How do I put a space character before option text in a HTML select element?

I think you want   or  

So a fixed version of your example could be...

<select>
  <option>&nbsp;&nbsp;Sample</option>
</select>

or

<select>
  <option>&#160;&#160;Sample</option>
</select>

Use \xA0 with String. This Works Perfect while binding C# Model Data to a Dropdown...

  SectionsList.ForEach(p => { p.Text = "\xA0\xA0Section: " + p.Text; });

Isn't &#160 the entity for space?

<select>
<option>&#160;option 1</option>
<option>    option 2</option>
</select>

Works for me...

EDIT:

Just checked this out, there may be compatibility issues with this in older browsers, but all seems to work fine for me here. Just thought I should let you know as you may want to replace with