Carla Nelson

Carla J. Nelson (born May 22, 1957) is an American politician from Minnesota who is a member of the Minnesota Senate. A member of the Republican Party of Minnesota, she represents District 24, which includes parts of Olmsted County and Dodge County in the southeastern part of the state. Much of the southern half of Rochester and parts of northwestern Rochester are in her district.

In 2018, Nelson was an unsuccessful candidate in the Republican primary to represent Minnesota's 1st congressional district.

Early life, education, and career Nelson graduated from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, receiving her B.S. in special education. She then attended the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, earning her M.Ed. in teacher leadership and her reading specialist certification.

Nelson is the owner of the Olmsted Group, an insurance and investment firm in Rochester. She was previously an elementary and middle school teacher in Rochester.

Nelson was named a 2021 Legislator of Distinction by the Minnesota League of Cities, a nonpartisan association of local governments. She was one of only seven state senators to receive the recognition that year.

State boards Nelson was an appointed member of the Minnesota Higher Education Finance Authority Board from 2005 to 2009, of the Capitol Area Architectural Planning Board (CAAPB) from 2005 to 2010, and of the Minnesota Academic Excellence Foundation Board from 2008 to 2010.

2018 U.S. House campaign In October 2017, Nelson announced her candidacy for the United States House of Representatives in the 2018 election. She lost the August 12 Republican primary to Jim Hagedorn. Nelson failed to secure the Republican Party endorsement on April 21, 2018, when Jim Hagedorn earned 76% of the vote on the first ballot.