Neilson is a former political director for the
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW)'s Local 98 chapter. He went on to serve as
Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry Executive Deputy State Labor Secretary under
Governor Ed Rendell, and eventually became director of business development and government relations at Chartwell Law Offices.
PA State Senate 2022 Special Election Neilson was considered for the 5th Senatorial District seat after
John Sabatina resigned on December 31, 2021, after being elected to the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas the previous month. After a meeting of Democratic leaders asked to not be considered and Ward Leaders Shawn Dillon, Connie Dougherty, Alan Butkovitz, Pat Parkinson, Jim Donnelly, Bobby Henon, John Del Ricci, Harry Enggasser, Pete McDermott and John Sabatina Sr decided to support Shawn Dillion. Shawn Dillion failed to submit his financial disclosures which were required by law for candidacy and was forced to drop out. He was replaced as a candidate by his brother Jimmy Dillion.
PA State House 2012 Special Election In November 2011, Republican
Denny O'Brien was elected to one of the
Philadelphia City Council's at-large seats. O'Brien, who had comfortably held the
169th District seat in the
State House for several decades, resigned from the
General Assembly the following January. O'Brien's departure in part precipitated the decision on the part of the House Republican leadership to move the 169th district out of Philadelphia and into
York County. The existing 169th district was to be split among the districts of Democrats
Brendan Boyle,
Kevin Boyle,
Michael McGeehan and
John Sabatina, Jr., as well as Republican
John Taylor. However, the
State Supreme Court struck-down the map, ruling its splitting of cities, townships and boroughs was unconstitutional. Therefore, a special election held on the existing boundaries was called for April 24, 2012. Neilson entered the race to succeed O'Brien, and won the Democratic primary unopposed. In the special election, he faced
Dave Kralle, a long-time aide to O'Brien who served as his chief of staff at the end of his legislative tenure. On election day, Neilson defeated Kralle, and will hold the seat until January 2013. He will again face Kralle in the November 2012 general election, this time vying for a full two-year term. He served on the Children and Youth, and Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness committees.
City Council 2014 Special Election In February 2014, former City Council Member
Bill Green and was sworn in as the chair of the School Reform Commission. He was nominated by Governor
Tom Corbett. In March 2014, Democratic ward leaders picked Neilson for the City Council special election that would be held in May 2014. Neilson entered the race to succeed Bill Green, and won the special election to defeat Matt Wolfe, a Republican ward leader from West Philadelphia. He later resigned the seat on June 19, 2015.
Tenure Neilson was sworn into
Philadelphia City Council on August 14, 2014, and resigned on June 19, 2015. ==Personal life==