Ben Nelson
United States Senator from Nebraska
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2001 Serving with Mike Johanns
Preceded by	Bob Kerrey
37th Governor of Nebraska
In office January 9, 1991 – January 7, 1999
Lieutenant	Maxine B. Moul (1991-1993) Kim M. Robak (1993-1999)
Preceded by	Kay A. Orr
Succeeded by	Mike Johanns
Personal details
Born	Earl Benjamin Nelson (1941-05-17) May 17, 1941 (age 71) McCook, Nebraska
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Diane Nelson
Residence	Omaha, Nebraska
Alma mater	University of Nebraska (B.A., M.A., J.D.)
Occupation	Attorney, insurance executive
Religion	Methodist
Website	www.bennelson.senate.gov

Earl Benjamin "Ben" Nelson (born May 17, 1941) is the senior United States Senator from Nebraska, serving since 2001. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

Nelson entered politics in 1990, when he was elected the 37th Governor of Nebraska. He was re-elected in 1994 with 74% of the vote.^[1] Nelson ran for an open seat in the U.S. Senate in 1996, losing to Republican Chuck Hagel, and left the Governor's office in January 1999 due to term limits, after serving two full terms. Nelson was elected to the U.S. Senate in the 2000 election after incumbent Bob Kerrey retired.

On December 27, 2011, Nelson announced that he would not seek a third Senate term in 2012.^[2]

Early life and career[link]

Nelson was born in McCook, in southwestern Nebraska. He is the only child of Birdella Ruby (née Henderson) and Benjamin Earl Nelson.^[3][4] He earned a B.A. in 1963, a M.A. in 1965, and a J.D. in 1970 from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Nelson made his name and money in the insurance industry. After graduating from law school, Nelson landed a job as assistant general counsel for Central National Insurance Group of Omaha. In 1975, he became state insurance director before going back to work for Central National Insurance as an executive vice president and eventually president.^[5] He won his first elected office in 1990 when he became governor of Nebraska.

In 2011, Nelson was named one of the wealthiest members of Congress, with an estimated net worth of at least $6.6 million. He owns investment and rental properties in Nebraska, in Washington, and in Chicago; he and his wife both have significant holdings of Berkshire Hathaway stock.^[6]

Political career[link]

In 1986, Nelson served as state chairman of Democrat Helen Boosalis's gubernatorial campaign. Boosalis was defeated by state treasurer Kay Orr, who captured 53% of the vote to Boosalis's 47%.^[7][8][9]

Governor[link]

Nelson was elected governor in the state's fourth-closest gubernatorial race in history in 1990. He was easily re-elected in 1994 with 74% of the vote – the largest margin of victory for a governor in half a century.^[1] During his first race for governor, Nelson ran against incumbent Kay A. Orr, the first Republican woman to be elected Governor in United States history.

During his tenure, Nelson cut spending from the previous administration by 64% while it was scheduled to rise by 13%.^[10] He introduced legislation to cut crime through the Safe Streets Act and Juvenile Crime Bill, advocated for low-income families through the Kids Connection health care system, and enacted welfare reforms. He also cut taxes for over 400,000 middle income families in Nebraska.^[11]

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.^[12]

During the 1990 campaign, Nelson attacked Orr's support for a proposed low-level nuclear waste dump in the state. During his tenure, the Nebraska State Department of Environmental Quality denied the dump's application for an operating license, prompting a lawsuit that Nebraska settled for $145 million.^{[citation needed]}

Nelson ran for a seat in the U.S. Senate in 1996 when fellow Democrat Jim Exon retired. He was soundly defeated by Republican businessman and Vietnam veteran Chuck Hagel in one of the political upsets of 1996.^{[citation needed]}

In 1998, Nelson was ineligible to run for re-election because of Nebraska's term-limits law. He was succeeded as governor by Mike Johanns, the Republican mayor of Lincoln.^[13]

Election to the Senate[link]

Senator Ben Nelson (right) with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD).

Nelson was again 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 that election with 50.99% of the vote after a campaign in which he spent 50% more ($1,004,985) than his opponent. Despite initially pledging to work together,^[14] Nelson and Hagel had a somewhat frosty relationship.^[15]

In November 2004, it was widely rumored that President George W. Bush would choose Nelson as his agriculture secretary in the cabinet. In the end, the position went to Nelson's gubernatorial successor, Mike Johanns.

Committee assignments[link]

• Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
  • Subcommittee on Rural Revitalization, Conservation, Forestry and Credit
  • Subcommittee on Energy, Science and Technology
  • Subcommittee on Domestic and Foreign Marketing, Inspection, and Plant and Animal Health
• Committee on Appropriations
  • Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies
  • Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government
  • Subcommittee on Homeland Security
  • Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
  • Subcommittee on Legislative Branch (Chairman)
  • Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies

Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Senators Ben Nelson and Jim Webb prior to a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on the START Treaty.

• Committee on Armed Services
  • Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities
  • Subcommittee on Personnel
  • Subcommittee on Strategic Forces (Chairman)

• Committee on Rules and Administration

Caucus memberships[link]

• International Conservation Caucus
• Senate Air Force Caucus
• Space Power Caucus
• Sportsmen's Caucus

Political positions and votes[link]

Abortion[link]

Nelson describes himself as "pro-life".^[16] In the 2006 election, he was endorsed by Nebraska Right to Life^[17] and Nebraskans United for Life,^[18] the two largest pro-life organizations in the state.^{[citation needed]} Nelson expressed strong support for the Stupak-Pitts Amendment to the House of Representatives' 2009 Affordable Health Care for America Act, which placed limits on taxpayer-funded abortions.^[19] However, he lost the support of Nebraska Right to Life after he voted in favor of the Senate's version of health-care legislation, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which did not contain the Stupak language.^[17]

Judicial appointments[link]

Nelson was the lead Democratic Senator among the "Gang of 14," a bloc of 14 Senators who, on May 23, 2005, forged a compromise on the Democrats' use of the judicial filibuster, thus blocking the Republican leadership's attempt to implement the so-called "nuclear option". Under the agreement among the Gang of 14, Democrats would retain the power to filibuster one of President George W. Bush's judicial nominees only in an "extraordinary circumstance", and the three most conservative Bush appellate court nominees (Janice Rogers Brown, Priscilla Owen and William Pryor) would receive a vote by the full Senate. Subsequently, he was the only Democrat to vote in favor of Brown; he was later the first Democratic senator to support Samuel Alito's confirmation to the Supreme Court of the United States. Nelson also voted twice, with three other Democrats, to end Senate debate over Bush's United Nations Ambassador nominee John Bolton.

In an op-ed column, Nelson wrote: "The president's nominees, especially to the Supreme Court, deserve an up-or-down vote, even if the nominee isn't popular with the special-interest groups in Washington."^[20]

Iraq[link]

On March 15, 2007, Nelson was one of two Democratic Senators to vote against invoking cloture on a resolution aimed at withdrawing most American combat troops from Iraq in 2008. The vote, requiring 60 votes to pass, was 50 to 48 against.^[21]

As a result of traveling to Iraq four times, the latest being in September 2007,^[22] Nelson took the position that a transition of the mission was necessary in Iraq as opposed to a full withdrawal of troops.^[23] His view was supported by the Jones Commission on September 6, 2007 when General James L. Jones presented a report to Congress claiming that, "The circumstances of the moment may continue to present the opportunity for considering a shift in the disposition and employment of our forces... such a strategy would include placing increasing responsibilities for the internal security of the nation on the ISF, especially in urban areas. Coalition forces could be re-tasked to better ensure the territorial defense of the state by increasingly concentrating on the eastern and western borders and the active defense of the critical infrastructures essential to Iraq."^[24] The premise that stability in Iraq would only be achieved through political reconciliation acted on through legislation, a view long held by Nelson, was also recommended by Jones, reporting, "The future of Iraq ... hinges on the ability of the Iraqi people and the government to begin the process of achieving national reconciliation and to ending sectarian violence."^[25]

In the spring of 2007, Senators Nelson, Susan Collins of Maine, and John Warner of Virginia authored a list of measures, or "benchmarks", that were included in the Iraq Supplemental bill. These benchmarks allowed for progress to be measured in certain areas such as recognition of minority groups, strengthening of internal security forces, and equal distribution of oil revenue. President George W. Bush and General David Petraeus were then required to report on the advancement of these "benchmarks".^[26]

Nelson and Collins (a Republican) also introduced legislation on July 11, 2007 that would transition U.S. troops out of Baghdad. The legislation called for turning over internal security efforts to Iraqi forces after which time the U.S. military would secure the borders, protect the infrastructure, and continue to search for al-Qaeda forces.^[23]

Taxes[link]

Nelson played a vital role in passing the 2001 tax cut. In 2001, Nelson was one of a handful of Democratic Senators that helped craft the proposal to cut taxes by $1.3 trillion that was ultimately signed into law. In addition to passing the third-largest tax cut in American history, the compromise that Nelson supported freed up more funds for special education, agriculture, and defense spending. Provisions of the tax cut included immediate tax relief, accelerated tax relief for middle-income workers and a repeal of the estate tax.^[27] He was also the deciding vote for passage of the 2003 tax cut which accelerated many of the provisions in the 2001 tax cut in addition to benefits for small businesses. As part of this tax package, Nelson teamed up with Senator Susan Collins to include fiscal relief for states suffering from the downturn in the economy. The final package included $20 billion to ensure that low-income families, children, seniors, and persons with disabilities were able to get the health and social services they needed from the state.^[28]

In October 2009, the organization Americans for Tax Reform stated that Nelson was the only Democratic Senator who had signed their Taxpayer Protection Pledge,^[29] and launched an advocacy campaign to urge him to oppose the current health care reform proposals in Congress, which, they asserted, contained "billions of dollars in income tax hikes."^[30]

Earmarks[link]

In July 2007, fellow Senator Tom Coburn criticized pork barrel spending Nelson had inserted into the 2007 defense spending bill. Coburn alleged that the earmarks would benefit Nelson's son Patrick's employer with millions in federal dollars and that the situation violated terms of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, which was passed by the Senate but has not yet been voted on in the House. Nelson's spokesperson said the Senator did nothing wrong^[31] and was only acting under "an abundance of caution" when he withdrew the amendment after the new Senate Ethics Rules were passed. Some government watchdogs, including Public Citizen, commented that the earmark probably didn't violate ethics rules.^[32] Additionally, Coburn's motives were called into question by more than one publication, as his earmark blasts fell silent about his own state delegation's earmark requests.^[33]

Health care[link]

In late 2009, the Senate's 40 Republicans unanimously opposed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the Senate's version of health-care legislation. To end a Republican filibuster and pass the measure, the Democrats needed the votes of all 58 of their senators, plus those of two independents who caucused with their party. Nelson was the 60th and last senator to agree to vote for cloture.^[34]

According to Nelson, he wanted to ensure that the final version of the law prohibited the use of public funds to pay for abortions.^[35] His cloture vote came after the measure was amended to permit states to opt out of allowing insurance exchange plans to provide abortion coverage. Persons enrolling in plans that covered abortion costs would pay for that coverage separately from their payment for the rest of the plan.^[36] The bill also provided full and permanent federal reimbursement for the expenses that Nebraska would incur in its mandated expansion of Medicaid eligibility,^[34] an amount estimated by the Congressional Budget Office at $100 million.^[37]

The health-care measure was controversial, and Nelson's vote provoked a strong response. The Medicaid reimbursement scheme was derided by the measure's opponents as the "Cornhusker Kickback".^[38] Among those denouncing the provision was Dave Heineman, Nebraska's Republican governor.^[39] To these criticisms, Nelson responded that he had been attempting to eliminate an unfunded federal mandate upon the states,^[40] and that the Nebraska item was a "placeholder", intended from the start to be replaced by a revision that would provide reimbursement for the increased Medicaid costs of all states.^[41]

Pro-life organizations also responded negatively to Nelson's vote. Nebraska Right to Life decried the anti-abortion language in the health-care bill as "bogus",^[17] and in April 2010 declared that they would never again give their endorsement to Nelson.^[42]

Nelson's popularity fell among Nebraskans in the wake of his cloture vote. A December 2009 Rasmussen poll indicated that in a hypothetical Nelson–Heineman race, the Republican would get 61% of the vote to Nelson's 30%. In the same poll, 64% of the Nebraska voters surveyed were opposed to the health-care bill.^[43]

With the victory of Republican Scott Brown in the special election to fill the Senate seat vacated by the death of Senator Edward Kennedy, the Democrats lost their filibuster-proof majority. Since Brown had declared himself opposed to the health-care measure, the party's leadership opted to enact the legislation through the budget reconciliation process.^[44] Nelson voted against the final version of the legislation, the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.^[45] His vote at this stage was not particularly critical, since the reconciliation bill was not subject to filibuster and required only a simple majority.^[46]

The measure as ultimately passed eliminated the special Medicaid reimbursement for Nebraska, as Nelson had requested in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid about a month after his crucial cloture vote.^[41] Nelson stated that his opposition to the final measure arose from newly-added provisions related to student loans,^[45] which would adversely affect Nebraska-based student-lending firm Nelnet.^[47][48] Despite his vote against it, he subsequently defended the law, declaring "I am willing to fight to improve it, but not to repeal it."^[49]

Other votes[link]

Nelson's votes in the Senate have often placed him at odds with the leadership of his party. A National Journal congressional vote rating from 2006 placed him to the right of five Senate Republicans (Gordon Smith, Olympia Snowe, Arlen Specter, Susan Collins, and Lincoln Chafee). Mary Landrieu was the only other Democrat to place to the right of any Republicans (she placed to the right of Chafee).^[50] A similar 2007 National Journal congressional vote rating went even further, placing him to the right of eight Senate Republicans (the above five as well as Richard Lugar, Norm Coleman, and Mike DeWine), with Landrieu once again placing to the right of Chafee and being the only other Democrat to place to the right of any Republicans.^[51] Most recently, the American Conservative Union rated his overall performance for 2010 at 48 percent, the highest given to any Democratic senator.^[52]

Nelson was one of only two Democratic senators to vote against the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002. Nelson is strongly opposed to replacing the income tax with a national sales tax, a position that increasingly finds favor with many conservatives. He has voted with Republicans on matters of bankruptcy reform, environmental protection, lawsuit reform, and trade. In 2004 he was one of only three Democratic senators to vote to invoke cloture on the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment; in 2006 he was one of only two Democratic Senators to vote that way.^[53][54] He was the only Democratic senator to vote against a 2006 bill that would have extended federal funding for Stem Cell Research. He has, however, voted consistently against drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He has also opposed President Bush's plan to send an additional 21,500 troops to Iraq.^[55] Early in Bush's first term he voted with the majority of his party against scrapping President Bill Clinton's expansive new rules on ergonomics regulation for workers; many of his fellow conservative Democrats like John Breaux, Max Baucus, Blanche Lincoln, and Zell Miller voted with Republicans on the issue. On April 26, 2010, Nelson was one of two Democratic senators in attendance to vote against the motion to move a financial regulations bill forward, siding with Senate Republicans. The other was Harry Reid, who voted against his own proposed bill out of procedure.

On August 5, 2010, Nelson was the only Democrat to vote against Elena Kagan for confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court.^[56]

On December 18, 2010, Nelson voted in favor of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010.^[57]

2006 re-election campaign[link]

Election results by county for Nelson's 2006 reelection bid

Nelson was thought to be in danger of losing his seat in 2006, as it was thought his successor as governor, Mike Johanns, was almost certain to run against him. However, that speculation ended when Johanns was appointed U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. With Johanns' move to Washington, few high-profile Republicans stepped up to run against Nelson, as the state party focused its attention on the governor's race. The Republican nomination was won by Pete Ricketts, a former TD Ameritrade executive.

In the general election, Nelson was endorsed by the National Rifle Association, Nebraska Right to Life (National Right to Life's state affiliate),^[58] Nebraskans United for Life,^[59] the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Federation of Independent Businesses,^[60] Nebraska Farmers Union PAC, National Farmers Union PAC, the Veterans of Foreign Wars PAC, the Business-Industry Political Action Committee, and the Omaha Police Union, all of which are conservative-leaning groups.

Nelson easily defeated Ricketts 64-36%, the highest victory margin for a Democratic Senate candidate in Nebraska since Edward Zorinsky won 66 percent of the vote in his 1982 reelection bid.^[61] In doing so, he received the votes of 42% of Republicans and 73% of Independents on top of 96% of those from his own party. He also won all but 13 counties in the western part of the state, a surprising feat in normally heavily Republican Nebraska.^[62][63]

Electoral history[link]

• 1996 Nebraska United States Senatorial Election
  • Chuck Hagel (R), 56%
  • Ben Nelson (D), 42%

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikisource has original works written by or about: Ben Nelson

• United States Senator Ben Nelson official U.S. Senate site
• Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Congressional profile at GovTrack
• Congressional profile at OpenCongress
• Issue positions and quotes at On the Issues
• Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs
• Collected news and commentary at The New York Times

v t e Governors of Nebraska Territorial (1854–1867) Burt Cuming (acting) Izard Cuming (acting) Richardson Morton (acting) Black Morton (acting) Paddock Saunders State (since 1867) Butler James (acting) Furnas Garber Nance Dawes Thayer Boyd Crounse Holcomb Poynter Dietrich Savage Mickey Sheldon Shallenberger Aldrich Morehead Neville McKelvie Bryan McMullen Weaver Bryan Cochran Griswold Peterson Crosby Anderson Brooks Burney Morrison Tiemann Exon Thone Kerrey Orr Nelson Johanns Heineman

v t e United States Senators from Nebraska Class 1 Tipton Paddock Van Wyck Paddock Allen Hayward Allen Dietrich Burkett G. Hitchcock Howell Thompson Hunter Burke Butler Reynolds Hruska Zorinsky Karnes Kerrey Nelson Class 2 Thayer P. Hitchcock Saunders Manderson Thurston Millard Brown Norris Wherry Seaton Griswold Bowring Abel Curtis Exon Hagel Johanns

Harry Reid
United States Senator from Nevada
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 1987 Serving with Dean Heller
Preceded by	Paul Laxalt
Senate Majority Leader
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2007
Deputy	Dick Durbin
Preceded by	Bill Frist
Senate Minority Leader
In office January 3, 2005 – January 3, 2007
Deputy	Dick Durbin
Preceded by	Tom Daschle
Succeeded by	Mitch McConnell
Senate Minority Whip
In office January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2005
Leader	Tom Daschle
Preceded by	Don Nickles
Succeeded by	Dick Durbin
In office January 20, 2001 – June 6, 2001
Leader	Tom Daschle
Preceded by	Don Nickles
Succeeded by	Don Nickles
In office January 3, 1999 – January 3, 2001
Leader	Tom Daschle
Preceded by	Wendell Ford
Succeeded by	Don Nickles
Senate Majority Whip
In office June 6, 2001 – January 3, 2003
Leader	Tom Daschle
Preceded by	Don Nickles
Succeeded by	Mitch McConnell
In office January 3, 2001 – January 20, 2001
Leader	Tom Daschle
Preceded by	Don Nickles
Succeeded by	Don Nickles
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Nevada's 1st district
In office January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1987
Preceded by	James David Santini (At-large)
Succeeded by	James Bilbray
25th Lieutenant Governor of Nevada
In office January 1971 – January 1975
Governor	Mike O'Callaghan
Preceded by	Edward Fike
Succeeded by	Robert Rose
Personal details
Born	Harry Mason Reid (1939-12-02) December 2, 1939 (age 72) Searchlight, Nevada, U.S.
Nationality	United States
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Landra Gould
Children	Lana Reid Rory Reid Leif Reid Josh Reid Key Reid
Residence	Searchlight, Nevada, U.S.
Alma mater	Southern Utah University Utah State University George Washington University
Profession	Attorney
Religion	The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon)
Signature
Website	reid.senate.gov

Harry Mason Reid (born December 2, 1939) is the senior United States Senator from Nevada, serving since 1987. A member of the Democratic Party, he has been the Senate Majority Leader since January 2007, having previously served as Minority Leader and Minority and Majority Whip.

Previously, Reid was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Nevada's 1st congressional district, and served in Nevada local and state government as city attorney of Henderson, a state legislator, the 25th Lieutenant Governor, and chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission.

As Senate Majority Leader and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Harry Reid has achieved a more senior elected position in the United States government than any Mormon in history.

Early life, education, and early career[link]

Reid was born in Searchlight, Nevada, the third of the four sons of Inez Orena (née Jaynes), a laundress, and Harry Vincent Reid, a miner.^[1] His paternal grandmother was an English immigrant from Darlston, Staffordshire. Reid's boyhood home had no indoor toilet, hot water or telephone.^[1] Searchlight had no high school, so Reid boarded with relatives 40 miles away in Henderson, Nevada to attend Basic High School^[1] where he played football, and was an amateur boxer.^[2] While at Basic High he met future Nevada governor Mike O'Callaghan, who was a teacher there. Reid attended Southern Utah University and graduated from Utah State University where he double majored in political science and history.^[3] Reid also minored in economics from the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business.^[4] He then went to George Washington University Law School earning a J.D. while working for the United States Capitol Police.

Early political career[link]

State politics[link]

He returned to Nevada after law school and served as Henderson city attorney before being elected to the Nevada Assembly in 1968. In 1970, at age 30, Reid was chosen by O'Callaghan as his running mate for Lieutenant Governor of Nevada. Reid and his mentor O'Callaghan won the race and Reid served as lieutenant governor from 1971 until 1974, when he ran for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Alan Bible. He lost by fewer than 600 votes to former Governor Paul Laxalt. In 1975, Reid ran for mayor of Las Vegas and lost to Bill Briare.^[5]

Reid served as chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission from 1977 to 1981. When Jack Gordon, LaToya Jackson's future agent and husband, offered Reid a $12,000 bribe to approve new games for casinos, Reid brought in the FBI to tape Gordon's bribery attempt and arrest him. After FBI agents interrupted the transaction as prearranged, Reid lost his temper and began choking Gordon, saying "You son of a bitch, you tried to bribe me!" Gordon was convicted in 1979 and sentenced to six months in prison.^[1] In 1981, Reid's wife found a bomb attached to the family station wagon; Reid suspected it was placed by Gordon.^[1]

U.S. Representative[link]

Prior to the 1980 Census, Nevada had only a single at-large member in the United States House of Representatives, but population growth in the 1970s resulted in the state picking up a second district. Reid won the Democratic nomination for the 1st district, based in Las Vegas, in 1982, and easily won the general election. He served two terms in the House, from 1983 to 1987.

U.S. Senate[link]

Elections[link]

In 1986, Reid won the Democratic nomination for the seat of retiring two-term incumbent Republican Senator Paul Laxalt. He defeated former at-large Congressman Jim Santini, a Democrat who had turned Republican, in the November election. He coasted to reelection in 1992. However, he barely defeated 1st District Congressman John Ensign in 1998 in the midst of a statewide Republican sweep.

In 2004, Reid won reelection with 61 percent of the vote, gaining the endorsement of several Republicans.

Ensign was elected to Nevada's other Senate seat in 2000. He and Reid have a very good relationship, despite their bruising contest in 1998. The two frequently worked together on Nevada issues until Ensign was forced to resign his Senate seat.^[6]

While Reid won the Democratic nomination with 75% of the vote in the June 8 primary, he faced a competitive general election for the 2010 Senate race in Nevada. Reid engaged in a $1 million media campaign to "reintroduce himself" to Nevada's voters.^[7] He defeated Republican challenger Sharron Angle in the general election.

Leadership[link]

From 1999 to 2005, Reid served as Senate Democratic Whip, as minority whip from 1999 to 2001 and again from 2003 to 2005, then as majority whip from 2001 to 2003 (except for a brief period from January–May 2001). From 2001 to 2003, he served as chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee.

Reid succeeded Tom Daschle as minority leader in 2005 and became majority leader after the 2006 elections. He was re-elected majority leader without opposition by the Democratic caucus on November 18, 2008, winning all 57 votes.^[8]

Committee assignments[link]

• Select Committee on Intelligence (Ex officio)

Political positions[link]

President Barack Obama shakes hands with Reid after signing the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009 on March 30, 2009.

Reid speaking at the State Children's Health Insurance Program Art Exhibit press conference

Reid has scored a lifetime conservative rating of 19% from the American Conservative Union (ACU),^[9] and a 2008 liberal rating of 70% from the Americans for Democratic Action (ADA).^[10] Other independent ratings include a 29% rating in 2003 from NARAL, the abortion pro-choice group,^[11] and a 57% rating from Planned Parenthood in 2006.^[12]

Reid has spearheaded several initiatives while in Congress. In 2006, Reid co-sponsored the "Prevention First Amendment" with Hillary Clinton, which would fund abortion prevention efforts, such as giving women broader access to contraception; however the bill faced Republican opposition and failed.^[13] In January 2007, Reid brought a Senate ethics reform bill to a vote to bar congressional members from accepting gifts, meals, and trips from lobbyists and organizations employing them, as well as barring Senators from borrowing corporate jets for travel and compelling them to disclose the names of sponsors, or authors, of bills and specific projects. The bill passed 96–2.^[14] In the 111th Congress, Reid shepherded the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act through the Senate.

Regarding specific issues, Reid believes that Roe vs. Wade should be overturned and in 1999, he voted against an amendment that explicitly expressed support for Roe v. Wade.^[15] He has stated that he believes in a restricted right to abortion, stating that "abortions should be legal only when the pregnancy resulted from incest, rape, or when the life of the woman is endangered."^[16] He has also voted several times to ban the "intact dilation and evacuation" or "partial-birth abortion" procedure.^[17] Reid has supported embryonic stem cell research.^[18]

Regarding same-sex marriage, Reid has stated he believes "...marriage should be between a man and a woman." He voted in favor of the Defense of Marriage Act but against the Federal Marriage Amendment.^[19]

In regard to local issues, Reid has firmly opposed the proposed Yucca Mountain federal nuclear waste repository in Nevada.^[20] Reid has opposed the legalization of online poker in the past, but has more recently changed his position, a move that some have argued was influenced by "the hundreds of thousands of dollars Las Vegas casinos contributed to his re-election campaign".^[21]

Reid called immigration reform one of his top priorities for the 110th Congress. He supports the DREAM Act the (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act), which would allow certain U.S. high school grads who had arrived in the U.S. illegally as children, conditional legal status so they could attend college or enlist in the military. They could then obtain permanent legal residency after completing two years of military service or two years of college.^[22] In June 2009, Reid announced his intention to enact a new guest worker program as part of a comprehensive immigration reform bill.^[23]

Reid has supported the use of force in the Middle East but in September 2007 he called for a drastic change in strategy.^{[citation needed]} In January 1991 he voted to authorize the first Gulf War.^[24] quoting John F. Kennedy's 1963 State of the Union speech on the Senate floor, saying "the mere absence of war is not Peace."^[25][26] He also voted in support of the 2003 invasion of Iraq.^[27][28] In March 2007 he voted in favor of "redeploying U.S. troops out of Iraq by March 2008",^[28] and later that year, he said, "As long as we follow [President Bush's] path in Iraq, the war is lost."^[29]

Reid has also advocated the outlawing of prostitution in Nevada, an unpopular position within the state.^[30]

Criticism[link]

Over the years Reid has been criticized at times by both sides of the political aisle. Liberal critics have argued that Reid was not doing enough to end the American military presence in Iraq,^[31] and that he allowed Senate Republicans to create a 60-vote bar for passage of bills without a Democratic fillibuster.^[32][33][34]

Reid has also been criticized for several potentially self-enriching tactics. In 2005, Reid earmarked a spending bill to provide for building a bridge between Nevada and Arizona that would make land he owned more valuable. Reid called funding for construction of a bridge over the Colorado River, among other projects, "incredibly good news for Nevada" in a news release after passage of the 2005 transportation bill. He owned 160 acres (65 ha) of land several miles from the proposed bridge site in Arizona. The bridge could add value to his real estate investment.^[35] A year later it was reported that Reid had used campaign donations to pay for $3,300 in Christmas gifts to the staff at the condominium where he resides;^[36] federal election law prohibits candidates from using political donations for personal use. Reid's staff stated that his attorneys had approved use of the funds in this manner, but that he nonetheless would personally reimburse his campaign for the expenses. Those reports notwithstanding, the conservative group Citizens United announced it had filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission to investigate the matter.^[37]

A series of investigative reports in the Los Angeles Times^{[38][39][40][41]} suggested that Reid had introduced legislation and imposed pressure on regulatory agencies to advance the business interests of his close friend Harvey Whittemore, a Nevada attorney-lobbyist who contributed heavily to Reid's campaigns and leadership fund and who employed Reid's son Leif as his personal attorney. With Reid's help, Whittemore was able to proceed with construction of a $30 billion planned golf course development, Coyote Springs, a project heavily criticized by environmental groups for reasons including its projected effects on several endangered species.^[42][43]

In 2006, the National Republican Senatorial Committee attempted to associate Reid with the Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal by pointing out he had "received more than $50,000 from four tribes with gaming interests between 2001 and 2004 after they hired Abramoff". Reid denied any wrongdoing, and media reported that the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan research group, had produced an analysis showing a general increase in the amount and number of contributions by Indian tribes since the late 1990s.^[44][45]

Reid apologized on January 9, 2010, for racially tinged comments he had made when Obama was campaigning for president. In private conversations, Reid had remarked that Obama could win the Presidency because the country was ready to embrace a black presidential candidate, especially one such as Obama—to whom he referred as being "light-skinned" and "with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one". These comments had been recently revealed by journalists Mark Halperin and John Heilemann in Game Change, their book about the 2008 election. In addition to his public apology, Reid called Obama to apologize; Obama accepted his apology, stating that as far as he was concerned, the book was closed on the incident.^[46][47][48] RNC Chairman Michael Steele and Senators John Cornyn and Jon Kyl called on Reid to resign his leadership position in the Senate, citing Majority Leader Trent Lott resigning because of a statement relating to race. However, multiple experts said there was virtually no chance of such a thing happening. DNC Chairman Tim Kaine and Senators Dianne Feinstein and Jack Reed expressed support for Reid and confidence he would retain his leadership position, and another senior Democrat indicated Reid has "produced supportive statements from key African American leaders in the Congress and civil rights community".^[49]

In August 2010, Harry Reid spoke in front of National Council of La Raza: "I don't know how anyone of Hispanic heritage could be a Republican, OK. Do I need to say more?"^[50] The following day, Dr. Manny Alvarez and Republican Senator Marco Rubio, both of Hispanic descent, spoke out against Reid's remarks.^[51]

Cultural and political image[link]

Reid speaks during the third night of the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado.

Part of Harry Reid's confrontation with Frank Rosenthal while chair of the Nevada Gaming Commission is reenacted in the 1995 movie Casino.^[52][53] Reid had a role in the movie Traffic (2000), in which he played himself.^[54] He appeared along with Senator Sam Brownback and then Senator Barack Obama in the 2007 documentary film Sand and Sorrow, which details the genocide in Sudan.^[55]

Reid was elected to the Gaming Hall of Fame in 2001.^[56]

An October 2007 Las Vegas Review-Journal favorability poll indicated 51% of Nevadans viewed Reid unfavorably, with 32% indicating favorability, although in May 2007 Reid had a 46% favorable rating versus a 42% unfavorable one.^[57] A December 2007 Las Vegas Review-Journal job approval poll showed 42% of Nevadans rating Reid "poor", 41% "excellent or good", and 16% "only fair".^[58]

Personal life[link]

In 1959, Reid married his high school sweetheart, Landra Gould. They have five children, a daughter and four sons. Their eldest son, Rory Reid, was an elected Commissioner for Clark County, Nevada of which he became Chairman of, and 2010 Democratic nominee in the election for Governor of Nevada. Another son recently ran for municipal office in Cottonwood Heights, Utah.^[59]

Reid (who was raised agnostic) and his wife (who was born to Jewish immigrant parents and grew up in Henderson), converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormon or LDS Church) while he was a college student.^[1] In a 2001 interview he said, "I think it is much easier to be a good member of the Church and a Democrat than a good member of the Church and a Republican." He went on to say that the Democrats' emphasis on helping others, as opposed to what he considers Republican dogma to the contrary, is the reason he's a Democrat.^[60] He delivered a speech at Brigham Young University to about 20,000 students on October 9, 2007, in which he expressed his opinion that Democratic values mirror Mormon values.^[61][62] Several Republican Mormons in Utah have contested his faith because of his politics, such as his statements that the church's backing of California's Proposition 8 wasted resources.^[63]

In September 2011, Reid's wife was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. She is currently undergoing treatment.^[64]

References[link]