Tom Nelson (Wisconsin politician)

Thomas M. Nelson (born March 3, 1976) is an American public administrator and politician serving as the county executive of Outagamie County, Wisconsin, since 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, Nelson previously served in the Wisconsin State Assembly for six years, and was the Democratic majority leader for the 2009–2010 session. He was a candidate in the 2022 Democratic primary election for the United States Senate, he withdrew from the race in late July and endorsed Mandela Barnes.

Nelson was an unsuccessful candidate for United States House of Representatives in 2016 and for lieutenant governor in 2010.

Early life and education
Nelson was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on March 3, 1976, to Steven and Marjorie Nelson. He spent his early years in Stockholm, Wisconsin, as his father moved around the state as a Lutheran Pastor At age four, he moved with his family to Combined Locks, Wisconsin, just outside of Appleton, where his father started Christ the King Lutheran Church. Nelson graduated valedictorian from Little Chute High School in 1994 and went on to earn his bachelor's degree from Carleton College in 1998. He later received his MPA from Princeton University in 2004.

Political career
Nelson is a former member of the Wisconsin State Assembly representing the 5th Assembly district (northeastern Outagamie County, western Brown County, and Maple Grove in Shawano County) from 2005 to 2011. He was first elected to the Assembly in 2004, defeating Republican incumbent Becky Weber 51 percent to 49 percent. He was the only Democrat to unseat an incumbent Republican in the Wisconsin legislative elections of 2004. When he took office on January 3, 2005, he was the youngest member of the state Assembly. Nelson was assigned to the standing committees on health, insurance, rural development and transportation.

At the start of the 2005-06 session, Nelson was viewed as a top target in the 2006 election but GOP failed to recruit a strong challenger. Nelson defeated Jim Reigel of Hobart 62 percent to 38 percent. Nelson sought reelection again in 2008, beating Jim Steineke 64 percent to 34 percent. Members of the Assembly Democratic caucus elected him Majority Leader on November 12, 2008, for the 2009–2010 session.

SeniorCare
In the spring of 2007, the state of Wisconsin did not receive a waiver from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to continue SeniorCare, an affordable prescription drug program for low-income elderly. Without a wavier the state would no longer have the authority nor the funding to continue the program. At the time, approximately 104,000 were enrolled in the program.

Nelson organized a grassroots effort to save the program and lobbied for it in Washington, DC. On May 2007, Senator Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold authored an amendment to emergency spending bill for the Iraq War to renew the waiver, which effectively saved the program and extended it through 2009. Nelson along with other state leaders was credited with having successfully lobbied officials to continue the program.

He continued to work on this issue for the rest of his time in the legislature and as county executive. Again in 2015, the program’s future was uncertain because Governor Scott Walker did not fund SeniorCare in the 2015-2017 biennial budget. “SeniorCare is good policy then, and its good policy now,” County Executive Nelson told a press conference in February of that year, referring to the ordeal of 2007. Approximately 2700 residents of Outagamie County were enrolled in the program. In May, the Joint Finance Committee which consists of members of both houses of the legislature and is responsible for marking up the executive budget, announced it would reject Walker’s proposal and continue funding SeniorCare. Funding remained intact for the rest of the budget process and was adopted as part of the budget in July.

Kimberly mill closing
In August 2008, Nelson called for a special session of the state Assembly in response to the proposed closing of the Kimberly-NewPage paper mill. The mill employed by 600 workers. It was a particularly important development because NewPage was the largest employer in the village of 6,803 and the country was in the Great Recession and the number of unemployed rose by 592,000 in August alone. Nelson authored a resolution that would call on NewPage to continue running the mill or sell it on the open market. The legislature never convened and the resolution was not adopted. The mill was shut down on September 8 and was bought by Aim Demolition on June 7, 2011 which subsequently tore it down beginning April 2, 2012. Nelson would work on another effort to save a mill later in his service as county executive (see Appleton Coated).

2010 campaign for lieutenant governor
In 2010, Nelson announced that he was running for lieutenant governor of Wisconsin, rather than seeking re-election to the Assembly. He gave up his position as Assembly majority leader to help Tom Barrett try to defeat Scott Walker. Mordecai Lee, a UW-Milwaukee political scientist and former state senator said lieutenant governors could affect the outcome of the race. “Normally I would say the lieutenant governor is an afterthought. But this year, with the volatile political climate, the governor’s running mate could end up making a difference.”

Nelson waited until the end of the legislative session to launch his campaign because he wanted to focus on “his legislative responsibilities”. As majority leader he chaired the Rules committee which sets the legislative agenda, specifically which bills would be voted on by the state Assembly. Nelson officially announced his candidacy on May 25, 2010, just over three months before the fall primary on September 14, 2010.

As late as August, Nelson had not yet distinguished himself from the other candidates. Said Jack Craver of Isthmus and frequent commentator on the race that year, "The Democratic primary for lieutenant governor has been a wash so far. It's hard to pinpoint a front-runner, despite assumptions (I plead guilty too) at the beginning of the campaign that Tom Nelson would eventually box-out all of his competition, perhaps with the help of Tom Barrett and the DPW."

On September 14, Nelson won the Democratic nomination in a four-way race, defeating State Senator Spencer Coggs and two others.

During the general election, Republican lieutenant governor nominee Rebecca Kleefisch repeatedly refused Nelson's challenge for a debate. Sitting lieutenant governor and Democrat Barbara Lawton said Nelson and Kleefisch should debate because “it was important for voters to learn about the lieutenant governor candidates since they would take over for the governor should he no longer be able to serve.” The gubernatorial candidates debated three times.

Nelson and running mate Tom Barrett (who ran as a ticket) were defeated in the 2010 general election by Kleefisch and her running mate Scott Walker.

Outagamie County executive
On April 5, 2011, Nelson defeated former Republican State Treasurer of Wisconsin Jack Voight for county executive of Outagamie County, by roughly 52%–48%, after winning a six-way primary in February. He sought reelection in 2015 and 2019 and was uncontested in each race. On April 4, 2023, Nelson won an unprecedented fourth term by defeating Kevin Sturn, 55-44. Nelson outperformed the Democratic-aligned state supreme court justice candidate Janet Protasiewicz, who won Outagamie County 51-49.

Appleton Coated
In his second term, Nelson filed an objection in Outagamie County Circuit Court to the sale of Appleton Coated, a paper mill founded in 1889 in the village of Combined Locks to an industrial scrap dealer, Industrial Assets of California. The distressed mill had filed for receivership in August 2017. The United Steelworkers, which represented hourly workers at the mill, also objected. Under Wisconsin receivership law, individuals or entities affected by the sale can object to the sale. At subsequent court hearings, USW and Nelson's case was heard. Their appeal was successful. The presiding judge directed the presumptive new owner, Industrial Assets, to run the plant or find a buyer who would. Industrial Assets chose to run the facility as a going concern and not sell it off as parts and the mill was operational beginning December of that year. The third and final paper machine went online in March of the following year. According to Nelson and company CEO Kyle Putzstuck, it is rare for mills in these situations to continue operating. Nelson's work helping save the mill is the subject of his new book, One Day Stronger: How One Union Local Saved a Mill and Changed an Industry -- And What It Means for American Manufacturing (see Book).

Sales tax
At the beginning of his third term in 2019, Nelson opposed the adoption of a county-wide sales tax. Outagamie County was one of just six counties (out of 72) that had not yet implemented a county sales tax, although it had been debating the matter on and off since the 1980s. In June, Nelson vetoed the tax, citing widespread opposition to the measure and that it was a regressive tax that hurt those least able to pay it. The county board overrode his veto and the tax took effect in January 2020. Prior to his veto, Nelson ran a radio ad touting his objection to the sales tax and calling on residents to contact their supervisors. Supervisors demanded Nelson take down his ad, but Nelson demurred, citing his right to run the ads.

2016 U.S. House of Representatives election
On April 7, 2016, Nelson announced that he would run for the U.S. Congress seat being vacated by retiring Representative Reid Ribble. The decision was hailed by Democrats across the state because it was viewed as “one move in a complex board game” that could lead to a Democratic takeover of the House of Representatives.

Nelson was recruited by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. The committee reserved $730,000 for its independent expenditure arm and the Super PAC, House Majority PAC, $200,000. Late in the campaign, Nelson made the committee's Red to Blue program, the top-tier races. His opponent in the general election was Republican Mike Gallagher, a former aide to Governor Scott Walker and U.S. Senator Ron Johnson. At the beginning of the general election campaign following the August primary, the race was considered a pure toss-up by the Rothenberg and Gonzalez Political Report. As late as October 24, 2016, Nelson’s race was listed as one of the top 40 US House races likely to flip party control despite the fortunes of congressional Democrats beginning to slip. Nelson was one of the first congressional candidates to use footage of Donald Trump’s Access Hollywood tapes in a campaign ad, linking their opponent to Trump. His ad was featured on The Rachel Maddow Show on October 11, 2016, as an example of the message that would be replicated elsewhere. “The Democratic Party says ads like that will run against congressional Republican candidates all over the country. They`re going to tie every Republican candidate in the country to Trump.”

Nelson was endorsed by Our Revolution, a Bernie Sanders coalition that backed progressive candidates across the country. He also received substantial labor backing with contributions from thirteen labor-PACs, as well as endorsements from the National Committee to Protect Social Security and Medicare and League of Conservation Voters.

Nelson raised about $1.8 million over the course of a seven-month campaign; however, Gallagher raised almost $1 million more ($2.7 million) than Nelson. Outside groups outspent Nelson by a margin of three-to-one compared to his opponent Gallagher.

Nelson would go on to lose the general election to Gallagher, earning 37% of the vote to Gallagher's 63%. Experts frequently noted the role that national headwinds played as Democrats on all levels struggled both in northeast Wisconsin and statewide, though Nelson lagged behind Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, who received 39% of the vote in the district, while Gallagher outperformed Republican nominee Donald Trump by seven percentage points.

2022 U.S. Senate election
On October 20, 2020, Nelson filed with the Federal Election Commission, indicating a run for the U.S. Senate seat in Wisconsin. On October 26, 2020, Nelson formally announced his candidacy. Nelson called on Ron Johnson to resign following the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. A poll released by Nelson's campaign on March 29, 2021, showed Nelson leading Ron Johnson by four points (48%-44%). At the time of the poll, Johnson had not indicated whether he would seek re-election. Since then, Johnson would go on to defeat Democratic Nominee Mandela Barnes by 1%.

Political positions
During the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, Nelson was a delegate for Bernie Sanders. During the primary, Nelson called on Democratic candidates to be more aggressive in their support for organized labor, noting the role labor unions played in the passage of key components of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal.

Nelson has endorsed raising taxes on the wealthy to fund Social Security. He has praised the Green New Deal, stating that he hopes to forge a "blue-green coalition in the progressive movement, to unite the environmental and labor movements."

He has endorsed Medicare for All, as well as a $15 per hour minimum wage. He also supports a wealth tax. He has also expressed his support for election reform (specifically, the passage of H.R. 1) and the elimination of the filibuster.

Book
Nelson's book One Day Stronger: How One Union Local Saved a Mill and Changed an Industry -- And What It Means for American Manufacturing was released March 9, 2021. Nelson's book received early praise. Kirkus Reviews gave Nelson a starred rating, which only ten percent of traditional publications and two percent of independently published books receive.

Personal life
Nelson is married to Maria Nelson and the couple reside in Appleton, Wisconsin, with their two children. The Nelsons have an interfaith marriage and are members of Christ the King Lutheran Church in Combined Locks, Wisconsin, and St. Therese Catholic Church of Appleton. The Nelsons were featured in The Compass, the official newspaper of the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation (2017), highlighting their interfaith marriage. They co-led an interfaith workshop following an ecumenical service of the Northeast Wisconsin ELCA synod and Green Bay Diocese. According to Nelson, "There aren't crucial differences between the faiths. The most difficult part is coordinating weekend schedules so we can get to both service and Mass." Maria added, "Early on in our relationship, I think I was hesitant to admit that I liked our Lutheran church because it meant that somehow our Catholic church is lacking. As the years have passed, however, I've learned that seeing the individual beauty in each church doesn't question or diminish our faith."