Representative Mike Nelson Contact information

Michael V. Nelson, born on June 2, 1954, is an American politician and a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives. He is a member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) and represents District 38A, which includes the cities of Brooklyn Park and Osseo in Hennepin County in the Twin Cities metropolitan area.

Nelson was born in Minneapolis and attended Park Center High School. He furthered his education at Hennepin Technical College in Brooklyn Park, where he studied carpentry in 1974. Before his political career, he served for 16 years as a member of the Minneapolis Housing Authority.

Nelson was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2002 and has been reelected every two years since. He first ran in a special election after the death of five-term DFL incumbent Darlene Luther, losing to Republican John Jordan. Nelson challenged Jordan again in 2002 and won.

In his tenure, Nelson has chaired the Labor and Industry Finance and Policy Committee since 2023. He also sits on the Property Tax Division and the Transportation Finance and Policy Committee. Nelson chaired the State Government Finance and Elections Committee from 2021 to 2022 and the State Government Finance Division from 2019 to 2020. He chaired the Government Operations Committee from 2013 to 2014 and the Local Government Division from 2009 to 2010, and was an assistant majority leader for the House DFL caucus from 2007 to 2008.

Nelson has supported Attorney General Keith Ellison’s requests to increase funding to hire additional criminal prosecutors. After protesters took down a statue of Christopher Columbus on the state Capitol grounds, Nelson said he would not hold hearings on legislation to restore the statue. During a 2015 debate over increasing salaries for state commissioners, Nelson said, “We could put a bunch of slugs in there and pay them nothing and then we’d scream when the government is not running right”. He opposed a bill to create a legislative budget office in 2015.

Nelson, who worked as a union representative, has supported workers and their right to join a union, and said, “There’s been a general war on anyone who is working class and has a union by trying to take union rights away”.

Nelson resides at 7441 Hampshire Ave. N., Brooklyn Park 55428. He is now retired.