Biography

Mike Nelson

MIKE NELSON is a native of Billings. He attended Meadowlark Elementary, Will James Junior High, West High School, and graduated from Eastern Montana College (Montana State University Billings) with a degree in Economics. He followed his wife, Judy, to Las Vegas where she taught Special Education in area high schools and he pursued a career in the hotel/casino industry, working in large hotels on the Las Vegas Strip. Mike and Judy have two girls—Sarah and Hannah—who are professionals in the hospitality industry.
 
In 2008, he returned to Billings where he and his brother purchased and then refurbished the then-closed Northern Hotel. Since then, he has been active in the community chairing the Big Sky Economic Development Corporation, the Billings Chamber of Commerce, the Billings Preservation Society (the Moss Mansion), and served on the MSUB Foundation Board.
 
He was elected Billings Mayor in 2025.