Nelson Wins Florida Senate Contest

Senator Bill Nelson (D) won reelection to the U.S. Senate tonight by a wide margin.

At 8:15 pm, NBC News reported that Nelson had 56 percent of the vote versus 42 percent for Rep. Connie Mack.   Nelson gave a victory speech just before 9:00 pm ET.

Nelson has been a pivotal figure in NASA space policy for many years.   He flew on the space shuttle in 1986 when he was a Florida congressman and his enthusiasm for NASA has not diminished.   Paired with Republican Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison -- who is retiring this year -- he was a key architect of the 2010 NASA Authorization Act that directed NASA to build a new heavy lift launch vehicle (the Space Launch System) and crew vehicle (Orion) to send astronauts beyond low Earth orbit.