My name is Travis Nelson, my pronouns are he, him and his and I am a proud union nurse running to be State Representative for House District 44 in the May primary. I am also a proud member of the Black and LGBTQ+ communities and believe strongly in advocating for Minority & LGBTQ+ rights. I’m running because I believe I can bring a powerful voice to the legislature on behalf of working people in North & Northeast Portland.

I'm the grandson of sharecroppers, I was born to teen parents in a small rural town in North Louisiana called Chatham. Before entering grade school, my parents moved me and my sister from Louisiana to the Pacific Northwest in search of a better life and opportunity. I grew up in rural Washington and moved to North Portland ten years ago. I built my career working as an ER and ICU nurse where I saved many lives and advocated to improve patient care.

I have been a Democrat activist for decades knocking thousands of doors every election cycle to win critical races. I serve as an officer of the DPO, a delegate to the DNC and am vice president of the Oregon Nurses Association. Send me to Salem and I will make sure that the legislature is responsive to the grassroots of the party. I will make sure that the Democrat caucus in Salem is fighting for the party platform that grassroots Democrats work so hard on. I have experience working on and passing progressive legislation, a bill I worked on will be introduced in the upcoming short legislative session. I know how the process in Salem works and will be able to hit the ground running and make a difference for people in North and Northeast Portland.

I am proudly endorsed by: The Oregon Nurses Association, Laborers' International Union of North America, United Food & Commercial Workers, the American Federation of Teachers and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. I am personally endorsed by Former State Senators Chip Shields, Avel Gordly and Margaret Carter as well as local community leaders like Mary-Margret Wheeler-Weber and Rosa Colquitt.

I’ll fight for the environment because pollution hurts our community and climate Change presents an imminent threat to all life on this planet. Science tells us that if we don’t cut our Greenhouse emissions fast we will lose the Oregon that we know and we will leave behind a planet that isn’t habitable for our children. When we have heat events or forest fires, I see the ICU fill up with climate change victims. We can’t wait to act on climate.

I’ll fight for poor and working class people because I grew up without much money. At the age of 15 I went to work because my mom was having trouble making ends meet as a single mother and I knew I could make things easier for her by providing for myself. I became the first in my family to graduate from college by putting myself through community college and then Nursing School by working as a union janitor and landscaper. We need good union jobs and career opportunities so that people can afford to build lives that they choose.

I’ll fight for affordable housing because too many elders are being forced out of their homes and too many people are living on our streets. Many who are housed are barely making ends meet. I know what it’s like to make tough choices after rent hikes.  We need to do all that we can to ensure that we are building sustainable housing that is truly affordable for the people who live and work in our community.

I’ll fight for safe neighborhoods that involve community supported solutions. I commit to listening to ideas on how to reduce crime and work to ensure that solutions that have been proven to be effective are implemented and supported using an equity lens. No one should sleep outside who doesn’t want to. We need proactive investments in mental health and substance abuse services statewide so that Portland doesn’t shoulder the care burden. I am committed to fighting to make sure people can get the help they need.

I’ll fight for quality, no or low cost accessible healthcare, including a woman's right to choose because as a Registered Nurse I’ve seen too many lives destroyed because they sought care too late or because they were buried under a mountain of medical debt. This has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. We know that far too many people have died or have been disabled because they were afraid of costs and waited too long to seek care for COVID-19. No one should be financially ruined because of the cost of ICU care they need to live.

Currently there are no Black men in the Oregon State house. My perspective as a Black LGBTQ+ man is needed in Salem to bring an equity lens to all of the work that the Democrats plan on doing in the upcoming short session. People like me are too often told that we aren’t supposed to run for office or to wait our turn. I want an Oregon where skin color, the amount of money you were born with, gender identity and who you love shouldn’t be barriers to achieving your dreams. I’ve spent most of my life being an advocate, and I will take that fighting spirit to Salem to fight for the people in our North and Northeast Portland communities!