Pete Ricketts exuded confidence as he stood at 14th and O streets at noon Tuesday, shaking hands and waving to cars and buses.

This was, finally, election day, and he had watched his poll numbers in the race for the Republican Senate nomination climb from 50 points behind Don Stenberg last fall to 10 to 20 points ahead in the past couple of weeks.

Hours later, Sen. Ben Nelson, the Democrat who holds the seat Ricketts wants, was jovial during the early moments of the Lancaster County Democratic Party’s gathering in the Haymarket, shaking hands with friends and trying out fall campaign lines for the TV cameras.

Ricketts’ confidence was confirmed Tuesday night as he took the GOP nomination to face Nelson.

And Nelson’s lines were perfectly aimed, targeting Ricketts while attempting to frame the coming race as “Main Street versus Wall Street.”

Ricketts never trailed as election results came in. His margin over Stenberg quickly grew to double digits and the race never got closer. David Kramer was third in Republican voting, his totals more than doubled by Ricketts’.

Ricketts, the former chief operating officer of Ameritrade who pumped nearly $5 million into his campaign, claimed victory shortly after 10 p.m. Tuesday.

He was basking in his victory later Tuesday night, saying he was giving himself a few hours to enjoy what he had worked so hard to achieve.

“Tomorrow we’ll start worrying about how we take on Ben Nelson in the fall,” he said. “We’ve really been concentrating on the primary. We were feeling pretty good about the polls. But the only poll that counts is the one we took today.”

That said, Ricketts has clearly been thinking about what is at stake in the fall as he takes on Nelson.

“This race in Nebraska does have national significance in that it may determine who controls the U.S. Senate,” he said. “That’s two very different philosophies. I’m sure we’ll emphasize that.”

Nelson, however, saw it differently, casting the contest as Main Street versus Wall Street.

“I think that’s what it’s going to be about,” Nelson said. “Who can best represent the state of Nebraska, who’s going to be there on the issues of most concern to Nebraska — Main Street Nebraska versus Wall Street.”

Nelson also disputed Ricketts’ contention the race will be about Republican versus Democrat, pointing to his record of independence in Washington.

“The voters know I’m not going to be a partisan lap dog,” Nelson said. “This is far less a partisan state and more a populist state.”

Ricketts pledged to continue the positive campaign he ran for the primary in the general election.

But he said Nelson’s public record is open to examination.

“We’ll stick to the facts,” Ricketts said. “But we’ll point some things out we think people should know.”

That’s fine with Nelson. Having served eight years as governor and nearly six as senator, Nelson said his character and fiscal conservatism are known to Nebraskans.

“People know who I am, what I am and how I’ve done,” Nelson said. “That’s a positive for me. There’s no reason to change.”

The 2006 Senate campaign is on its way to becoming the most expensive in Nebraska history.

Ricketts already has loaned his campaign $4.7 million of the $5 million it has raised. Nelson’s campaign has raised $4.3 million. Kramer, former Republican state chairman, reported $505,000 in total funding last month, and Stenberg, former Nebraska attorney general, conducted a $476,000 campaign.

The previous Nebraska campaign spending record was $6.9 million spent by Democrat Bob Kerrey and Republican David Karnes in their 1988 Senate race. In 1996, Nelson and Republican Chuck Hagel spent about $5.5 million. Independent expenditures by political parties, national Senate campaign committees and allied political groups added another $2 million to $3 million to the race.

There is widespread speculation in political circles the total expenditure in the Senate race will top $15 million by November.

Nelson, however, said he has no plans to start a campaign spending arms race. “We’re certainly not going to trigger anything like that,” he said.

Ricketts said he wasn’t sure how much money would be spent on the Senate election.

“I’m a first-time candidate,” he said. “We haven’t put together a plan for the general election. I guess we’ll see how much it is.”

While he hasn’t formulated his strategy for running against Nelson, Ricketts was eager to get back to campaigning.

“It’s been a tremendous amount of fun getting out and meeting people.”

Reach L. Kent Wolgamott at 473-7244 or kwolgamott@journalstar.com.