Preston Nelson

Preston Nelson (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Illinois' 12th Congressional District. He lost in the Democratic primary on March 19, 2024.

Biography

Preston Nelson was born in Centralia, Illinois. He pursued an associate degree at Rend Lake College. Nelson's career experience includes working as an inventor, wireless network technician, and teacher.^[1]

Elections

2024

Illinois' 12th Congressional District election, 2024 (March 19 Democratic primary)

Illinois' 12th Congressional District election, 2024 (March 19 Republican primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House Illinois District 12

Incumbent Mike Bost defeated Brian Roberts in the general election for U.S. House Illinois District 12 on November 5, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Mike Bost (R)	74.2	272,754
	Brian Roberts (D)	25.8	94,875

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 367,629
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 12

Brian Roberts defeated Preston Nelson in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 12 on March 19, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Brian Roberts	60.1	10,775
	Preston Nelson	39.9	7,151

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 17,926
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Joshua Qualls (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 12

Incumbent Mike Bost defeated Darren Bailey in the Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 12 on March 19, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Mike Bost	51.4	48,770
	Darren Bailey	48.6	46,035

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 94,805
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Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Nelson in this election.

2022

General election

General election for Illinois Treasurer

Incumbent Mike Frerichs defeated Tom Demmer, Preston Nelson, and Patrice McDermand in the general election for Illinois Treasurer on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mike Frerichs (D)	54.3	2,206,434
		Tom Demmer (R)	43.5	1,767,242
		Preston Nelson (L)	2.2	90,647
	Submit photo	Patrice McDermand (R) (Write-in)	0.0	38

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 4,064,361
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Illinois Treasurer

Incumbent Mike Frerichs advanced from the Democratic primary for Illinois Treasurer on June 28, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mike Frerichs	100.0	811,732

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 811,732
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Illinois Treasurer

Tom Demmer advanced from the Republican primary for Illinois Treasurer on June 28, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tom Demmer	100.0	670,758

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 670,758
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Patrice McDermand (R)

2020

U.S. House

Illinois' 8th Congressional District election, 2020 (March 17 Democratic primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House Illinois District 8

Incumbent Raja Krishnamoorthi defeated Preston Nelson in the general election for U.S. House Illinois District 8 on November 3, 2020.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Raja Krishnamoorthi (D)	73.2	186,251
	Preston Nelson (L)	26.8	68,327

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 254,578
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 8

Incumbent Raja Krishnamoorthi defeated W. Thomas La Fontaine Olson and Inam Hussain in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 8 on March 17, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Raja Krishnamoorthi	79.9	51,829
		W. Thomas La Fontaine Olson	13.0	8,441
	Submit photo	Inam Hussain	7.0	4,563

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 64,833
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Mohammed Faheem (D)

U.S. Senate

United States Senate election in Illinois, 2020 (March 17 Republican primary)

United States Senate election in Illinois, 2020 (March 17 Democratic primary)

General election

General election for U.S. Senate Illinois

The following candidates ran in the general election for U.S. Senate Illinois on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Dick Durbin (D)	54.9	3,278,930
		Mark Curran (R)	38.9	2,319,870
		Willie Wilson (Willie Wilson Party)	4.0	237,699
		Danny Malouf (L)	1.3	75,673
		David Black (G)	1.0	56,711
	Submit photo	Kevin Keely (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	10
		Lowell Seida (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	6
	Submit photo	Albert Schaal (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	2

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 5,968,901
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Patrick Feges (Independent)
Chad Koppie (Constitution Party)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Illinois

Incumbent Dick Durbin advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Illinois on March 17, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Dick Durbin	100.0	1,446,118

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,446,118
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Anne Stava-Murray (D)
Marilyn Jordan Lawlor (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. Senate Illinois

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate Illinois on March 17, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mark Curran	41.6	205,747
		Peggy Hubbard	22.9	113,189
		Robert Marshall	15.3	75,561
		Tom Tarter	14.7	73,009
		Casey Chlebek	5.6	27,655
	Submit photo	Richard Mayers (Write-in)	0.0	7

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 495,168
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

2018

See also: Illinois' 12th Congressional District election, 2018

General election

General election for U.S. House Illinois District 12

Incumbent Mike Bost defeated Brendan Kelly and Randy Auxier in the general election for U.S. House Illinois District 12 on November 6, 2018.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Mike Bost (R)	51.6	134,884
	Brendan Kelly (D)	45.4	118,724
	Randy Auxier (G)	3.0	7,935

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 261,543 (100.00% precincts reporting)
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 12

Brendan Kelly defeated David Bequette in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 12 on March 20, 2018.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Brendan Kelly	81.0	40,555
	David Bequette	19.0	9,526

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 50,081
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Charles Koen (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 12

Incumbent Mike Bost defeated Preston Nelson in the Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 12 on March 20, 2018.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Mike Bost	83.5	31,658
	Preston Nelson	16.5	6,258

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 37,916
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Green primary election

Green primary for U.S. House Illinois District 12

Randy Auxier advanced from the Green primary for U.S. House Illinois District 12 on March 20, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Randy Auxier	100.0	131

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 131
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

Preston Nelson did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign website

Nelson’s campaign website stated the following:

“

America First
Our nation is wealthy and powerful, but increasingly indebted and encumbered. Service on the national debt is set to become the biggest budget item. Meanwhile, politicians in both parties regularly export billions of dollars to foreign governments. This is unacceptable while working Americans struggle to make ends meet and homelessness is on the rise, even among Veterans.

Poor leadership across numerous administrations has set a bad precedent of buying superficial favor around the world. We have started and entered numerous wars at the behest of foreign powers. It's time to focus on rebuilding our own nation and taking care of Americans first.

We can quickly and easily return to having the world's best infrastructure, healthcare, and more. We only need to re-prioritize.

Term Limits
Politicians are like diapers. They should be changed regularly, and for the same reason.

Term limits may be the most straight-forward means to break the elite control over Washington, and ensure that incumbents cannot become too entrenched.

Social Security
That Social Security has become a political bargaining chip for establishment Democrats and Republicans is tragic. Republicans seek to cut benefits, raise the age of retirement, and Democrats offer little-to-no long term solutions for protecting the program on which millions of Americans rely.

Washington has proven that it can print money to fund whatever it wants, whether that is endless war around the world, or financial bailouts for mega corporations. It's time to stop playing games. Let's prioritize Americans who have contributed their entire lives to our nation and its promised programs. Social Security should be funded, period.

Moreover, cost-of-living adjustments hardly keep up with inflation, and that is because "inflation" is a rigged statistic that does not demonstrate reality. We will provide seniors with fair adjustments to ensure that the quality of their finances are maintained.

Inflation
I began formally studying economics in 2015, prior to my first congressional campaign. Inflation was a major issue then, although not so publicly apparent. A banker told me then to stop talking about inflation. He said that I did not know what I was talking about. Well, his comment has not aged well.

My major motive, back then, was to help prevent this economic disaster. I still hope to help stabilize our economy and currency. No one truly knows how bad this inflation will be. What we do know is that, left to the powers that be (who are responsible for creating this mess) it may all only worsen.

When government does artificially increase Money Supply, the people should receive it, not corporations.

Taxes
Simplify the tax code. Eliminate loop-holes.

Favor transparent tax rates and brackets that everyone pays. Taxes should be low enough to spur economic growth, and just high enough to ensure domestic tranquility.

LINK:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laffer_curve

Keep tax dollars local, wherever possible. For example, rather than sending taxes to Washington and hoping that they return efficiently to fund local programs, let's keep those funds local for smaller jurisdictions to manage and prioritize for better transparency and accountability.

Time Changes
No more time changes. No more springing forward. No more falling back.

This might sound trivial, but it is truly important. Economic productivity is lost following every time change. Worse, statistical rates for heart attacks, strokes, even accidents all rise following time changes.

Politicians frequently mention maybe fixing this. Let's finally get it done.

LINKS:

Fix the Food
So much confusion exists in nutrition and diet. "The devil is in the details," and so he's in the long list of ingredients that most people cannot even pronounce.

Example: red meat is not nearly as inflammatory as are all of the preservatives, artificial hormones, and other unnatural chemicals that are typically added to it. In fact, red meat is known to be uniquely beneficial for genetic health. On the other hand, blueberries are one of North-America's best natural super foods. But, they are not so super if they are covered in pesticides, preservatives, and other unhealthy chemicals.

Nearly HALF of all Americans now are expected to develop cancer within their lifetimes. A nation is only as healthy as its people, and we are what we eat. What good is it to have a robust economy if we live debilitated lives and die prematurely?

Cancerous cells metabolize sugar at about ten-times the rate that normal cells do. In fact, one test for determining where cancer has spread in the body is to inject colored glucose, and to see where it goes within the body. Given this, it makes no good sense that the perpetual "Farm Bill" includes billions of dollars in subsidies for processed sugar producers.

Despite spending billions more dollars every year for pharmaceutical cancer and disease research, we are seemingly no closer to any cures or prevention. Cancer is only one example, in addition to countless other increasingly chronic diseases and disorders.

It is time to return to nature, regain our lives and livelihoods.

Federal policies have favored a few large players who have nearly monopolized their industries, while also polluting them. Policy should be redeveloped in order to favor local producers who will better steward the land and its product. A major advantage to de-centralized food production is the added resiliency to our food supply, and resultant price stabilization.

Clean It Up
Your home is your primary environment. Everything from paper towels, coffee filters, cookware, milk cartons, and tampons contain chemicals toxic to the nervous and respiratory systems. Perfumes and most makeups contain chemicals that disrupt hormones. Most brands of "active wear" have been found to contain high levels of BPA, and even plastic-ware that advertises "BPA-Free" typically contains BPS, which is just another toxic chemical.

Americans cannot possibly avoid the high levels of contamination everywhere. We must clean up all of these industries, hold polluters accountable, and ensure that small, local, health-conscious producers are able to compete for business in the marketplace.

LINKS:

It is not OK to accept that "We are all going to die anyway," and so go on living toxic lives. The truth is that we do not all have to develop cancer. We do not have to watch our children struggle with strange diseases. We can live long, healthy, natural lives. We can live happy and free from excessive medical reliance. We will.

Healthcare
Two-Part-Policy

1. Expand Medicare access to everyone. Anyone who wants should have fair and equal access to the public policy.

2. Repeal burdensome restrictions to private healthcare. Americans should not be restricted from buying any insurance policy or attaining any medical care through their own means.

The "Affordable Care Act" failed on numerous fronts. It greatly complicated the medical insurance. While it expanded access to some people, it threw many full families off of insurance plans that they liked but were not allowed to keep. "If you like your doctor, then you can keep it. If you like your policy, you can keep it." Those were bold-faced lies that must be undone.

We can repeal that complicated mess, and offer Americans the best of both worlds: Medicare for anyone who wants it, and a truly open marketplace for anyone who prefers that.

This dual-scenario will ensure that everyone has access to healthcare, productive market forces will constantly improve medical offerings, and insurance companies will no longer be able to hijack prescribed medical care.

Moreover, we need to restore healthiness to our food supply, economy and nation at large, in order to end the Chronic Disease epidemic.

Equal Election Rights
Did you know that there is more to politics than Democrats and Republicans?

Did you know that (according to laws written by Democrats and Republicans) it often requires more than twenty-times the amount of petition signatures for a candidate who chooses to be Independent?

For this 12th district election, our campaign needed at least 444 written voter signatures in order to have Preston Gabriel Nelson written onto the Democratic the ballot. If we had opted for an Independent affiliation, then the signature requirement would have been over 14,000!

The United States government is a regular critic of other nations (think Russia) for eliminating electoral competition. Most people are not aware that the American government is equally unfair towards anyone outside of its own approved establishment.

Candidates in new parties, Libertarians, Greens, Constitutionalists, Independents, etc, are regularly challenged and removed from ballots, even after going to the great effort to gather so many extra petition signatures.

It is time that our government lives up to its standard, offering fair and equal ballot access to all political aspirants, and sees to it that 1st Amendment rights to freedom of speech, assembly, and association are not restricted due to unfair laws meant to restrict electoral competition.

Besides, in this nation where about 50% of people are so disillusioned that they do not even bother with voting, it cannot hurt to have more candidates representing more ideas to be placed onto ballots!

Election Fraud & Integrity
The integrity of our elections is paramount to our Democracy, and there are threats on numerous fronts.

Foreign interference is increasingly problematic, and our own nation has set a terrible precedent in this area. The United States government openly worked to rig numerous elections all over the world, from South America, to the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and even in Russia. The Clinton administration pushed for billions of dollars in funds to prop up specific Russian administrations throughout the 90's. The CIA worked to rig no fewer than 8 elections in Italy, even tampering with ballots. In all, the US Government is documented to have interfered in no fewer than 80 foreign elections since the end of WW2. The very first step to securing our own elections is to respect the sovereignty of other nations and their own elections.

Our own major media outlets are another threat. Almost all the newsrooms across the nation have been consolidated into a handful of groups owned by millionaires and billionaires who themselves have questionable foreign ties. Moreover, since the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine, partisan news outlets regularly omit important names and information of candidates whose policy might upset the establishment. Americans should turn off all of these crony outlets, from Fox to CNN, and instead get in tune with local stations who have not yet been gobbled up by these national syndicates.

Simple voter fraud may be the greatest new threat, as political actors in both parties take advantage of generous absentee laws, racing against each other to stuff ballots.

The solution is to require Voter IDs, and to make them free for anyone who needs one and who does not already have another state-issued ID. This will also work to keep voter rolls up-to-date and accurate, since failure to update voters' registrations is a common occurrence, and many voters do not remember which old address they used register.

Mail-in ballots should be restricted to deployed Military Members. In order to allow accommodations and encourage greater electoral participation, a 2-week voting window should be permitted, but no results announced until after the final day.

Immigration
Immigration is a double-edged sword, and we must ensure that it is cutting in the right direction.

Historically, hard-working immigrants have been an incredible boost to our economy, an advantage that most other nations miss. Healthy and sustainable immigration may even help to lower currency inflation and stop the devaluation of US dollars.

We must overhaul, and simply the immigration process to enable good, honest people to come and contribute legally to our economy, without complex burdens and needing to hire lawyers.

It has been said that immigrants should "Get in line to come here legally." Sure, but there really is no line to be found. The sad situation we have is the product of activist administrations who have practically advertised free welfare to anyone who can find an illegal entry. The result has been unprecedented levels of human trafficking, and an unsustainable influx of immigrants who are unable to adapt to life in this nation, much less contribute to the economy. And as our nation struggles to care for its own disadvantaged and homeless population, it is totally nonsensical to import more people who will be dependent on the government. Mayors in numerous sanctuary cities are now speaking out against these policies as their cities are overwhelmed, with no ability to house or help the influx of people. Inviting more people into a failing system is not compassion, and everyone is being hurt by these policies.

Myself, having lived South of the Border, let me say:

Yo amo todos ustedes!

Eu amo todos voces!

We need to overhaul our immigration system so that it works to benefit American citizens, while offering real opportunity to immigrants.

We will erase the bureaucratic nightmare that is our immigration system, replacing it with a real American dream that allows qualified individuals to easily arrive here with work visas to contribute and grow our economy.

Monopolies & Corporate Responsibility
Antitrust laws already prohibit monopolization, but our modern economy has become rigged such that an elite minority controls majority interest in almost every major industry. A complex web of cross-ownership is almost too complex to document, but it has actually be done.

LINK:

Many of these major players are also responsible for the promotion of bad health and chronic disease prevalent, not only in our nation, but now exported around the goal. On the other hand, these same players profit from the perpetual "treatment" of chronic symptoms (without focusing on any actual cures or prevention).

It's time to smash this system, hold accountable the unscrupulous actors, and return our economy to one that is not only worked, but owned and managed by real, local, every day people.

Spying on Americans
REPEAL THE "PATRIOT ACT"

Passed in the wake of 9/11, Bush's "Patriot Act" is another example of law that does the exact opposite of its namesake. Among other things, the Patriot Act set into motion unprecedented government spying on Americans. The 4th Amendment to the Constitution protects our right to security of our selves, our property, and our information, against unreasonable searches and seizures. Over a decade ago, Edward Snowden revealed the tip of an iceberg.

LINK:

virtually all our information, content, words, pictures, etc is being databased by the government. Despite the weight of these revelations, there's been very little done in Washington, on either side of the isle, to restore the People's right to privacy. It is as if both Democrats and Republicans in Washington support Federal spying on Americans.

If a private company were to compromise your data to an unauthorized entity, they would be subject to suit and penalties. It's time to hold Washington accountable for its own violation of our rights.

Whistleblowers
Real patriots, protectors of the public interest, like Julian Assange, Edward Snowden, Daniel Ellsberg, and many others are risking their lives to tell the truth.

Despite Assange's revealing that the Democratic National Committee's rigged the 2016 Primary Election in favor of Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders, and despite Assange revealing war crimes and dishonest intentions throughout Middle Eastern wars, Julian Assange would find no help from Donald Trump, whose administration instead sought to extradite and prosecute him.

Whistleblowers frequently expose just how much that the Democratic and Republican establishments actually have in common. The establishment almost always seeks to silence and detain whistleblowers, and it is often successful. Now is beyond time for our elected officials to protect these people, as we are elected to represent the public interest.

Daniel Ellsberg, who published the "Pentagon Papers" was instrumental in finally ending the Vietnam War.

"If wars can be started by lies, peace can be started by truth." - Julian Assange

Student Loans
Getting Congress to cancel student debt might never happen, and forcing tax payers to bear the burden of debt that is not their own is not fair, but here is the simplest, quickest way forward to prevent widespread defaults and relieve borrowers:

0% interest on federal student loans, with no penalties for missed or late payments.

Re-Distribution of Wealth
So-called Conservatives balk at the idea of redistributing wealth, and so-called progressives occasionally mention in while campaigning, but there is little debate and little fanfare when major amounts of wealth are redistributed away from the working class and given to the rich.

Democrat Barack Obama authorized hundreds of billions of dollars in financial benefits for the corporate elite in response to the 2008 market recession.

Republican Donald Trump authorized hundreds of billions of dollars in financial benefits for the corporate elite in response to COVID-19.

During the pandemic, an average of 1 person per day transitioned from millionaire to billionaire status.

While D's and R's make sure that their financial donors are taken care of, average Americans are left with the crumbs of inflated dollars.

It's time to elect Representatives who will fight for us, level the economic playing field, and prevent any more of these economic messes.

War
"The war is not meant to be won, it is meant to be continuous." - George Orwell

Dick Cheney's Halliburton, and the Carlyle Group have played us well, and for far too long. It is time to bring liars, war criminals, and treasonists to justice.

Who knew that the US government funded and armed the Taliban, prior to our invasion there? And who knew that our supposed allies, the Saudis, continued funding and arming the Taliban during the invasion?

Who knew that Barack Obama gave millions of dollars in weaponry to Al Qaeda and ISIS terrorists in Syria?

Who knew that Bush lied about WMDs in Iraq?

We all know now.

Never-ending war is a major contributor to the GDP, even though it does not create real wealth, but destroys it. American antagonists have set fires and stoked flames across the world, from Libya, to Ukraine. We have gone trillions of dollars into debt so that the rich and powerful can play geopolitical games. Enough is enough. In order to save our world, we must behead the military industrial complex, and elect a true leader who will follow the Constitution and the War Powers Act.

We will bring our troops home, defend our own borders, and maintain a ready defense. In the even of a threat, we will vote to declare war or not. And when war is declared, we will attack swiftly and decisively.

Repeal the PREP Act
The PREP Act is the blanket immunity that protects medical corporations and similar entities from legal recourse for wrongdoings during a declared pandemic. The intent is to prevent frivolous lawsuits during a pandemic, but the result has become gross mistreatment of countless Americans.

My own dad was found tied to a hospital bed, where he had been ignored and deprived of food and water for days. His nose was also mysteriously broken. Subsequent investigation revealed similar treatment to numerous patients. We must hold bad actors accountable, and prevent this terrible treatment from ever occurring again.

Housing
Housing, especially home-ownership is paramount to fulfilling the American Dream. While we would wish for a healthy housing market with fair prices for everyone, decades of government mismanagement has wrought havoc to the housing market.

I support Robert F. Kennedy's plan to revitalize the housing market with 3% mortgages. Read more about it at:
www.kennedy24.com

Labor
The rights to speak, to assemble, organize, plan, negotiate, and seek happiness are cemented in the American Constitution, and those Constitutional Rights are not checked at the door, or left in the locker before heading to the job site.

We will protect laborer's rights, while penalizing corporations which import goods from nations and factories with sub-standard working conditions.^[2]

”

—Preston Nelson’s campaign website (2024)^[3]

2022

Preston Nelson did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Video for Ballotpedia

Video submitted to Ballotpedia Released September 28, 2020

Preston Nelson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Nelson's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

In 1990, was born into a lower-class family in Southern Illinois, and I have watched the news almost nightly since I was about 10 years old. Thanks to my hard-working family, we made it to the middle class, and enjoyed even the prosperity of "Health Insurance" until new government laws kicked my entire family off of our insurance plan in 2010. Now, a decade later, I still do not have health insurance, because as both Ds and Rs have failed to manage our nation, the cost of health insurance for me, a young and healthy guy, is simply outrageous.

When the left and right wing media goes about telling the news, I think what is most interested are all the stories that neither touches. Consider that Barack Obama armed Al Qaeda terrorists from 2012 to 2016, while the whole news media covered for him, calling them "moderate" despite the Defense Agency reporting in 2012 that those rebels were not moderate, and that they were mostly with Al Qaeda. Did anyone remember that story? Who heard when George Bush stone-walled and kept classified those 28 pages of the 9-11 report ( 28pages.org ) because they proved it was not some ragtag terrorists who attacked our nation, but rather a group of mostly Saudi individuals with financial and logistical ties to members of the Saudi Government, including Prince Bandar, himself?

The problem in our nation is not the left, or the right, conservatives, or liberals, not even Republicans or Democrats. The problem is in the fakes, and the liars.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Defeat COVID19 by Making America Healthy Again - The US Government spends over $100-billion per year to subsidize food. Over 80% of those dollars go to huge, industrial agribusinesses which produce very unhealthy food. We should "flip the farm bill" to spend that 80% on subsidies for local, fresh, natural, healthy food. According to the CDC and Health.gov, bad diet in America is responsible for over half of all Americans suffering PREVENTABLE disease. This costs trillions of dollars. We could lower the cost of healthcare insurance, just by getting rid of all these preventable diseases, and we do that by sponsoring health food, instead of junk food with the billions of dollars in the Farm Bill.
COVID19 has ravaged our people and economy. Most of those who do not survive it, they suffer from 1, mostly 2 pre-existing conditions. As stated above, over half of the pre-existing conditions in America are PREVENTABLE, and the result of a bad diet. Look at Scandanavia. They have a superb diet, a healthy population, and they had little issue with COVID19. The way we save hundreds of thousands of American lives, trillions of dollars, and the way that we defeat COVID19, and the next virus too, is by Making America Healthy so that our immune systems are adequate to fight disease. Currently, we spend over $5-billion per year, just to subsidize white sugar. Sugar is well documented to inhibit immune system funtion. This has to change.
Bring the troops home. End the foreign wars. We have spent so many trillions abroad in wars that were began over bad intelligence and dishonest motives. It is time to put and end to the madness. When we are not spending trillions of dollars every year to blow stuff up on the other side of the globe, we will have no problem funding domestic programs for Americans.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Foreign Policy

Monetary Policy
Agricultural Policy
Government Oversight and Accountability

Intelligence, spying, the Patriot Act

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

Ron Paul. He exposed so many of the lies being told in Washington, and he tried his hardest to stop them and to educate people for many yeas in the US Congress.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

End the Fed by Ron Paul
He speaks about property bipartisanship in this book, too.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Honesty, sincerity, awareness, interest, wisdom

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

Stoic

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

To govern honest with the best, most sincere intentions.

What legacy would you like to leave?

If lies started the wars, then the truth can end them, and make Peace. I want to be remembered for making a peaceful society which lead to prosperity, and free people who could all live and worship in joy and love.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

Christmas 1996 - I got a bb gun.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

I was a waiter at the Pasta House in Mount Vernon, IL. The job lasted for about a year.

What is your favorite book? Why?

The First and Second Books of Adam and Eve. They are so interesting, and presume to contain the oldest messianic prophecy!

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

Dr. Strange

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

Amazing Grace

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

Being able to save money in an inflationary economy.

What process do you favor for redistricting?

Rectangular districts. I think that counties should not be divided in the districting process.

What qualities does the U.S. House of Representatives possess that makes it unique as an institution?

It is a democratically-elected republic, but, it only works if everyone votes. If people do not participate in elections, then it is not true democracy. Nearly HALF of all people today do not vote, and that is because they are not well represented by either major party. It is so unfortunate that both major parties fight so hard to keep independents and other parties out of the debates.

As a Libertarian, I can offer new diversity to the House of Representatives so that more people may be interested in the system enough to participate.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for representatives to have previous experience in government or politics?

It could be beneficial, but usually it is not because power corrupts and so many of our leaders are dishonest, and they fail to speak to so many issues, like our government's enabling of terrorism in certain foreign nations, and human rights abuses in other nations which claim to be our allies.

What do you perceive to be the United States’ greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

Unsustainable debt, an ever-growing deficit, and a very dishonest government which is dividing our nation.

If you are not a current representative, are there certain committees that you would want to be a part of?

Oversight and Accountability

Intelligence
Finance

Foreign Affairs

Do you believe that two years is the right term length for representatives?

Yes. Some representatives complain that so much of their time is spent campaigning and fundraising, but I say that that is their fault.

What are your thoughts on term limits?

They are a useful tool for weeding out corruption, but in the end, everything is determined by the number of educated Americans who will participate in elections.

If you are not currently a member of your party’s leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives, would you be interested in joining the leadership? If so, in what role?

As the only Libertarian, I would be a natural leader of my party.

Is there a particular representative, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?

Ron Paul

Both sitting representatives and candidates for office hear many personal stories from the residents of their district. Is there a story that you’ve heard that you found particularly touching, memorable, or impactful?

I was speaking to a room of people about our government's shameful negligence in caring for our nations veterans. I referred to the Agent Orange scandal, and after my speech, an elderly veteran came to say how much he appreciated what I said. A couple months later, the Congressman I was running against had passed a bill specifically to care for those still suffering from Agent Orange.

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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.

Preston Nelson campaign contribution history
Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2024*	U.S. House Illinois District 12	Lost primary	$0	N/A**
2022	Illinois Treasurer	Lost general	$0	$0
2020	U.S. House Illinois District 8	Lost general	$0	N/A**
2020	U.S. Senate Illinois	Withdrew primary	$0	N/A**
2018	U.S. House Illinois District 12	Lost primary	$0	N/A**
Grand total			$0	N/A**
Sources: OpenSecrets, Federal Elections Commission *This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

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Candidate

U.S. House Illinois District 12

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Footnotes

↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 12, 2020
↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
↑ vote4nelson.com, “Legislative Priorities,” accessed February 23, 2024

[show]

Illinois' current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Tammy Duckworth (D)

Dick Durbin (D)

Representatives

District 1

Jonathan Jackson (D)

District 2

Robin Kelly (D)

District 3

Delia Ramirez (D)

District 4

Jesus Garcia (D)

District 5

Mike Quigley (D)

District 6

Sean Casten (D)

District 7

Danny Davis (D)

District 8

Raja Krishnamoorthi (D)

District 9

Jan Schakowsky (D)

District 10

Brad Schneider (D)

District 11

Bill Foster (D)

District 12

Mike Bost (R)

District 13

Nikki Budzinski (D)

District 14

Lauren Underwood (D)

District 15

Mary Miller (R)

District 16

Darin LaHood (R)

District 17

Eric Sorensen (D)

Democratic Party (16)

Republican Party (3)

[bio-1] Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 12, 2020

[quotedisclaimer-2] Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.

[3] vote4nelson.com, “Legislative Priorities,” accessed February 23, 2024

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[2]

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Preston Nelson

Biography

Elections

2024

General election

General election for U.S. House Illinois District 12

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 12

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 12

Endorsements

2022

General election

General election for Illinois Treasurer

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Illinois Treasurer

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Illinois Treasurer

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

2020

U.S. House

General election

General election for U.S. House Illinois District 8

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 8

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

U.S. Senate

General election

General election for U.S. Senate Illinois

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Illinois

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. Senate Illinois

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

2018

General election

General election for U.S. House Illinois District 12

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 12

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 12

Green primary election

Green primary for U.S. House Illinois District 12

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

Campaign website

2022

2020

Video for Ballotpedia

Campaign finance summary

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