Card image cap

Ben Nelson's Ratings and Endorsements

Vote Smart displays all known interest group ratings for each candidate and official, regardless of issue or bias.

Keep in mind that ratings done by special interest groups often do not represent a non-partisan stance. In addition, some groups select votes that tend to favor members of one political party over another, rather than choosing votes based solely on issue concerns. Nevertheless, they can be invaluable in showing where an incumbent has stood on a series of votes in the past one or two years, especially when ratings by groups on all sides of an issue are compared. Website links, if available, and descriptions of the organizations offering performance evaluations are accessible by clicking on the name of the group.

With rare exceptions, Vote Smart displays interest group ratings as a 0-100 percentage. While many interest groups use percentages as ratings to begin with, please note that Vote Smart has translated some ratings to a percentage from a different rating system for consistency and ease in understanding. Please visit the group's website, email us at ratings@votesmart.org or call our Voter Information Hotline at 1-888-VOTESMART for more specific information.

32%
2009-2010
66%
2007-2008
66%
2007-2008
66%
2005-2006
66%
2005-2006
100%
2004
100%
2004
100%
2003
100%
2003
64%
2009-2010
64%
2009
64%
2009
44%
2007-2008
44%
2007-2008
76%
2005-2006
76%
2005-2006
72%
2003-2004
72%
2003-2004
77%
2003
77%
2003
47%
2001-2002
47%
2001-2002
30%
2011
60%
2009-2010
60%
2009-2010
80%
2007-2008
80%
2007-2008
83%
2004
83%
2004
83%
2003
83%
2003
60%
2001
60%
2001
88%
2012
73%
2011
73%
2011
0%
2008
0%
2008
10%
2007
10%
2007
10%
2007
10%
2007
50%
2009
80%
2005-2006
80%
2005-2006
39%
2009
45%
2009
39%
2009
34%
2007
33%
2007
33%
2007
34%
2007
40%
2005
75%
2005
40%
2005
58%
2005
75%
2005
58%
2005
55%
2004
55%
2004
50
2003
50
2003
50
2003
50
2003
50
2003
50
2003
56
2002
56
2002
56
2002
56
2002
56
2002
56
2002
52%
2001
52%
2001
33%
2011-2012
33%
2011-2012
35%
2011
20%
2011
35%
2011
20%
2011
50%
2010
50%
2010
20%
2009-2010
20%
2009-2010
33%
2009-2010
33%
2009-2010
33%
2009-2010
33%
2009-2010
27%
2009-2010
27%
2009-2010
27%
2009-2010
27%
2009-2010
20%
2009-2010
20%
2009-2010
40%
2009
40%
2009
20%
2009
30%
2009
20%
2009
30%
2009
21%
2007-2008
21%
2007-2008
21%
2007-2008
21%
2007-2008
40%
2007
40%
2007
20%
2006
20%
2006
70%
2004
70%
2004
35%
2002
35%
2002
55%
2001
55%
2001
arrow_upward