In 1983 – the stars aligned.

It was the first year that Jim Nielsen did not live in the district he was representing and was a year of changes for the Republican Party. There was a leadership struggle and Jim Nielsen ended up at the top of the heap, he was elected Senate Permanent Minority Leader.

Before becoming leader, Jim Nielsen attracted little attention from Sacramento lobbyists. By the time Jim Nielsen had been in his third year as Minority leader – he had raked in a cool $27,575 in honoraria. (Roughly $60k in today’s dollars)

Two of the payoffs that drew the most attention were two checks for $5000 a piece for “speaking” at Empire Waste Management in Santa Rosa. The owner of the company Tom Walters was a personal friend of Jim Nielsen’s – after scrutiny in the local media, Jim Nielsen amended his records to show that the payoffs came from Walters himself vs. the company.

At the same time – Jim Nielsen had another financial issue. He got divorced from wife #1. (He is currently married to Wife #4) Jim Nielsen got hammered in the divorce settlement – the Judge awarded some 40+% of his salary to Deborah (wife #1) for the first 8 years.  Ouch.

According to political columnists at the time – Nielsen found a way around some of this. He put Wife #2 on the campaign payroll. Brenda Wahl – Wife #2 was paid some $75,000 for clerical work – later changed on the reports to read consulting work. $37,500 a year in 1983 and 1984 was considered an astounding sum for consulting work. At that, it took until April of 1986 before Jim Nielsen finally disclosed the payments to his wife.

This effectively allowed Jim Nielsen – who was a prodigious fundraiser at the time to make up for the lost income from the alimony.

Jim Nielsen’s list of payoffs (called Honoraria) that he received while a State Senator in the 1980’s is still astounding.

The total rake was $72,195 – roughly $200k in today’s dollars.

Jim Nielsen used to joke when first elected to office in 1978 that, “… all I drink is milk!” Listed amongst the gifts are several cases of wine.

In 1987, a Developer Interest dropped $225 on a pair of boots. So even Jim Nielsen’s trademark boots were bought by a suitor.

The man who first campaigned as “One of Us”, long before Doug LaMalfa ripped off that term – listed Superbowl Tickets, Luxury Cruises, Academy Awards Tickets, tons of Air Travel Tickets and even a year’s dues to the Capitol Athletic Club amongst the gifts.

One has to wonder what that lavish spending got those donors – especially if the pattern with the Pesticide Manufacturer was any indication.

There is an interesting story surrounding Wife #2, Brenda Wahl, during their six-year marriage – they had a very lucrative business interest that appears to have been helped considerably by legislation Nielsen lobbied for and voted for…

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