How to add a space for a DropDown Text which combines two columns

I have a asp.NET webform app.

There is a drop down on the form. I want the drop down text show combination of
2 fields in a table. coulmnA(age) and columnB(Name).

Here is my code:
  
                    DataSet d =GetDateSet();

                   

                    EnumerableRowCollection a = from t in d.Tables[0].AsEnumerable()
                                                select new
                                                { txt = t[0] +"___ " + t[1] , val = t[0]};
                    ddlCustomer.DataSource = a;
                    ddlCustomer.DataBind();
                    ddlCustomer.Items.Insert(0, "Select Customer Here");

So far above is an easy task. Dropdown will show something like below:

24___Joe
25___Biden
26__Donald
27___Trump

The problem is if I try to replace underlines with space it will be ignored. Any ideas how to fix this?

To be specific below code will not add space:

 EnumerableRowCollection a = from t in d.Tables[0].AsEnumerable()
                                                select new
                                                { txt = t[0] +"    " + t[1] , val = t[0]  };

Well, simple spaces in "markup" of course don't show.

So, say I have a drop down with hotel name.

but, I want 2 columns, and to include the city.

So, this markup:

        <asp:DropDownList ID="cboHotels" runat="server" 
            style="font-family:Courier New, Courier, monospace;height:22px"
            DataValueField="ID"
            DataTextField="MyHotelName">                
        </asp:DropDownList>

Note how I am using a fixed space. So, you can now include "nbsp" in the text (non breaking spaces). You also have to force the server side code to ensure html output encoding.

So, say this code:

    protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        if (!IsPostBack)
            LoadData();
    }

    void LoadData()
    {
        string strSQL =
            @"SELECT ID, HotelName, City FROM tblHotelsA
              ORDER BY HotelName";

        DataTable rstData = General.MyRst(strSQL);
        // combine hotel name and city
        rstData.Columns.Add("MyHotelName");
        foreach (DataRow dr in rstData.Rows)
        {
            dr["MyHotelName"] = MyPad(dr["HotelName"], 20) + MyPad(dr["City"],15); 
        }
        cboHotels.DataSource = rstData;
        cboHotels.DataBind();
        cboHotels.Items.Insert(0, new ListItem("Select Hotel", ""));

    }

    string MyPad(object MyColum,int NumChars)
    {
        string sResult = "";
        if (MyColum != null)
            sResult = ((string)MyColum);

        sResult = sResult.PadRight(NumChars).Substring(0, NumChars);
        sResult = sResult.Replace(" ", " ");
        return Server.HtmlDecode(sResult);
    }

So, to save some "messy" code, I use a helper routine, and it "pads" out the string to the length I specify.

The result is now thus this:

so, to make this work, you need to use "nbsp".
(non breaking space).

You also want of course to use a fixed sized font - else the extra column will not line up with previous.

And by keeping the data value as the PK id, then above allows several columns, but the selected value remains the "data value" hidden column, which in this case is "id" (the hotel database PK row id).