Former member of Congress · last served 115th Congress

Richard M. Nolan

DEMOCRAT U.S. Representative · MinnesotaHouse 1975–2019 (MN-6, MN-8)

Richard Nolan was a Democratic U.S. representative from Minnesota, first elected to Congress in 1975, who sponsored 4 bills that became law (113th–115th Congress).

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70Bills & resolutions sponsored113th–115th Congress (excludes amendments)

6Passed a chamberof 44 substantive bills (excludes resolutions and ceremonial bills)

4Became law3 substantive + 1 ceremonial · 113th–115th Congress

—Broke with partyNo roll calls in PORKER’s records (they start in 2011)

—Missed votesNo roll calls in PORKER’s records (they start in 2011)

—Pork: own shareFY2024 earmarks: not in office

How we count: “Broke with party” is a yes/no roll call where the member voted against most of their own party on that vote (party as recorded; even splits not counted). “Pork: own share” splits each earmark shared by several members evenly among them.

Recent votes

No recorded roll-call votes in PORKER’s records. Roll-call records start in 2011.

5 most recent bills

H.R. 7162 For the relief of David Beasley.
Nov 16, 2018 · Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
H.R. 6977 No Blame, No Shame Act
Sep 28, 2018 · Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
H.R. 6549 Medicaid Estate Recovery Fairness Act of 2018
Jul 27, 2018 · Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
H.R. 6433 Go to Washington, Go to Work Act
Jul 18, 2018 · Referred to the House Committee on House Administration.
H.Res. 1003 Prohibiting Members of the House of Representatives from soliciting campaign funds on any day on which the House is in session.
Jul 18, 2018 · Referred to the House Committee on Ethics.

Top bills sponsored

Laws first, then bills that passed a chamber, were reported from committee, or drew the most cosponsors.

Elections Rep. Nolan has won

Rep. Nolan has won 5 U.S. House elections (1976–2016). Of the contested races, margins ran from 0.6 to 19.6 points.

Democratic winRepublican winseat changed partyunopposed

Elections won5 in the data (1976–2024); losses are not listed

Closest win: 0.6 points2016, MN-8

Won an open seat or took one from the other party1 of 5 elections (open seat or changed party)

Seat history, Minnesota’s 8th districtWinners, most recent three: Chip Cravaack (R) 2010 → Richard M. Nolan (D) 2012–2016 → Pete Stauber (R) 2018–2024. Elections shown, not terms; special elections not included.

Full election history for this seat →

Source: MIT Election Data and Science Lab, U.S. House V15 / U.S. Senate V8 (CC0), retrieved 2026-10-18; winners matched to member records by seat and term. Results run through the 2024 elections; nothing from 2026 is shown until it is certified. A margin is a fact about one election, never a score of how well a member represents anyone, and PORKER does not rank members by it.

How has Minnesota’s 8th district done while Rep. Nolan served?

2013 to 2018 in MN-8: typical household income was up 5% after inflation, the share of people below the poverty line was about the same, and the share of workers looking for a job was down 1.5 points.

Typical household income · after inflation

MN-8: $67.4K in 2013 → $71.0K in 2018

MN-8 up 5%Minnesota up 7%U.S. up 10%

Share of people below the poverty line

MN-8: 12.9% in 2013 → 12.3% in 2018

MN-8 about the sameMinnesota down 1.6 pointsU.S. down 2.7 points

Share of workers looking for a job

MN-8: 5.8% in 2013 → 4.2% in 2018

MN-8 down 1.5 pointsMinnesota down 2.0 pointsU.S. down 3.5 points

Each mini chart has its own scale, fitted to its lines (it does not start at zero), so compare the numbers, not the heights. Teal = district, oxblood = state, grey = U.S.

While they served, not because of them. This shows what happened in Minnesota’s 8th district during Nolan’s time representing it (2013 to 2019). It does not say what the member did or caused. It is not a score, and PORKER never ranks members on it.

One set of district lines. MN-8 was redrawn in 2022 (the survey year the new lines first appear), but every survey year in Nolan’s term so far (2013 to 2018) uses the same lines, so they can be compared. The Census Bureau has no 2020 yearly estimate.

See the full 20-year record →Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 1-year estimates (tables B19013, B17001, B23001) and BLS CPI-U-RS for inflation, retrieved October 18, 2026. “About the same” means the change is inside the 90% margins of error. Who held the seat: Congress.gov member service records, year level.

Official records on bills this member sponsored

115th Congress. What Congress.gov lists for the 31 bills sponsored.

Record	Bills	Source
Bills sponsored	31	Source: Congress.gov member record, PORKER copy of October 26, 2026 ↗ See them →
With a sponsor’s constitutional-authority statement	20	See the 20 →
With a CBO cost estimate listed	3	See the 3 →
With a committee report listed	3	See the 3 →

Evidence

How counted: Bills where this member is the lead (first-listed) sponsor in the 115th Congress, read from the stored Congress.gov bill records
Fields: cboCostEstimates, committeeReports, constitutionalAuthorityStatementText, notes
PORKER copy refreshed: October 26, 2026 (nightly)

Read this first. These are counts of records Congress.gov lists. Many bills never get a CBO estimate or a report, so a zero is not a mark against a member. We never show this as a score.

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Data as of Oct 26, 2026 · Sources: Congress.gov, Senate.gov, House Clerk, Appropriations Committee earmark tables. PORKER is non-partisan.