Democratic Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska announced today he won’t seek re-election next year, a retirement hurting his party’s bid to keep its majority in the chamber.
“It is time to move on,” Nelson, 70, said in a statement posted on his Senate website. He said he’s looking for “new ways to serve our state and nation.”
Nelson, whose home state is predominantly Republican, is the seventh member of the Senate’s Democratic caucus to decide to retire ahead of November elections in which his party is defending a 53-47 majority in the chamber. A net gain of four seats by Republicans would ensure them Senate control, regardless of the outcome of the presidential race.
A former two-term governor and state insurance commissioner, Nelson was the Democrat best able to defend the seat, said Jennifer Duffy, a senior editor of the non-partisan Cook Political Report.
“There is no obvious Democratic replacement to Nelson,” she said in a telephone interview. “I don’t see a path to victory for Democrats in Nebraska,” so Nelson’s retirement “puts Republicans one seat closer to a majority,” Duffy said. With Nelson in the race, Republicans “were going to have to fight” to defeat him.
‘Cornhusker Kickback’
Not always a reliable vote for Democrats, Nelson secured a concession for Nebraska in return for supporting President Barack Obama’s health-care legislation over a crucial procedural hurdle in 2009. Republicans derided the provision exempting Nebraska from paying for expanded Medicaid coverage as the “Cornhusker Kickback.” Nelson later asked that all states be treated equally.
A recent Republican political ad accused Nelson of accepting a bribe for his vote for the health-care legislation.
In a statement, Obama called Nelson’s bipartisanship “a trait far too often overlooked in today’s politics.”
Senator Patty Murray of Washington state, chairwoman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, played down the impact of Nelson’s stepping down.
“We remain confident that we will hold the majority next year because incumbents have built strong campaign organizations in their states,” Murray said in a statement. “Republicans will continue to have their hands full with a very divisive primary” in Nebraska, “which will provide an opportunity for Democrats to remain competitive.”
Three Republicans
So far, three Republicans, state Attorney General Jon Bruning, state Treasurer Don Stenberg and Deb Fischer, a state senator, are seeking the Republican U.S. Senate nomination.
John Heineman, Nebraska’s Republican governor, told reporters earlier this month that he rebuffed overtures by party officials in Washington, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, about running for the seat.
“I understand their arguments. They’re persuasive. But I also indicated that it would take a lot to change my mind,” Heineman was quoted as saying by the Omaha World-Herald.
Possible Democratic candidates identified today by the newspaper include former Lieutenant Governor Kim Robak and Steve Lathrop, a state senator.
Bob Kerrey
Bob Kerrey, a former Democratic senator from Nebraska, had also been mentioned on political blogs as a possible candidate if Nelson retired. Kerrey, who recently retired as president of the New School in New York, told Nebraska.Watchdog.org on Dec. 9 that running for the Senate is “not what I would consider being my logical career path.”
Duffy said that while Kerrey, who held the seat from 1989-2000, “in theory” is “a really good candidate, in practice, I think it would be tough” because “it’s been a really long time since Bob Kerrey has been on the ballot.”
Democrats, who must defend 23 seats next year, have fewer opportunities to make gains because only 10 Republican incumbents are seeking re-election.
Two Republican senators, Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas and Jon Kyl of Arizona, are retiring. A third, former Nevada Senator John Ensign, resigned and his appointed successor, Dean Heller, faces a potentially strong challenge from Democratic Representative Shelley Berkley.
Swing States
Nevada is one opportunity for Democrats because it’s “a swing state” where “the presidential race is going to have an impact over the outcome,” Duffy said.
Another state where presidential politics could affect the outcome is Virginia, she said. There, two former governors, Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican George Allen, are vying for the seat being vacated by Democrat Jim Webb, who is retiring. Webb’s defeat of Allen in 2006 was the final pickup that gave Democrats control of the Senate.
The other retiring Democratic senators are Daniel Akaka of Hawaii, Kent Conrad of North Dakota, Herb Kohl of Wisconsin and Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico. Connecticut independent Joseph Lieberman, who caucuses with the Democrats, also isn’t seeking re-election.
To contact the reporter on this story: James Rowley in Washington at jarowley@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Silva at msilva34@bloomberg.net
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Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Senate Democrat Ben Nelson Won’t Run in 2012 - Bloomberg
via bloomberg.com
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