Changes

In the 2003 nonpartisan blanket [[primary]] for senator, which attracted seven candidates, including former State Representative Weldon Russell of Amite City in Tangipahoa Parish, Nevers was forced into a second round of balloting with the [[Republican Party|Republican]] Richard E. Tanner, a retired teacher from St. Tammany Parish.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 4, 2003.</ref>  However, Tanner withdrew from the race on the grounds that the candidates held similar views.<ref name=mlgs>{{cite web|url=http://www.mobilelgs.com/BenNevers.html|title=Senator Ben Nevers|publisher=mobilelgs.com|accessdate=September 1, 2011; material no longer on-line}}</ref> Subsequently Nevers was unopposed in the 2007 primary.​

In the 2003 nonpartisan blanket [[primary]] for senator, which attracted seven candidates, including former State Representative Weldon Russell of Amite City in Tangipahoa Parish, Nevers was forced into a second round of balloting with the [[Republican Party|Republican]] Richard E. Tanner, a retired teacher from St. Tammany Parish.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 4, 2003.</ref>  However, Tanner withdrew from the race on the grounds that the candidates held similar views.<ref name=mlgs>{{cite web|url=http://www.mobilelgs.com/BenNevers.html|title=Senator Ben Nevers|publisher=mobilelgs.com|accessdate=September 1, 2011; material no longer on-line}}</ref> Subsequently Nevers was unopposed in the 2007 primary.​

Originally considered a more [[conservative]] Democrat, Nevers in 2007 filed an anti-[[abortion]] bill, backed by outgoing Democratic Governor [[Kathleen Blanco]], that permits abortions only in situations in which a woman's life is at risk from a pregnancy.<ref name=mlgs/> He sponsored the Louisiana Science Education Act, which permits teachers to use supplementary materials in class concerning the [[theory of evolution]] and [[creationism]]. Nevers said that the law, signed by then Republican Governor [[Bobby Jindal]], is "strictly about teaching science in the classroom. It has nothing to do with religion. ... It shall not be construed to promote any religious doctrine, promote discrimination for or against any particular set of religious beliefs, or promote discrimination for or against religion or nonreligion."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sensuouscurmudgeon.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/louisianas-ben-nevers-creationist-doublethink/|title=Louisiana's Ben Nevers: Creationist Doublethink|date=June 23, 2008|publisher=sensuouscurmudgeon.wordpress.com|accessdate=March 10, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2008/06/louisiana-passes-first-antievolution-academic-freedom-law.ars|author=John Timmer|title=Louisiana passes first anti-evolution "academic freedom" law, June 2008|publisher=arstechnica.com|accessdate=September 2, 2011}}</ref> In 2011, opponents of the  Louisiana Science Education Act, led by state Senator Karen Carter Peterson of [[New Orleans]], failed to obtain repeal the law. Some forty [[Nobel Prize]]-winning scientists endorsed the repeal of the measure on the premise that the law provides an opportunity for teachers to offer creationism views in classrooms.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ksla.com/story/14734163/senators-reject-repeal-of-science-education-act|title=Senators reject repeal of "Science Education Act", May 26, 2011|publisher=KSLA-TV.com ([[CBS]] in [[Shreveport]]).com|accessdate=September 2, 2011}}</ref>​

Originally considered a more [[conservative]] Democrat, Nevers in 2007 filed an anti-[[abortion]] bill, backed by outgoing Democratic Governor [[Kathleen Blanco]], that permits abortions only in situations in which a woman's life is at risk from a pregnancy.<ref name=mlgs/> He sponsored the Louisiana Science Education Act, which permits teachers to use supplementary materials in class concerning the [[theory of evolution]] and [[creationism]]. Nevers said that the law, signed by then Republican Governor [[Bobby Jindal]], is "strictly about teaching science in the classroom. It has nothing to do with religion. ... It shall not be construed to promote any religious doctrine, promote discrimination for or against any particular set of religious beliefs, or promote discrimination for or against religion or nonreligion."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sensuouscurmudgeon.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/louisianas-ben-nevers-creationist-doublethink/|title=Louisiana's Ben Nevers: Creationist Doublethink|date=June 23, 2008|publisher=sensuouscurmudgeon.wordpress.com|accessdate=March 10, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2008/06/louisiana-passes-first-antievolution-academic-freedom-law.ars|author=John Timmer|title=Louisiana passes first anti-evolution "academic freedom" law|date=June 2008|publisher=arstechnica.com|accessdate=March 10, 2020}}</ref> In 2011, opponents of the  Louisiana Science Education Act, led by state Senator Karen Carter Peterson of [[New Orleans]], failed to obtain repeal the law. Some forty [[Nobel Prize]]-winning scientists endorsed the repeal of the measure on the premise that the law provides an opportunity for teachers to offer creationism views in classrooms.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ksla.com/story/14734163/senators-reject-repeal-of-science-education-act|title=Senators reject repeal of "Science Education Act", May 26, 2011|publisher=KSLA-TV.com ([[CBS]] in [[Shreveport]]).com|accessdate=September 2, 2011}}</ref>​

In 1995, Nevers ran unsuccessfully for the House, having been defeated by the incumbent Democrat, later Republican, [[Jerry Thomas (Louisiana Politician)|Jerry Thomas]], a former Washington Parish coroner. Nevers polled 6,546 votes (42.9 percent) to Thomas's  8,713 votes (57.1 percent).<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 21, 1995.</ref>

In 1995, Nevers ran unsuccessfully for the House, having been defeated by the incumbent Democrat, later Republican, [[Jerry Thomas (Louisiana Politician)|Jerry Thomas]], a former Washington Parish coroner. Nevers polled 6,546 votes (42.9 percent) to Thomas's  8,713 votes (57.1 percent).<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 21, 1995.</ref>