Bob Kerrey

Bob Kerrey, a Democrat, represented Nebraska as a U.S. senator from 1989 to 2001. He is currently the Democratic nominee for his former Senate seat. More

As a Democratic senator from Nebraska, Bob Kerrey gained a reputation over his two terms as a maverick willing to challenge partisanship on both sides to tackle the toughest problems. He worked with Republicans like George H.W. Bush and Newt Gingrich to balance the budget and cut spending, and, with Republican Senator Jack Danforth, chaired the pioneering Bipartisan Commission on Entitlement and Tax Reform, which first called the nation's attention to the still growing crisis of entitlement spending. Kerrey and Republican Congressman (now Senator) Rob Portman of Ohio led a nationwide investigation into IRS abuses that helped lead to groundbreaking reforms. In 1992, he ran for President of the United States in a campaign that first put the crisis of spiraling health care costs and uninsured Americans on the national agenda.

In 2012, with the problems he had addressed in the Senate, like the deficit and entitlements, once more growing out of control, Kerrey decided to run once again for the seat he occupied until 2001.