Arthur E. Nelson

Arthur Emanuel Nelson (May 10, 1892 – April 11, 1955) was an American lawyer and politician.

He graduated from Macalester College in 1912 and William Mitchell College of Law (then the St. Paul College of Law) in 1915. He also served briefly in the U.S. Army from August to November 1918.

Nelson was elected Mayor of Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1922. He served one four-year term. Nelson unsuccessfully ran for the United States Senate as a Republican in 1928 against Henrik Shipstead (receiving 33.4% of the vote), but was elected fourteen years later, in November 1942 to finish out the term of deceased Senator Ernest Lundeen, which had temporarily been filled by appointee Joseph H. Ball (who won the November 1942 election for the full six-year term from 1943 to 1949). Nelson served less than two months, from November 18, 1942 to January 3, 1943. He never sought re-election.