Earl Benjamin "Ben" Nelson (born May 17, 1941) is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served as the 37th Governor of Nebraska from 1991 to 1999 and as a United States Senator from Nebraska from 2001 to 2013.Nelson was an insurance executive before he entered politics. His first run for office was in 1990, when he narrowly defeated incumbent Republican Governor Kay A. Orr. He was re-elected by a landslide in 1994. He ran for an open U.S.