The more candidates we meet and interact with, the more we recognize that life before politics is a valuable indicator of how they will lead. I have long said that the world would be a far better place if teachers and nurses were in charge. Our guest contributor this week illustrates that beautifully. Ang Nelson is a high school history teacher turned elementary school principal running to unseat state Senator Jim Abeler in Minnesota Senate District 35.
I loved being a high school social studies teacher. I loved my students and families, I loved my colleagues, and I loved my school. As an educator, I stayed civically engaged, but certainly wasn’t thinking about political office.
When I first started teaching, I also coached the dance team, had children of my own, and purchased my first home in Coon Rapids. The house was right down the road from my grandma, where she had lived since 1959. My days were spent engaging students in the rich, complex history of the United States and hosting student groups in my classroom because it was a place they felt safe.
I coached dance out of love and because I needed the extra money. As a new teacher, I barely made enough to pay my bills. My kids and I qualified for free and reduced lunch. My nights were spent at the park with my two kids, taking pride in my yard, and connecting with neighbors over a beer in the driveway. I worked hard to leave a positive impact on every student and individual I met, living a humble, deeply satisfying life rooted in the community where I was born and raised.
I played softball in Coon Rapids as a kid. It taught me determination, how to show up for my team, keep doing the work and always hold onto hope. My stepdad taught me to close my eyes and picture throwing a perfect strike. I’d spend hours in the backyard pitching into a five-gallon bucket, building the focus and confidence to bring that vision to life. That practice paid off. Our Coon Rapids team went on to win the state championship that year!
My foundation was forged in our neighborhoods; raising my kids in the same community I grew up in and living the real-world squeeze of paying the bills as a working parent. Living this reality gives me a perspective that career politicians in St. Paul simply don’t have. My opponent has been in office since I was in high school, spending over 25 years inside St. Paul’s legislative chambers.
As time went on and I learned more about my school and the students inside it, I wanted to have an even bigger impact on our educational community–so I kept learning. I got my Master’s degree and completed two educational policy fellowships with the Center for Policy Design that drove me to do more for my community. After nine years in the classroom, I made the jump to high school assistant principal, and after a few short years, became a high school principal.
Today, I’m an elementary principal. No day is the same, but on an average Tuesday, before the bell rings, I’m navigating a crisis: a bus delayed on a snowy route, a crying kindergartener who misses their mom, a teacher needing immediate coverage for a family emergency, and a complex budget spreadsheet requiring mid-year adjustments. I can’t afford to table motions or call for a recess when things get tough. I have to listen, make a clear decision, de-escalate tension, and ensure 500 kids feel safe and ready to learn by 7:45 AM. There’s no time for pointing fingers–not when students are counting on us to deliver.
My opponent operates in a world of committee speeches and party-line gridlock. That is the difference between administrative execution and political debate. As a school principal, when a major challenge hits, you can’t pass the buck or hide behind partisan arguments. You have to bring diverse perspectives to the table, manage budgets responsibly, and deliver solutions and results for students and families. I’ve spent my career creating environments where every individual feels a sense of belonging and where people come together to solve tough problems. Now, I am ready to bring that exact leadership to the Minnesota Senate.
Our community in Coon Rapids, Anoka, and Andover is facing urgent challenges. Even before I decided to run for office, I was listening. Whether it’s through one of the thousands of conversations I’ve had on a door step or at a roundtable on affordability, I hear the same worries everyday. Childcare and healthcare costs are skyrocketing. Prescription prices are out of control. Affordable housing is nearly impossible to find. Seniors are struggling to stay in the homes they love. And our public schools are underfunded and under attack.
I think about a conversation I had on a porch in Coon Rapids with a nurse as she described patients wanting to see an itemized cost breakdown before deciding on labs required for treatment. They were worried the out of pocket costs would be too high for their family to absorb. They were actually considering skipping necessary medical labs just to keep food on the table and gas in the tank. I talked to a mom who calculated that childcare for her two children under three costs as much as college—forcing her family to make impossible choices about whether both parents can even afford to work.
We deserve better.
Preparing six-year-olds for gun violence shouldn’t be a part of a principal’s job description. In my school, our teachers read books to the students about active shooter safety, trying to prepare them for what’s about to happen and worse–what could happen. This is not something adults or legislators should be okay with. My opponent claims public safety is one of his top priorities, but his voting record tells a very different story. When critical gun safety legislation came on the floor, he didn’t vote to protect our community.
We don’t need rhetoric. We need practical solutions built by listening to everyday people living these challenges. Despite my opponent’s decades on health and human services committees, families in our district are paying more than ever. While he talks about supporting local families, his long voting record tells a different story: voting against lowering healthcare costs, against reproductive freedom, against voting rights, and against funding the public schools and labor unions that protect our community. He’s had decades to deliver. It’s time for change.
When you’ve sat in the same Capitol committee rooms for over two decades, it is easy for policy to become abstract and for real human struggles to get reduced to legislative strategy and party-line votes. My opponent sits on committees designed to help citizens with medical care. Meanwhile, I was sitting at my own kitchen table–helping my own family navigate the baffling, broken maze of healthcare and mental health systems. When you live the consequences of bad policy alongside the people you serve, you don’t settle for status-quo excuses or partisan gridlock. You fight for immediate, practical relief. Twenty-seven years is more than enough time to deliver, my opponent’s votes no longer reflect the values or the needs of our district. District 35 doesn’t need another term of status-quo political posturing or career politics. It’s time for fresh, practical leadership rooted in deep community connection, accountability, and action.
We deserve representation that reflects where our district is today, not where politics was a quarter-century ago.
One of my greatest strengths as a leader is that I lead with hope. Hope that is, grounded and determined, paired with a vision, the willpower, and a plan to get things done. That mindset has carried me through the hardest chapters of my life—through navigating mental health and addiction struggles within my family, through the wild ride of raising two incredible teenagers, and through the sudden loss of my beloved sister, Christie, ten years ago.
Losing Christie so suddenly to a blood clot changed the way I view every person I meet. It taught me that life can change in an instant, every interaction matters, and everyone is carrying silent burdens we know nothing about. Facing family challenges didn’t break my resolve; it stripped away judgment and replaced it with fierce empathy. It taught me that real leadership isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about being willing to stand in the storm with people, listen without judgment, and do the hard, unglamorous work to help them rebuild.
Through it all, I’ve stayed grounded in my purpose: to show up, do the work, and make life better for the people around me.
As a leader, I believe in bringing people with all perspectives together to listen and learn so that we can build the solutions our communities deserve. Because the truth is, we’re the experts in our own lives. When we lead with shared values and a vision for something better, we’re unstoppable. That’s the heart, the drive, and the leadership I’ll bring to the State Senate for Coon Rapids, Anoka, and Andover.
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