News/Lawmaker News

Ben Nelson seventh NRA-backed sen. to support Sotomayor

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) on Monday said he will vote for Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s Supreme Court confirmation this week.

Nelson represents the seventh senator endorsed by the National Rifle Association (NRA) to announce their support for Sotomayor. The NRA announced two weeks ago that they would “score” the Senate’s confirmation vote.

Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Mel Martinez (R-Fla.), Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Arlen Specter (D-Pa.), Tim Johnson (D-S.D.), Max Baucus (D-Mont.), are the six other NRA-backed senators who will support Sotomayor

“I plan to support her,” he told the Lincoln (Neb.) Journal Star in a phone interview.

Last week, Nelson said that he still had not decided which way he would vote on the appeals court judge’s confirmation.

Nelson told the Star that he was impressed by Sotomayor’s previous experience an the American Bar Association’s endorsement of her.

He said that he was confident that she would not bring “personal bias or an agenda” to the bench.