In 2006, Nesbitt Research helped Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson’s campaign explore the complex business dealings of Ameritrade’s (now TD Ameritrade) founding family. We compiled SEC filings, news stories, articles from Lexis-Nexis news databases, civil legal issues from the Cayman Islands to Nebraska, Hoover’s Business records and Dun & Bradstreet records into a comprehensive report on company and family operations. We detailed the target’s compensation package and compared it to that of the average Nebraskan. We highlighted the company’s layoffs and subsequent hiring of a new CEO, both of which netted poor results for shareholders and company staff in Nebraska. After powerful advertising — some based on our research — Nelson won re-election with 63.9 percent of the vote.