Merrill Nelson

Merrill F. Nelson (born July 16, 1955 in Tooele, Utah) is an American politician and a Republican member of the Utah House of Representatives representing District 68 since January 1, 2013.

Nelson earned his BS in agricultural economics from Brigham Young University and his JD from J. Reuben Clark Law School.

• 2014 Nelson was unopposed for the Republican convention and won the November 4, 2014 general election due to being unopposed because Independent candidate Rett Rowley was disqualified before the election.
• 2012 Nelson was selected from four candidates by the Republican convention to challenge District 68 incumbent Republican Representative Bill Wright in the June 26, 2012 Republican primary, winning with 1,910 votes (52.3%) and won the three-way November 6, 2012 General election with 9,831 votes (73.8%) against Democratic nominee Thomas Nedreberg and Constitution candidate Paul McCollaum, Jr.

• 1998 To challenge Senate District 13 incumbent Democratic Representative George Mantes, Nelson won the 1998 Republican primary, but lost the November 3, 1998 General election by 45 votes to Democratic nominee Ron Allen who had won the Democratic Primary against Senator Mantes. Allen served in the seat from 1999 until 2006.

During the 2016 legislative session, Nelson served on the Executive Offices and Criminal Justice Appropriations Subcommittee, the House Government Operations Committee, and the House Judiciary Committee. During the interim, Nelson served on the Government Operations Interim Committee, and the Judiciary Interim Committee.

Representative Nelson did not floor sponsor any bills in 2016.