Jim Nielsen
Jim Nielsen (Republican Party) was a member of the California State Senate, representing District 4. He assumed office on January 10, 2013. He left office on December 5, 2022.
Nielsen (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the California State Senate to represent District 4. He won in the general election on November 6, 2018.
Nielsen was a member of the California State Assembly, representing District 2 from 2008 to 2012.
Biography
Nielsen's professional experience includes working as business owner and ranch foreman.
Nielsen founded the California Alliance to Protect Private Property Rights.[1]
Committee assignments
Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.
2021-2022
Nielsen was assigned to the following committees:
- Fairs, Allocation, and Classification Committee
- Fisheries and Aquaculture Committee
- Legislative Audit Committee
- Legislative Budget Committee
- Rules Committee
- Budget and Fiscal Review Committee, Vice Chair
- Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee, Vice Chair
- Governance and Finance Committee, Vice Chair
- Senate Governmental Organization Committee, Vice Chair
2019-2020
Nielsen was assigned to the following committees:
- Fairs, Allocation, and Classification Committee
- Fisheries and Aquaculture Committee
- Legislative Budget Committee
- Rules Committee
- Budget and Fiscal Review Committee, Vice Chair
- Governance and Finance Committee
- Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee, Vice Chair
- Senate Governmental Organization Committee
- Senate Military and Veterans Affairs Committee
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| California committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Appropriations |
| • Budget and Fiscal Review, Vice chair |
| • Health |
| • Veterans Affairs, Vice chair |
| • Fairs, Allocation, and Classification |
| • Fisheries and Aquaculture |
| • Legislative Budget |
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Nielsen served on the following committees:
| California committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Appropriations |
| • Budget and Fiscal Review, Vice chair |
| • Health |
| • Veterans Affairs, Chair |
2013-2014
At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Nielsen served on the following committees:
| California committee assignments, 2013 |
|---|
| • Budget and Fiscal Review |
| • Governmental Organization, Vice chair |
| • Health |
| • Insurance |
| • Veterans Affairs |
| • Fisheries and Aquaculture |
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Nielsen served on these committees:
| California committee assignments, 2011 |
|---|
| • Appropriations |
| • Budget, Vice chair |
| • Legislative Budget |
| • Rules |
| • Veterans Affairs |
2009-2010
In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Nielsen served on these committees:
| California committee assignments, 2009 |
|---|
| • Appropriations |
| • Budget, Vice chair |
| • Judiciary |
| • Joint Legislative Budget, Vice chair |
| • Revenue and Taxation |
Issues
Presidential preference
2016 presidential endorsement
✓ Nielsen endorsed Marco Rubio for the Republican primary in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.[2]
- See also: Endorsements for Marco Rubio
Awards
In 2009, Nielsen received the Patti Mattingly Award from the Regional Council for Rural Counties for displaying proactive leadership on rural issues and knowledge of challenges confronting rural communities.[3] Presented annually, the award honored Nielsen's work supporting a water bond issue and protection of water rights.[4]
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2022
- See also: California State Senate elections, 2022
Jim Nielsen was not able to file for re-election due to term limits.
2018
- See also: California State Senate elections, 2018
General election
General election for California State Senate District 4
Incumbent Jim Nielsen defeated Phillip Kim in the general election for California State Senate District 4 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Jim Nielsen (R) | 57.1 | 190,441 |
 | Phillip Kim (D) | 42.9 | 142,817 | |
| Total votes: 333,258 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for California State Senate District 4
Incumbent Jim Nielsen and Phillip Kim defeated Michael Worley in the primary for California State Senate District 4 on June 5, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jim Nielsen (R) | 60.3 | 118,756 |
| ✔ | | Phillip Kim (D) | 21.7 | 42,661 |
| Michael Worley (D) | 18.0 | 35,472 | ||
| Total votes: 196,889 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2014
- See also: California State Senate elections, 2014
Elections for the California State Senate took place in 2014. A primary election took place on June 3, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was March 7, 2014. Incumbent Jim Nielsen (R) and CJ Jawahar (D) were unopposed in the blanket primary. Nielsen defeated Jawahar in the general election.[5][6][7]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican |  Jim Nielsen Incumbent |
63.7% | 139,199 | |
| Democratic | CJ Jawahar | 36.3% | 79,457 | |
| Total Votes | 218,656 | |||
2013
Nielsen won a special election for California State Senate District 4. He came in first against Mickey Harrington (D), Jann Reed (no party preference) and Dan Levine (no party preference) in the blanket primary on November 6, 2012. Nielsen initially looked to have won the blanket primary outright, but final returns showed him just short of the 50 percent plus one necessary to avoid a general election. Nielsen defeated Harrington in the special election on January 8, 2013.[8][9][10][11][12]
| California State Senate, District 4, Special Election, 2013 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Mickey Harrington | 33.4% | 49,004 | |
| Republican | Jim Nielsen |
66.6% | 97,849 | |
| Total Votes | 146,853 | |||
2012
Nielsen initially announced in August 2011 that he would seek re-election in 2012.[13] However, he did not end up running for re-election.
2010
Nielsen won re-election to the 2nd District seat in 2010. He defeated Charlie Schaupp in the June 8 primary, receiving 28,178 votes to Schaupp's 22,457. He then ran unopposed in the November 2 general election.[14][15]
| California House of Representatives, District 2 Republican Primary (2010) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| Jim Nielsen (R)
|
28,178 | |||
| Charlie Schaupp (R) | 22,457 | |||
2008
In 2008 Nielsen was elected to the California State Assembly District 2. Nielsen (R) finished with 118,149 votes while his opponent Paul Singh (D) finished with 62,510 votes.[16] Nielsen raised $587,381 for his campaign fund.[17]
| California State Assembly District 2 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| Jim Nielsen (R)
|
118,149 | |||
| Paul Singh (D) | 62,510 | |||
Campaign themes
2014
Nielsen's website highlighted the following campaign themes:[18]
Creating Jobs for California
- Excerpt: "I believe that the only way to restore our economy and create jobs in the North State is to get Sacramento out of the way, so that small businesses, investors and entrepreneurs can pursue their dreams and, in the process, provide opportunities for others."
Taxes and Spending
- Excerpt: "I will continue my fight to stop this runaway spending and taxing. I’m proud to support Prop 13, which has controlled property taxes for more than 30 years. Protecting the 2/3rds vote requirement for taxes is essential."
Keeping our Communities Safe
- Excerpt: "I absolutely oppose any early release programs that dump un-rehabilitated, unsupervised criminals in our rural communities."
Stopping the Regulatory Nightmare
- Excerpt: "I’ve authored a law to stop this wide-spread problem that is so damaging to our economy and will continue to battle these agencies at every turn."
Protecting our Water, Private Property
- Excerpt: "I’ll continue the fight to protect our water."
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Endorsements
2014
In 2014, Nielsen's endorsements included the following:[19]
- California Republican Party
- Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
- California Farm Bureau
- California State Sheriffs Association
- Gun Owners of California
- Crime Victims United of California
- California Alliance to Protect Private Property Rights
- Conservative Republicans of California
- Shasta County Farm Bureau
- Glenn County Farm Bureau
- Colusa County Republican Party
- Del Norte County Republican Party
- Nevada County Republican Party
- Shasta County Republican Party
- Siskiyou County Republican Party
- Tehama County Republican Party
- Yuba County Republican Party
- Conservative Republicans of California – Butte County
- Conservative Republicans of California – Tehama County
- Greater Redding Chamber of Commerce
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of California scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2022
In 2022, the California State Legislature was in session from January 3 to August 31.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on the association's position legislation.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills supported or opposed by the chamber.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on environmental issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on issues related to labor.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on environmental issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on issues pertaining to children.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on LGBT issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on issues related to the interests of health care consumers.
- Legislators are scored on how they voted on taxpayer-related issues.
- Legislators are scored on issues related to sexual and reproductive health.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills supported or opposed by the organization.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- Legislators are scored on issues related to sexual and reproductive health.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills supported or opposed by the organization.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental policy.
- Legislators are scored on their adherence to the limited government principles of the U.S. Constitution.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to the interests of home care providers.
2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2021, the California State Legislature was in session from December 7 to September 10.
|
2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2020, the California State Legislature was in session from January 6 to August 31.
|
2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2019, the California State Legislature was in session from January 7 through September 13.
|
2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2018, the California State Legislature was in session from January 3, 2018 through August 31, 2018.
|
2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2017, the California State Legislature was in session from December 5, 2016 through September 15, 2017.
|
2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2016, the California State Legislature was in session from January 4 through August 31. The formal session ended on August 31, but constitutionally the session adjourned sine die on November 30.
|
2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2015, the California State Legislature was in session from December 1, 2014, through September 12, 2015.
|
2014
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2014, the California State Legislature was in session from January 6 to August 30.
|
2013
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2013, the California State Legislature was in session from December 3, 2012, to September 13, 2013
|
Capitol Weekly
Capitol Weekly, California's major weekly periodical covering the state legislature, publishes an annual legislative scorecard to pin down the political or ideological leanings of every member of the legislature based on how they voted on an assortment of bills in the most recent legislative session. The 2009 scores were based on votes on 19 bills, but did not include how legislators voted on the Proposition 1A (2009). On the scorecard, "100" is a perfect liberal score and "0" is a perfect conservative score.[20][21]
On the 2009 Capitol Weekly legislative scorecard, Nielsen ranked as a 17.[22]
See also
- California State Legislature
- California State Senate
- California Senate Committees
- California State Senate District 4
External links
|
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Biography," accessed March 13, 2014
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "6 California lawmakers and San Diego mayor back Marco Rubio for president," January 8, 2016
- ↑ [1](dead link)
- ↑ WillowsJournal.com, "Nielsen honored as legislator of the year," accessed October 17, 2023
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Official 2014 Primary election candidate list," accessed March 27, 2014
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Official primary election results," accessed July 15, 2014
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Official general election results," accessed December 14, 2014
- ↑ Appeal Democrat, "Senate runoff looming," November 23, 2012
- ↑ Appeal Democrat, "New candidate enters race for 4th Senate District," September 13, 2012
- ↑ Redding Record Searchlight, "Logue, Nielsen vie to replace LaMalfa in state Senate," September 5, 2012
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "State Senate District four results," accessed November 15, 2012
- ↑ News 10, "Republican wins in special Senate election," January 9, 2013
- ↑ Redding Spotlight, "Lawmakers say redistricting won't hurt current constituents; LaMalfa, Nielsen may see lines move," August 17, 2011
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Official 2010 Primary election results," accessed March 13, 2014
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Official 2010 General election results," accessed March 13, 2014
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Official 2008 General election results," accessed March 13, 2014
- ↑ Follow the Money, "Campaign funds," accessed March 13, 2014
- ↑ nielsenforsenate.com, "Issues," accessed September 19, 2014
- ↑ nielsenforsenate.com, "Endorsements," accessed September 19, 2014
- ↑ Capitol Weekly, "Capitol Weekly's Legislative Scorecard," December 17, 2009
- ↑ Fox and Hounds Daily, "Random Thoughts on the Political Scene," December 18, 2009
- ↑ Capitol Weekly, "2009 Capitol Weekly State Legislative Scorecard (Archived)," accessed March 13, 2014
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
California State Senate District 4 2013-2022 |
Succeeded by Marie Alvarado-Gil (R) |
| Preceded by - |
California State Assembly District 2 2008-2012 |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by - |
California State Senate District 4 1978-1990 |
Succeeded by - |
