A member of the Republican Party of Minnesota, he represents District 35 in the northern Twin Cities metropolitan area.

[3] Abeler was first elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 1998 and was reelected every two years until 2014, when he ran unsuccessfully in the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate.

[4] In 2022, he gained notoriety for unwittingly approving a DFL-sponsored bill that legalized THC edibles derived from hemp.

"[10] During the COVID-19 pandemic, in November 2020, Abeler opened a bar called Nucky's Speakeasy as a co-owner.

The bar was named after Atlantic City racketeer Enoch Lewis "Nucky" Johnson.