2006 United States Senate election in Nebraska
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Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Script error: No such module "infobox".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Template:ElectionsNE The 2006 United States Senate election in Nebraska was held on November 7, 2006. Incumbent Democrat Ben Nelson won re-election to a second term, easily defeating Republican Pete Ricketts. Nelson won 63.9% of the vote to Ricketts's 36.1%. Ricketts was later appointed in January 2023 to Nebraska's other Senate seat after serving as Governor of Nebraska from 2015 to 2023.
This was one of five Democratic-held Senate seats up for election in a state that George W. Bush won in the 2004 presidential election.
As of 2026, this remains the last time Democrats won any statewide election in Nebraska. This was the first election since 1978 that the winner was of a different party than the concurrent gubernatorial election.
Democratic primary
Candidates
- Ben Nelson, incumbent U.S. Senator
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Script error: No such module "Political party". | Ben Nelson (inc.) | Script error: No such module "string". | 100.00% | |
| Total votes | Script error: No such module "string". | 100.00% | ||
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Republican primary
Candidates
- Pete Ricketts, former COO of TD Ameritrade
- Don Stenberg, former Attorney General of Nebraska and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2000
- David J. Kramer, Former Chairman of the Nebraska Republican Party
Campaign
Since Ricketts was a millionaire, he could finance his own campaign. His opponents could not raise enough money to keep up. Kramer raised $330,000 and Stenberg raised $246,000 in 2005.
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Script error: No such module "Political party". | Pete Ricketts | Script error: No such module "string". | 48.14% | |
| Script error: No such module "Political party". | Don Stenberg | Script error: No such module "string". | 35.83% | |
| Script error: No such module "Political party". | David J. Kramer | Script error: No such module "string". | 16.03% | |
| Total votes | Script error: No such module "string". | 100.00% | ||
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General election
Candidates
- Ben Nelson (D), incumbent U.S. Senator
- Pete Ricketts (R), former COO of TD Ameritrade
Campaign
The primary election was held May 9, 2006. Pete Ricketts won the Republican nomination with 48% of the vote. Ben Nelson was unopposed for the Democratic nomination. Nelson was elected in 2000 by a margin of 51% to 49% after serving as the state's governor for two terms. Nelson, considered the most conservative Democrat in the Senate, was the lone Democrat in Nebraska's Congressional delegation. This election was one of the most expensive in Nebraska history. In 2005, Ben Nelson raised $3.9 million for his re-election campaign. Pete Ricketts contributed $14.35 million of his own money to his campaign; he raised an additional $485,000 in contributions. The race also attracted national attention and generated several high-level campaign appearances. President George W. Bush appeared at a rally for Ricketts on November 5, 2006, in Grand Island, while then-U.S. Senator Barack Obama appeared at a fundraiser for Nelson and other Nebraska Democrats on May 5, 2006, in Omaha. However, he won re-election by a large margin.
Predictions
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| The Cook Political Report[2] | Template:USRaceRating | November 6, 2006 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[3] | Template:USRaceRating | November 6, 2006 |
| Rothenberg Political Report[4] | Template:USRaceRating | November 6, 2006 |
| Real Clear Politics[5] | Template:USRaceRating | November 6, 2006 |
Polling
| Source | Date | Ben Nelson (D) |
Pete Ricketts (R) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rasmussen[6] | November 23, 2005 | style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 52% | 29% |
| Rasmussen[7] | April 26, 2006 | style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 54% | 36% |
| Rasmussen[8] | May 13, 2006 | style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 54% | 35% |
| Rasmussen[9] | July 17, 2006 | style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 57% | 31% |
| Rasmussen[10] | August 17, 2006 | style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 55% | 32% |
| Rasmussen[11] | September 26, 2006 | style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 55% | 32% |
| Rasmussen[12] | October 19, 2006 | style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 54% | 34% |
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />±%Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Script error: No such module "Political party". | Ben Nelson (inc.) | Template:Replace | 63.88% | Script error: No such module "String". | |
| Script error: No such module "Political party". | Pete Ricketts | 213,928 | 36.12% | Script error: No such module "String". | |
| Majority | 164,460 | 27.83% | Script error: No such module "String". | ||
| Total votes | 590,961 | 100.00% | |||
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By county
From CNN[14]
| County | Ben Nelson Democratic |
Pete Ricketts Republican |
Total votes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | # | % | # | ||
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Adams | 67.18% | 10,222 | 32.82% | 4,993 | 15,215 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Antelope | 57.54% | 1,556 | 42.46% | 1,148 | 2,704 |
| style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"|Arthur | 40.60% | 95 | 59.40% | 139 | 234 |
| style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"|Banner | 47.85% | 156 | 52.15% | 170 | 326 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Blaine | 54.95% | 150 | 45.05% | 123 | 273 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Boone | 65.23% | 1,664 | 34.77% | 887 | 2,551 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Box Butte | 68.23% | 2,489 | 31.77% | 1,159 | 3,648 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Boyd | 63.53% | 622 | 36.47% | 357 | 979 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Brown | 51.09% | 706 | 48.91% | 676 | 1,382 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Buffalo | 56.41% | 8,367 | 43.59% | 6,466 | 14,833 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Burt | 69.49% | 2,034 | 30.51% | 893 | 2,927 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Butler | 73.10% | 2,527 | 26.90% | 930 | 3,457 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Cass | 62.85% | 5,819 | 37.15% | 3,440 | 9,259 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Cedar | 66.34% | 2,608 | 33.66% | 1,323 | 3,931 |
| style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"|Chase | 49.05% | 799 | 50.95% | 830 | 1,629 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Cherry | 53.17% | 1,436 | 46.83% | 1,265 | 2,701 |
| style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"|Cheyenne | 46.18% | 1,450 | 53.82% | 1,690 | 3,140 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Clay | 64.47% | 1,662 | 35.53% | 916 | 2,578 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Colfax | 69.44% | 1,947 | 30.56% | 857 | 2,804 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Cuming | 63.45% | 1,953 | 36.55% | 1,125 | 3,078 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Custer | 58.88% | 2,880 | 41.12% | 2,011 | 4,891 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Dakota | 69.32% | 3,260 | 30.68% | 1,443 | 4,703 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Dawes | 57.42% | 1,706 | 42.58% | 1,265 | 2,971 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Dawson | 58.66% | 3,910 | 41.34% | 2,755 | 6,665 |
| style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"|Deuel | 48.70% | 392 | 51.30% | 413 | 805 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Dixon | 66.54% | 1,589 | 33.46% | 799 | 2,388 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Dodge | 66.70% | 7,950 | 33.30% | 3,969 | 11,919 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Douglas | 65.16% | 92,133 | 34.84% | 49,257 | 141,390 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Dundy | 61.16% | 570 | 38.84% | 362 | 932 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Fillmore | 71.49% | 1,780 | 28.51% | 710 | 2,490 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Franklin | 64.88% | 946 | 35.12% | 512 | 1,458 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Frontier | 65.34% | 820 | 34.66% | 435 | 1,255 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Furnas | 65.55% | 1,347 | 34.45% | 708 | 2,055 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Gage | 72.98% | 6,451 | 27.02% | 2,388 | 8,839 |
| style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"|Garden | 48.45% | 500 | 51.55% | 532 | 1,032 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Garfield | 59.09% | 543 | 40.91% | 376 | 919 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Gosper | 62.89% | 622 | 37.11% | 367 | 989 |
| style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"|Grant | 40.85% | 134 | 59.15% | 194 | 328 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Greeley | 75.99% | 807 | 24.01% | 255 | 1,062 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Hall | 61.52% | 10,371 | 38.48% | 6,487 | 16,858 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Hamilton | 59.36% | 2,660 | 40.64% | 1,821 | 4,481 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Harlan | 64.63% | 1,124 | 35.37% | 615 | 1,739 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Hayes | 57.09% | 282 | 42.91% | 212 | 494 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Hitchcock | 68.10% | 824 | 31.90% | 386 | 1,210 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Holt | 51.44% | 2,288 | 48.56% | 2,160 | 4,448 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Hooker | 56.23% | 185 | 43.77% | 144 | 329 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Howard | 69.16% | 1,803 | 30.84% | 804 | 2,607 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Jefferson | 71.41% | 2,265 | 28.59% | 907 | 3,172 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Johnson | 75.18% | 1,369 | 24.82% | 452 | 1,821 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Kearney | 58.76% | 1,614 | 41.24% | 1,133 | 2,747 |
| style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"|Keith | 48.79% | 1,588 | 51.21% | 1,667 | 3,255 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Keya Paha | 54.50% | 303 | 45.50% | 253 | 556 |
| style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"|Kimball | 46.42% | 753 | 53.58% | 869 | 1,622 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Knox | 63.65% | 2,054 | 36.35% | 1,173 | 3,227 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Lancaster | 70.07% | 60,309 | 29.93% | 25,762 | 86,071 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Lincoln | 61.23% | 7,664 | 38.77% | 4,852 | 12,516 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Logan | 52.51% | 199 | 47.49% | 180 | 379 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Loup | 64.36% | 242 | 35.64% | 134 | 376 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Madison | 54.61% | 5,730 | 45.39% | 4,762 | 10,492 |
| style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"|McPherson | 44.83% | 117 | 55.17% | 144 | 261 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Merrick | 63.24% | 1,923 | 36.76% | 1,118 | 3,041 |
| style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"|Morrill | 48.48% | 912 | 51.52% | 969 | 1,881 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Nance | 71.70% | 1,206 | 28.30% | 476 | 1,682 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Nemaha | 61.79% | 1,745 | 38.21% | 1,079 | 2,824 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Nuckolls | 66.98% | 1,375 | 33.02% | 678 | 2,053 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Otoe | 62.51% | 3,550 | 37.49% | 2,129 | 5,679 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Pawnee | 67.39% | 835 | 32.61% | 404 | 1,239 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Perkins | 52.97% | 669 | 47.03% | 594 | 1,263 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Phelps | 57.90% | 2,269 | 42.10% | 1,650 | 3,919 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Pierce | 55.99% | 1,378 | 44.01% | 1,083 | 2,461 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Platte | 62.97% | 6,664 | 37.03% | 3,919 | 10,583 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Polk | 62.92% | 1,432 | 37.08% | 844 | 2,276 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Red Willow | 70.60% | 3,016 | 29.40% | 1,256 | 4,272 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Richardson | 64.63% | 2,226 | 35.37% | 1,218 | 3,444 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Rock | 54.99% | 413 | 45.01% | 338 | 751 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Saline | 78.78% | 3,615 | 21.22% | 974 | 4,589 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Sarpy | 59.27% | 24,640 | 40.73% | 16,935 | 41,575 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Saunders | 67.62% | 5,393 | 32.38% | 2,582 | 7,975 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Scotts Bluff | 51.98% | 5,834 | 48.02% | 5,389 | 11,223 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Seward | 67.39% | 3,930 | 32.61% | 1,902 | 5,832 |
| style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"|Sheridan | 43.55% | 820 | 56.45% | 1,063 | 1,883 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Sherman | 70.99% | 1,018 | 29.01% | 416 | 1,434 |
| style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"|Sioux | 39.85% | 216 | 60.15% | 326 | 542 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Stanton | 53.92% | 1,067 | 46.08% | 912 | 1,979 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Thayer | 70.16% | 1,627 | 29.84% | 692 | 2,319 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Thomas | 53.12% | 179 | 46.88% | 158 | 337 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Thurston | 73.89% | 1,296 | 26.11% | 458 | 1,754 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Valley | 61.90% | 1,290 | 38.10% | 794 | 2,084 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Washington | 57.95% | 4,394 | 42.05% | 3,189 | 7,583 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Wayne | 63.90% | 1,963 | 36.10% | 1,109 | 3,072 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Webster | 67.36% | 1,164 | 32.64% | 564 | 1,728 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|Wheeler | 65.72% | 255 | 34.28% | 133 | 388 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|York | 57.50% | 3,118 | 42.50% | 2,305 | 5,423 |
- Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic
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See also
References
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External links
- Ben Nelson for U.S. SenateTemplate:Category handler[<span title="Script error: No such module "string".">usurped]Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". (Not Active)
- Pete Ricketts for U.S. Senate (Inactive)
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