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. As of 2025, 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

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

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

[[File:2006 United States Senate Republican primary in Nebraska results map by county.svg|thumb|301px|Republican primary results by county {{legend|#e27f7f|Ricketts}} {{legend|#ffc8cd|30–40%}} {{legend|#ffb2b2|40–50%}} {{legend|#e27f7f|50–60%}} {{legend|#d75d5d|60–70%}} {{legend|#5bc75b|Stenberg}} {{legend|#aae5aa|30–40%}} {{legend|#87de87|40–50%}} {{legend|#5bc75b|50–60%}} ]]

General election

Candidates

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

Polling

Results

Results by county

From CNN

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Burt (largest village: Tekamah) • Antelope (largest city: Neligh) • Box Butte (largest city: Alliance) • Boyd (largest city: Spencer) • Brown (largest city: Ainsworth) • Buffalo (largest city: Kearney) • Butler (largest city: David City) • Cherry (largest city: Valentine) • Clay (largest city: Sutton) • Colfax (largest city: Schuyler) • Cuming (largest city: West Point) • Custer (largest city: Broken Bow) • Dawes (largest city: Chadron) • Dawson (largest city: Lexington) • Dundy (largest city: Benkelman) • Frontier (largest city: Curtis) • Furnas (largest city: Cambridge) • Garfield (largest city: Burwell) • Gosper (largest city: Elwood) • Grant (largest city: Hyannis) • Hamilton (largest city: Aurora) • Harlan (largest city: Alma) • Hayes (largest city: Palisade) • Hitchcock (largest city: Culbertson) • Holt (largest city: O'Neill) • Hooker (largest city: Mullen) • Kearney (largest city: Minden) • Keya Paha (largest city: Springview) • Knox (largest city: Creighton) • Logan (largest city: Stapleton) • Loup (largest city: Taylor) • Madison (largest city: Norfolk) • Merrick (largest city: Central City) • Nemaha (largest city: Auburn) • Nance (largest city: Fullerton) • Boone (largest city: Albion) • Perkins (largest city: Grant) • Phelps (largest city: Holdrege) • Pierce (largest city: Pierce) • Platte (largest city: Columbus) • Polk (largest city: Stromsburg) • Richardson (largest city: Falls City) • Rock (largest city: Bassett) • Sarpy (largest city: Bellevue) • Scotts Bluff (largest city: Scottsbluff) • Sherman (largest city: Gordon) • Stanton (largest city: Stanton) • Thayer (largest city: Hebron) • Thomas (largest city: Thedford) • Valley (largest city: Ord) • Washington (largest city: Blair) • Nuckolls (largest city: Superior) • Franklin (largest city: Franklin) • Wheeler (largest city: Bartlett) • York (largest city: York)