Eric Nelson is a member of the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

, representing the 57th House district in Westmoreland County,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

Early life

Nelson served as a marine and a faculty member at

Indiana University of Pennsylvania Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) is a public research university in Indiana County, Pennsylvania. As of fall 2021, the university enrolled 7,044 undergraduates and 1,865 postgraduates, for a total enrollment of 9,009 students. The univ ...

. He owned a family beef farm and is married with six children. Prior 2015, Nelson was registered as an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

, but he changed his political affiliation to

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

that year.

Political career

Nelson became the representative for the 57th House District of Pennsylvania during a special election in March 2016, taking over the seat after Rep. Tim Krieger resigned to serve as a common pleas court judge. He won a full term in November 2016 with sixty-five percent of the vote over opponent Linda Iezzi. In November 2018, Nelson was elected to a second term, receiving sixty-two percent of the vote over his opponent Collin Warren. In April 2020, Nelson introduced an amendment to the Heart and Lung Act that would ensure police and firefighters would continue to be paid if they had to miss work because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The bill was signed into law by Governor

Tom Wolf Thomas Westerman Wolf (born November 17, 1948) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 47th governor of Pennsylvania since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he defeated Republican incumbent Tom Corbett in the 2014 guber ...

. After the 2020 Presidential election, Eric Nelson was one of twenty-six Pennsylvania House Republicans who called for withdrawing certification of presidential electors, despite there being no conclusive evidence of fraud, and despite Joe Biden winning Pennsylvania by more than 80,000 votes. This also occurred after federal appeals brought by the

Trump Trump most commonly refers to: * Donald Trump (born 1946), 45th president of the United States (2017–2021) * Trump (card games), any playing card given an ad-hoc high rank Trump may also refer to: Businesses and organizations * Donald J. T ...

campaign were dismissed due to lack of evidence.

Committee assignments

* Consumer Affairs * Insurance * Labor & Industry, Subcommittee on Workers Compensation and Worker Protection - Chair * State Government

References

External links

Official Web SitePA House profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Eric Living people Politicians from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania Republican Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives 21st-century American politicians 1968 births