsky
Edward Zorinsky
Edward Zorinsky was a Democratic U.S. Senator from Nebraska, serving from 1976 until his death.- Early life :...
won 66 percent of the vote in his 1982 reelection bid. In doing so, he received the votes of 42% of Republicans and 73% of Independents on top of 96% of those from his own party. He also won all but 13 counties in the western part of the state, a surprising feat in normally heavily Republican Nebraska.
Electoral history
- 1996 Nebraska United States Senatorial Election
- Chuck Hagel (R), 56%
- Ben Nelson (D), 42%
External links
- United States Senator Ben Nelson official U.S. Senate site