page_title: Ben Nelson
section_title: 2000 election
hierarchical_section_title: Ben Nelson / Political career / U.S. Senator / 2000 election
caption_attribution_description: English: Senator Ben Nelson with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD). Source: http://democraticwhip.house.gov/in_the_news/images/index.cfm?pa_ID=8&amp;Startrow=4&amp;slideshow=1&amp;refresh=0
context_page_description: Earl Benjamin Nelson is an American politician, businessman and lawyer who served as the 37th Governor of Nebraska from 1991 to 1999 and as a United States Senator from Nebraska from 2001 to 2013. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
  Nelson was an insurance executive before he entered politics. His first run for office was in 1990, when he narrowly defeated incumbent Republican Governor Kay Orr. He was reelected by a landslide in 1994. He ran for an open U.S. Senate seat in 1996, losing in an upset to Republican Chuck Hagel. He was elected to Nebraska's other Senate seat in 2000, and reelected in 2006. He did not run for a third term and left the Senate in 2013.
  Nelson was one of the most conservative Democrats in the Senate, frequently voting against his party.
context_section_description: Nelson was 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 the election with 50.99% of the vote after a campaign in which he spent 50% more ($1,004,985) than Stenberg. Despite initially pledging to work together, Nelson and fellow U.S. Senator from Nebraska Chuck Hagel had a somewhat frosty relationship.
caption: Senator Ben Nelson (right) with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD)
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