Edward "Ed" Neilson is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party. In April 2012, he won a special election to represent the 169th District in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. In May 2014 he won a special election to serve as an at-large member of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

replacing outgoing councilmember Bill Green. In August 2015, he won a special election to represent the 174th District in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

Early life and education

A native of

Northeast Philadelphia Northeast Philadelphia, nicknamed Northeast Philly, the Northeast and the Great Northeast, is a section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. According to the 2000 census, Northeast Philadelphia has a population of between 300,000 and 450,000, depending ...

, Neilson is a graduate of Abraham Lincoln High School.

Political career

Neilson is a former political director for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW)'s Local 98 chapter. He went on to serve as Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry Executive Deputy State Labor Secretary under

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Ed Rendell Edward Gene Rendell (; born January 5, 1944) is an American lawyer, prosecutor, politician, and author. He served as the 45th Governor of Pennsylvania from 2003 to 2011, as chair of the national Democratic Party, and as the 96th Mayor of Philad ...

, and eventually became director of business development and government relations at Chartwell Law Offices.

PA State Senate

2022 Special Election

Neilson was considered for the 5th Senatorial District seat after

John Sabatina John Patrick Sabatina Jr. is an American politician and judge currently serving on the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. From 2006 to 2015, Sabatina served as a Pennsylvania state representative from the 174th district. He resigned from the st ...

resigned on December 31, 2021 after being elected to the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas the previous month. After a meeting of Democratic leaders asked to not be considered and Ward Leaders Shawn Dillon, Connie Dougherty, Alan Butkovitz, Pat Parkinson, Jim Donnelly, Bobby Henon, John Del Ricci, Harry Enggasser, Pete McDermott and John Sabatina Sr decided to support Shawn Dillion. Shawn Dillion failed to submit his financial disclosures which were required by law for candidacy and was forced to drop out. He was replaced as a candidate by his brother Jimmy Dillion.

PA State House

2012 Special Election

In November 2011, Republican Denny O'Brien was elected to one of the Philadelphia City Council's at-large seats. O'Brien, who had comfortably held the 169th District seat in the State House for several decades, resigned from the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presb ...

the following January. O'Brien's departure in part precipitated the decision on the part of the House Republican leadership to move the 169th district out of Philadelphia and into York County. The existing 169th district was to be split among the districts of Democrats

Brendan Boyle Brendan Francis Boyle (born February 6, 1977) is an American politician serving as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, representing a district in the Philadelphia area since 2015. He represented the 13th district ...

, Kevin Boyle,

Michael McGeehan Michael "Mike" McGeehan (born November 26, 1960) was a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislatu ...

and John Sabatina, Jr., as well as Republican John Taylor. However, the

State Supreme Court In the United States, a state supreme court (known by other names in some states) is the highest court in the state judiciary of a U.S. state. On matters of state law, the judgment of a state supreme court is considered final and binding in b ...

struck-down the map, ruling its splitting of cities, townships and boroughs was unconstitutional. Therefore, a special election held on the existing boundaries was called for April 24, 2012. Neilson entered the race to succeed O'Brien, and won the Democratic primary unopposed. In the special election, he faced Dave Kralle, a long-time aide to O'Brien who served as his Chief of Staff at the end of his legislative tenure. On election day, Neilson defeated Kralle, and will hold the seat until January 2013. He will again face Kralle in the November 2012 general election, this time vying for a full two-year term.

2015 Special Election

Tenure

Neilson was sworn-in on May 8, 2012. He served on the Children and Youth, and Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness committees.

City Council

2014 Special Election

In February 2014, former City Council Member Bill Green and was sworn in as the chair of the School Reform Commission. He was nominated by Governor

Tom Corbett Thomas Wingett Corbett Jr. (born June 17, 1949) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 46th governor of Pennsylvania from 2011 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served as Attorney General of Pennsylvania from 1995 t ...

. In March 2014, Democratic ward leaders picked Neilson for the City Council special election that would be held in May 2014. Neilson entered the race to succeed Bill Green, and won the special election to defeat Matt Wolfe, a Republican ward leader from West Philadelphia. He later resigned the seat on June 19, 2015.

Tenure

Neilson was sworn into Philadelphia City Council on August 14, 2014 and resigned on June 19, 2015.

Personal life

Neilson, his wife and five sons currently reside in Northeast Philadelphia.

References

External links

State Representative Ed Neilson
official caucus website
Ed Neilson (D)
official PA House website
Ed Neilson for State Representative
official campaign website {{DEFAULTSORT:Neilson, Ed Democratic Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Philadelphia City Council members Living people 21st-century American politicians Year of birth missing (living people)