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Ryan Nelson (Michigan)

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This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Ryan M. Nelson
Image of Ryan M. Nelson

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments
Last election

August 6, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 2000

Personal
Birthplace
Petoskey, Mich.
Religion
Christian: Methodist
Profession
Owner and Executive Recruiter
Contact

Personal LinkedIn

Ryan M. Nelson (Democratic Party) (also known as RM) ran for election to the Michigan House of Representatives to represent District 9. He lost in the Democratic primary on August 6, 2024.

Biography

Ryan Nelson was born in Petoskey, Michigan. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 2000. Nelson's career experience includes working as a business owner, executive recruiter, automotive engineer for Visteon, Freshwater Future, and with the World Environment Center, U.S. House, and U.S. Senate. He has been affiliated with the Warren Sterling Heights Elks Lodge Local 2292, the South Central Macomb Democratic Party, the Warren Area Democratic Party, the National Rifle Association, Ducks Unlimited, Wear Red for Ed, Moms Demand Action, UAW, AFL-CIO - Working America, and Detroit Regional Chamber.[1][2]

Elections

2024

See also: Michigan House of Representatives elections, 2024

General election

General election for Michigan House of Representatives District 9

Incumbent Joseph Tate defeated Michele Lundgren in the general election for Michigan House of Representatives District 9 on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Joseph Tate
Joseph Tate (D)
 
93.0
 
33,310
Image of Michele Lundgren
Michele Lundgren (R)
 
7.0
 
2,509

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 35,819
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 9

Incumbent Joseph Tate defeated Lory Renea Parks and Ryan M. Nelson in the Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 9 on August 6, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Joseph Tate
Joseph Tate
 
74.9
 
8,831
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Lory Renea Parks
 
18.9
 
2,227
Image of Ryan M. Nelson
Ryan M. Nelson
 
6.2
 
728

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 11,786
Candidate Connection = 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.

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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 9

Michele Lundgren advanced from the Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 9 on August 6, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Michele Lundgren
Michele Lundgren
 
100.0
 
254

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 254
Candidate Connection = 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.

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Campaign finance

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Nelson in this election.

2022

See also: Michigan House of Representatives elections, 2022

General election

General election for Michigan House of Representatives District 8

Mike McFall defeated Rob Noble in the general election for Michigan House of Representatives District 8 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Mike McFall
Mike McFall (D) Candidate Connection
 
78.9
 
23,364
Image of Rob Noble
Rob Noble (R) Candidate Connection
 
21.1
 
6,254

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 29,618
Candidate Connection = 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.

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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 8

Mike McFall defeated Durrel K. Douglas, Ernest Little, David M. Soltis, and Ryan M. Nelson in the Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 8 on August 2, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Mike McFall
Mike McFall Candidate Connection
 
37.8
 
3,617
Image of Durrel K. Douglas
Durrel K. Douglas Candidate Connection
 
21.6
 
2,071
Image of Ernest Little
Ernest Little
 
17.2
 
1,643
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
David M. Soltis
 
14.0
 
1,337
Image of Ryan M. Nelson
Ryan M. Nelson Candidate Connection
 
9.4
 
904

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 9,572
Candidate Connection = 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.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 8

Rob Noble defeated Attie Pollard in the Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 8 on August 2, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Rob Noble
Rob Noble Candidate Connection
 
81.9
 
1,718
Image of Attie Pollard
Attie Pollard
 
18.1
 
379

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 2,097
Candidate Connection = 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.

Campaign finance

2020

See also: Michigan House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Michigan House of Representatives District 22

Richard Steenland defeated Steven Warner in the general election for Michigan House of Representatives District 22 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Richard Steenland
Richard Steenland (D) Candidate Connection
 
59.9
 
24,954
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Steven Warner (R)
 
40.1
 
16,701

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 41,655
Candidate Connection = 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.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 22

Richard Steenland defeated Ryan M. Nelson and Michael James Anderson in the Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 22 on August 4, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Richard Steenland
Richard Steenland Candidate Connection
 
51.3
 
4,557
Image of Ryan M. Nelson
Ryan M. Nelson Candidate Connection
 
26.2
 
2,327
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Michael James Anderson Candidate Connection
 
22.5
 
1,996

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 8,880
Candidate Connection = 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.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 22

Steven Warner defeated Jeff Bonnell in the Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 22 on August 4, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Steven Warner
 
51.1
 
2,667
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Jeff Bonnell
 
48.9
 
2,548

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 5,215
Candidate Connection = 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.

Campaign finance


2010

See also: Michigan House of Representatives elections, 2010

Nelson was defeated in the primary by Richard Timmer.[3]

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

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

2022

Candidate Connection

Ryan M. Nelson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. 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

I'm a Mechanical Engineer by degree, an entrepreneur and problem-solver, and proud Michigander, with deep family roots in Detroit and the Upper Peninsula. I'm a product of public schools and the University of Michigan. My mom was a pediatric nurse, my father was a city DPW crewleader and union member for 40 years, my sisters, aunt and great friends are all educators, coaches, and small business owners. I am involved with local unions, Moms Demand Action, Wear Red for Ed, and other causes to lift up all voices to try to solve issues so many working families face every day.
  • Good ideas to improve legislation can come from anywhere. I've taken the time to listen to every family I can, knocking on every door - and will continue to until August - and will add all their ideas and input to the policy I will write and advocate for in Lansing.
  • I am not taking any donations or money for my campaign, and checked the box committing to not spending more than $1000.
  • I am available to any voter by phone, anytime. Please call me. 313-952-0888
Responsible economic development - removing blight in the Woodward and John R corridors, improving and strengthening public education, standing up for and behind consumers and holding powerful companies and interests accountable, connecting every citizen to their local and state government again - bringing their voices and input and wisdom to the table on every issue they face. Most importantly, helping on a personal level and improving every law and program we can, to improve the lives of as many Michiganders as we can.
Former Governor and State Supreme Court Justice G. Mennen "Soapy" Williams and Former Governor William Milliken. They campaigned vigorously and served humbly, a unique combination that I hope to emulate.
Soapy: A Biography of G. Mennen Williams and William G. Milliken: Michigan's Passionate Moderate
Integrity, humility, and courage/strength. We are elected to advocate - the question is always for whom.
I'm a problem solver/pragmatist and optimist. I understand how Lansing and government works at every level and will be relentless at getting things done for the families that make up the 8th District. It will take a lot of hard work, starting 1000s of conversations - which I've already begun, and a heart for service.
To include our constituents in every bit of work we do. To magnify their voices, concerns, and perspectives, and to use their wisdom and input to write the legislation that will improve their lives.
I worked relentlessly to help people however I could.
Besides the space shuttle Challenger explosion when I was 8, I witnessed the plane crash on 9-11 on my second day of work in a high rise next to the Pentagon.
I was a busboy and then a server at a family restaurant for 7 years.
John Adams - by David McCullough - it was the first biography I've ever read, and I was in Washington DC at the time - where so much of the book is set, as McCullough describes the creation and building of our capital city.
Dave Matthews Band - Seek Up
I honestly can't think of one thing - I am fortunate beyond measure. Which is why I am running - to serve others, our communities, and our state that has given me such a blessed life.
There must be balance. Her duties are different than a legislator's but the oath they take is the same.
Protecting The Great Lakes and all our natural resources while responsibly diversifying, developing, and growing our economy.
Benefits are an abbreviated legislative process and therefore ideas and improvements are made into law quicker. Drawbacks are that this quicker process eliminates time for debate, info gathering, and compromise, and therefore diminishes the possibility for improving any policy further. Our US Senate exists for this important reason.
Not necessarily. In a democracy, we need perspectives and viewpoints and wisdom from all vocations and walks of life.
It's imperative. Building consensus on policy improvements is necessary and, again, why I'm running. I will begin working with every other office on both sides of the aisle on day one.
Our bi/non partisan commission was an incredible improvement. Taking the politics out of the process as much as possible will always make it better.
Education, Tax and Budget, Commerce, Natural Resources
So many - Sen's Stephanie Chang, Mallory McMorrow, Jeremy Moss, and Reps Kevin Hertel and Joe Tate
Not at this time.
Several constituents have shared heartbreaking stories from the past couple years going thru the pandemic. Many have also talked about issues with unemployment benefits and that process which has made that a priority for my first few weeks in Lansing.
Two flies in the kitchen, which one is the cowboy?





The one on the range.
No.
Absolutely. It is why I am running - I will be a relentless negotiator.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2020

Candidate Connection

Ryan M. 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

I was born and raised in Petoskey with my brother and 4 sisters, which is where my mom got a job as a Pediatric Nurse after her family moved north from Warren in 1969. I'm proud of my Macomb County and U.P. roots.

I graduated as a Pre-Med Minor/Mechanical Engineering Major from the University of Michigan in 2000, started engineering for Visteon the month after they spun off from Ford, and was among 5000 others laid off just over a year later. I moved to Washington DC that summer, started my first job there on September 10th 2001 recruiting in a firm in a high-rise near the Pentagon, and witnessed the horrific plane crash the next morning. A few months later I was asked to work in a Congressional office on Capitol Hill, and ended up spending the next 3 years there in both the House and Senate, working for Democrats and Republicans, and on several campaigns throughout the country.

I returned home to Michigan in 2006, managed a State Senate campaign in Monroe County, then moved to Ann Arbor where I and a good friend launched our employment services company Hiresite. For the past 14 years, I have helped people find and land good paying jobs in manufacturing companies right here in Michigan and throughout the Midwest.

I believe my engineering background, my experience for 13 years as a business owner helping people find jobs, as well as my time working in government and in politics, have all prepared me to be an effective leader in the State House.
  • I started my campaign with the same approach I will use every day while in office: When I need information to write legislation, or to vote, or to stand up and fight on an issue, I'm not going to get that information from the lobbyists or the bureaucrats in Lansing, I'm going to call and knock on doors here and ask for the wisdom and experience from our citizens.
  • Last summer as I traversed our district knocking on every door - Democrat, Republican, Independent, and many who haven't voted in years or ever - I heard a lot of what I still hear in every conversation even now: that they didn't know their State Representative, that they didn't feel like their voice or their vote mattered, and that they were thankful that I was there and was really listening. I'm running because these sentiments need not be.
  • I'm running because I know how campaigns work, I know how Lansing works, and I know how important good, compassionate, transparent governance is, especially now. I'm running because I've spoken with over a thousand families on their front porches, and over a thousand more on the phone over this difficult winter and spring, and I've promised each of them that I will always answer when they call, and I will always listen, because they know what they need better than anyone in Lansing.
Education, infrastructure, tax relief and reform, safeguarding pensions, social security, Medicare and Medicaid, environmental protection and justice, labor and collective bargaining reform, and business development and diversification are all issues I'll start to address on day one.

In regards to the Coronovirus Pandemic - we need to listen to doctors, epidemiologists and researchers from around the world, as we have with every other global crisis and pandemic, and stop putting the spotlight on politicians, bureaucrats, celebrities and those who only want to make money from our suffering. Other countries have slowed the spread and even eradicated the virus. We now need to find the humility to follow, as we sadly lost the chance to lead on this long ago.

In regards to policing reform - we are in a unique position to watch and learn from other states with cities that are enacting sweeping reforms, and then we can implement what will work best for Michigan to improve our policing at all levels. Improving public safety is a focus every year in the legislature. I look forward to having a vigorous debate with new data, as we see how new policies change outcomes across the country.

G. Mennen "Soapy" Williams has always been a role model since I first read about him years ago. He campaigned humbly, and served our state graciously for many years. I always pray thanks for his life of service and example.
I started working when I was 12, when my brother and I walked down the main street in our city and asked if we could mow the lawn for businesses. We did this at 2 motels for two summers. I started working at breakfast restaurant / diner the day I got my work permit when I was 14. I worked there and did other side jobs for the next 5 years.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.


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.

Ryan M. Nelson campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2024* Michigan House of Representatives District 9Lost primary$0 $0
2022Michigan House of Representatives District 8Lost primary$0 $0
2020Michigan House of Representatives District 22Lost primary$9,882 N/A**
Grand total$9,882 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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    Footnotes

    1. ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on July 21, 2020
    2. ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on May 27, 2022
    3. ↑ Michigan Secretary of State, 2010 Primary Election Results – State Representative, accessed July 19, 2012


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