Nelson, E. Benjamin (Earl Benjamin), 1941-

Earl Benjamin Nelson (born May 17, 1941) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 37th Governor of Nebraska from 1991 to 1999 and as a U.S. Senator from Nebraska from 2001 to 2013.

Born in McCook, Nebraska, he earned B.A., M.A., and J.D. degrees from the University of Nebraska before landing a job as assistant general counsel for Central National Insurance Group of Omaha. After several years in the business, in 1975, Governor Jim Exon appointed him state insurance director. After the administration changed, Nelson returned to work for Central National Insurance as an executive vice president and eventually president. He gathered political experience by serving as state campaign manager for Democratic presidential candidates in 1976 and 1980. His law career continued in 1985 when Nelson joined Kennedy, Holland, DeLacy and Svoboda, one of Nebraska’s most prominent legal firms. Nelson first ran for electoral office in the 1990 Nebraska gubernatorial election, defeating first-term Republican incumbent Kay Orr by 4,030 votes out of over 586,000 cast. He was reelected in 1994 with 74% of the vote, the largest margin of victory for a governor in half a century, despite the national Republican gains that year. 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.

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