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, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

Early life

Nelson served as a Marine and a faculty member at

Indiana University of Pennsylvania Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) is a Public university, public research university in Indiana, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and Carnegie Classification o ...

. He owned a family beef farm and is married with six children. Prior to 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 Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

, but he changed his political affiliation to Republican 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 and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The bill was signed into law by Governor

Tom Wolf Thomas Westerman Wolf (born November 17, 1948) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 47th governor of Pennsylvania from 2015 to 2023. He previously served as chairman and CEO of his business, The Wolf Organization, and l ...

. 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 Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

winning Pennsylvania by more than 80,000 votes. This also occurred after federal appeals brought by the

Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

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 1968 births 21st-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly