Ben Nelson, 38th Governor and current Senator of Nebraska

Earl Benjamin Nelson (born May 17, 1941) is an American politician from Nebraska, where he was born and has lived for most of his life. He was an attorney and insurance executive before being elected governor as a Democrat in 1990, and was easily reelected in 1994. He left the office in 1999 after two terms, not running for reelection and being succeeded by a Republican, Mike Johanns. He ran for a seat in the US Senate in 1996 but was defeated by Republican Chuck Hagel. However, he was nominated by the Democrats for the Senate in 2000, after his fellow Democrat, incumbent Bob Kerrey, announced his retirement. Nelson won that election. Nelson is among the leading "moderate" Democrats in the Senate.

Born in McCook, Nebraska, Nelson earned a BA (1963), MA (1965), and JD (1970) from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

External links

• Official website

• Biographical Dictionary of the United States Congress

|- style="text-align: center;" | width="30%" |Preceded by:
J. Robert Kerrey | width="40%" style="text-align: center;" |U.S. Senator (Class 2) from Nebraska
2001 – | width="30%" |Succeeded by:
Incumbent