Like many of Kentucky’s current and retired employees—especially educators, Bob Nelson was very unhappy with the actions of the Kentucky General Assembly last winter. And, like many of his peers, “Coach Bob” decided to do something about it by running for a seat in the legislature. He is a candidate for the House of Representatives from the 16^th District.

Also like many other candidates who decided after seeing the General Assembly in action to offer themselves as a replacement, Nelson filed his candidacy too late to have his name appear on the ballot. Instead, he is asking voters in Logan and Todd counties to write in his name during the Nov. 6 election.

Bob Nelson is best known locally as a coach. He is one of only three men to serve as head coach of Russellville Panther football during a 42-year span. He served as an assistant to Coach Ken Barrett for eight years before moving up to head coach for six years. He knew success as coach of RHS boys track. Then he spent 13 years teaching and coaching in the Logan County schools, both at Lewisburg and at LCHS.

“For the past 27 years, it has been my pleasure to serve the public as a teacher in the Logan County and Russellville Independent school systems, where I taught both high school and middle school social studies and science. Most recently, I worked at Logan County High School where I taught courses in Advanced Placement U.S. Government and Politics, U.S. History, and Integrated Social Studies: World Geography, Civics and Economics,” he says.

“I have worked with and helped train several local Kentucky public school teachers, which has made me acutely aware of state and national governmental policies that are damaging our educational system and attacking teachers financially, professionally, and personally. Education is the most powerful tool we can use to change the world.  Education is society’s most important investment in the future. I believe young people deserve our investment in their educational endeavors, whatever their vocation may be. As such, we should not saddle them with overwhelming debt, but we should establish an economy that provides opportunities for all, regardless of race or geography.”

Bob Nelson was born in California, but his family moved to other states because his dad was in the United States military. He was stationed in Louisville in 1968, and Bob has lived in Kentucky the past 50 years.

He is married to another retired educator, former Russellville librarian/media specialist Susannah Nelson. One of his step-daughters, Breanna Shelton White, works for the Logan County Schools. She is married to First Baptist Church Youth Minister Jonathan White. Another step-daughter, Whitney Christner, and her husband Kalin live in Sarasota, Fla.

Being willing to service in the state legislature goes along with Nelson’s education. After graduating from Jesse Stuart High School, he did his undergraduate work at Murray State University, majoring in Political Science and minoring in History.  He has an Area in Education with specializations in Social Studies and Science, which he completed in 1990.  He earned his Master of Arts in Education from Western Kentucky University in 1996.

Prior to becoming a teacher and moving to Logan County, he worked for a tree and wood products business in Murray. That job afforded me the opportunity to work outdoors and to understand the importance of environmental justice and responsible stewardship of public and private lands. He says, “There are few things more sacred than the land upon which we live and we cannot take our world for granted. We can live well without exploiting our natural resources for excessive profits. I believe we need to show respect not only for one another, but also for this precious land we live on: and if we do not, we lose. Eventually, we will have to recognize that human beings cannot live without a healthy Earth, healthy communities, and healthy households.”

“I have lived in a few towns in Kentucky, but treasure most my home in Russellville, Logan County, and the beautiful small lakes, rivers, woods and fields of South Central Kentucky. I chose to settle here because I felt at home. This community is filled with genuine and friendly people who are always eager to share a good time or a good story and I cannot help but feel good when I am among them. The fondness I have for the people here and my concern for our shared future inspires me to seek election for this beloved district.”

Bob Nelson lists these platforms as part of his campaign

• We support a smart living wage that is tied to local cost of living and inflation. If you work 40 hours a week, you should make enough to be able to afford a home and provide for your family without being forced into a second or third job. It’s a waste of everyone’s time to fight over the minimum wage as the economy changes.
• We support the right for all workers to organize for collective bargaining. Employees should have a say in their working conditions.
• We support investments in education, quality of life, and the things that make our Commonwealth unique. If you live in an area where jobs are disappearing, it’s our responsibility to help attract new jobs to the area.
• We support job creation through investments in Kentucky’s roads, bridges, schools, and community centers. There’s no reason that we should have crumbling infrastructure and people looking for work.
• We support policies to tackle income inequality specifically associated with race and geography. We will work to change the policies that discriminate against people based on their race or geography.

• We support moving to publicly funded state elections. This will make it easier for anyone in our state to run for office, and shut out the out-of-state donors who have taken over Kentucky politics.
• We support repealing Citizens United. Politicians should be accountable to their constituents, not shadowy special interests.
• We support ending gerrymandering. Redrawing districts to preserve political interests is anti-public.
• We support creating strong accountability policies for state government. Information and data about what happens in government should be transparent, easy to understand, and easy to access.