# Carla Nelson

Carla Nelson is a Republican member of the Minnesota Senate for district 24.

- Party: Republican
- Seat: Minnesota Senate, district 24
- Serving since: 2023-01-03
- Current term: MN 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/69ac712d-4de2-448a-8b84-ef07b4c4e423

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/69ac712d-4de2-448a-8b84-ef07b4c4e423 (America’s Political Pulse, Polarization Research Lab), data through 2026-10-27. Data under CC BY 4.0. Cite as: Westwood, Sean J., and Yphtach Lelkes. 2024. America's Political Pulse [data set].

## Headline

Nelson voted against the majority of Minnesota Senate Republicans 20 times; party unity 66%, in the bottom 5% of the Minnesota Senate (average 93.0%).

## What Nelson says (MN 2025–26 session)

228 classified statements: 228 posts on X. Each rate is the share of statements with the label, against the State Senate Republicans average; rank 1 is the highest rate.

| Label | Nelson | State Senate Republicans average | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal attacks | 0.4% | 2.3% | 163 of 354 |
| Policy criticism | 11.0% | 9.5% | 116 of 354 |
| Policy discussion | 48.3% | 37.3% | 105 of 354 |
| Bipartisanship | 5.3% | 2.3% | 41 of 354 |
| Credit claiming | 20.2% | 15.4% | 111 of 354 |
| Extreme labels | 0.0% | 1.3% | 261 of 354 |

Most discussed policy areas: Health 20% (State Senate Republicans 9.1%); Education 19% (State Senate Republicans 14%); Economics and Public Finance 13% (State Senate Republicans 12%); Government Operations and Politics 12% (State Senate Republicans 17%); Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues 11% (State Senate Republicans 5.0%).

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score +0.07 (standard error 0.02), from 452 donors and 118 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 13% of State Senate Republicans score lower.

## Votes (MN 2025–26 session)

148 roll calls. Attendance 100% (Minnesota Senate 100%). Party unity 66% (93.0%). 20 votes against the party majority.

Key votes:

- 2026-05-17 · voted nay · Third reading Passed as amended · SF 3967 Due date of the pediatric hospital-to-home transition pilot program report modification · pass · https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/SF3967/
- 2026-05-17 · voted yea · Third reading Passed as amended · HF 3629 Program payment withholding provided for credible allegation of fraud, grant management provisions changed, and program integrity reports required. · pass · https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF3629/
- 2026-05-17 · voted yea · Third reading Passed · HF 719 Safe routes to school grant program funding provided, bonds issued, and money appropriated. · pass · https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF719/
- 2026-05-17 · voted yea · Third reading Passed as amended · HF 4492 Read Act modified, early literacy field experiences required for teacher candidates, high school diploma established for veterans, and rulemaking… · pass · https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF4492/
- 2026-05-17 · voted nay · Third reading Passed · HF 2484 Bonding bill; spending authorized to acquire and better land and buildings and for other improvements of a capital nature, new programs established… · pass · https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF2484/
- 2026-05-17 · voted yea · Motion did not prevail for urgency, rules suspension, pursuant to rule 34.1 · HF 4102 State Patrol compensation study requirements modified, and volunteer chaplains allowed within the state patrol. · pass · https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF4102/
- 2026-05-17 · voted yea · Senate adopted CC report and repassed bill · HF 2438 Taxation bill; financing and operation of state and local government provided. · pass · https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF2438/
- 2026-05-17 · voted yea · Third Reading Repassed · HF 4188 Commerce policy bill. · pass · https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF4188/
- 2026-05-17 · voted yea · Third Reading Repassed · HF 2438 Taxation bill; financing and operation of state and local government provided. · pass · https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF2438/
- 2026-05-16 · voted yea · Motion to reject CC report, did not prevail · HF 3900 Permanent school fund investment, management, and distribution policy modified; and constitutional amendment proposed. · fail · https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF3900/

## Legislation (MN 2025–26 session)

Sponsored 88 bills: 88 reached committee, 0 passed one chamber, 0 passed both, 0 became law. Cosponsored 134. 0.0% of sponsored bills got out of committee (Minnesota Senate 3.1%; rank 55 of 67).

Recent sponsored bills:

- SR 84: A Senate resolution congratulating Liam Arroyo of Rochester, Minnesota, for earning the rank of Eagle Scout (in committee, 2026-05-05) https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/SR84/
- SF 5179: Coercion of a pregnant minor female into seeking or obtaining an abortion prohibition, human trafficking of minors screening and reporting provision, certain… (in committee, 2026-04-20) https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/SF5179/
- SF 5070: Nonemergency medical transportation providers requirement to operate vehicles equipped with a global position system and rear-facing camera (in committee, 2026-04-14) https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/SF5070/
- SF 5055: Southeast Minnesota transportation management organization appropriation (in committee, 2026-04-09) https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/SF5055/
- SF 5041: Investment advisors exempt from certain postregistration requirements (in committee, 2026-04-09) https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/SF5041/
- SF 4764: County commissioners to participate in the health care savings plan authorization (in committee, 2026-03-25) https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/SF4764/
- SF 4322: Cardiovascular prescreenings for students requirement (in committee, 2026-03-11) https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/SF4322/
- SF 4106: Procedures for the commissioner of revenue to issue revenue rulings provision modification (in committee, 2026-03-26) https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/SF4106/
- SF 4043: Minnesota housing tax credit contributions eligible recipients modification (in committee, 2026-03-02) https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/SF4043/
- SF 4044: Minnesota housing tax credit contributions eligible recipients modification and credit allocations set-aside requirement provision (in committee, 2026-03-11) https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/SF4044/

## Campaign money (2026 cycle)

Itemized receipts $15.4K (State Senate Republicans median $46.2K). 0% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors.

## Recent statements

Newest first. Posts on X are listed by date and link only.

- 2026-10-13 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/CarlaNelsonMN/status/2110105360904102112
- 2026-10-06 · Post on X · labels: credit claiming · https://x.com/CarlaNelsonMN/status/2107612870649299389
- 2026-10-05 · Post on X · https://x.com/CarlaNelsonMN/status/2107230259133182260
- 2026-09-24 · Post on X · https://x.com/CarlaNelsonMN/status/2103145443790115231
- 2026-09-23 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/CarlaNelsonMN/status/2102866922345730530
- 2026-09-23 · Post on X · https://x.com/CarlaNelsonMN/status/2102866924241600803
- 2026-09-22 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/CarlaNelsonMN/status/2102471112391041158
- 2026-09-11 · Post on X · https://x.com/CarlaNelsonMN/status/2098385064962998685
- 2026-09-04 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/CarlaNelsonMN/status/2095842310907187497
- 2026-09-03 · Post on X · https://x.com/CarlaNelsonMN/status/2095595228140851371

## Links

- Official site: https://www.senate.mn/members/member_bio.html?mem_id=1178
- Campaign site: https://www.carlanelson.com/
- X: https://x.com/CarlaNelsonMN
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/senatorcarlanelson/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carlanelsonmn
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/CarlaNelson
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carla-nelson-1b182311/

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/69ac712d-4de2-448a-8b84-ef07b4c4e423