Laura Kelly

Laura Jeanne Kelly (born January 24, 1950) is an American politician serving since 2019 as the 48th governor of Kansas.

She studied at Bradley University in Illinois, earning a Bachelor of Science in psychology (1971 ), and at Indiana University, earning a Master of Science in therapeutic recreation.

(Kelly received the Bradley University Distinguished Alumna award and was inducted into Bradley's Centurion Society on October 4, 2021. )

Kelly worked as a recreation therapist at New York's Rockland Children’s Psychiatric Center.

She became director of physical education and recreation therapy at the National Jewish Hospital for Respiratory and Immune Diseases.

She then moved to Kansas, and became executive director at the Kansas Recreation and Park Association from 1988 to 2004.

Kelly was elected to the Kansas Senate representing northern Topeka in November 2004, later serving as Minority Whip.

A member of the Democratic Party, she represented the 18th district in the Kansas Senate from 2005 to 2019.

During her Senate tenure, from 2005 until her 2019 inauguration as governor, she was at times the Ranking Minority member of the Ways and Means Committee, Joint Committee on Home and Community Based Services and KanCare Oversight, and Public Health and Welfare Committee.

In late 2009, Kelly briefly considered a run for Kansas's 2nd congressional district.

During the 2011–12 legislative sessions, she served as the Assistant Minority Leader of the Kansas Senate.

On December 15, 2017, Kelly announced her intention to run for governor of Kansas.

In the Democratic primary she ran against former Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer and former Kansas Secretary of Agriculture Josh Svaty.

Kelly was elected governor in 2018, defeating Republican nominee Kris Kobach.

She was reelected in 2022, narrowly defeating Republican nominee Derek Schmidt.

Kelly was born in New York City to a military family that moved often and was stationed overseas.

On May 24, 2018, Kelly announced State Senator Lynn Rogers as her running mate.

On August 7, she defeated Brewer and Svaty, receiving 51.5% of the vote.

In the general election, Kelly faced Republican Secretary of State Kris Kobach.

Kelly was endorsed by former Kansas Governor and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius.

She was also endorsed by 28 current or former Republican government officials, including former Kansas Governor Bill Graves; former State Senator, Lt. Governor and U.S. Senator Sheila Frahm, Lt. Gov. Gary Sherrer, Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger, Senate President Dick Bond, Senate President David Kerr, Senate Vice President John Vratil, Senate Majority Leaders Tim Emert and Lana Oleen; Senators Barbara Allen, David Wysong, Wint Winter Jr., Pete Brungardt, Ruth Teichman, Barbara Bollier, Audrey Langworthy, Terrie Huntington, Bob Vancrum, and Alicia Salisbury; Representatives JoAnn Pottorff, Ginger Barr, Jim Yonally, Jim Lowther, Fred Lorentz, and Representative and Republican Party Chairperson Rochelle Chronister; Republican National Delegate Don Johnston; and Representatives Joy Koesten and Charles Roth.

Graves said, "Laura Kelly is the only Democrat I have ever endorsed for public office. And the reason I'm doing that now is because I believe so much is at stake in the state of Kansas. I have known Laura for over 30 years. She has all the qualities and all the capabilities that we are looking for to lead the state during this difficult time and to reestablish the state to what it once was. ... Laura has integrity, and I know she will bring Kansans together regardless of party to solve problems."

Former Republican state senator Tim Owens was the campaign treasurer for Kansas independent candidate Greg Orman, but he stepped down from that post on October 30 and endorsed Kelly, believing only she could beat Kobach.

Kelly described her candidacy as aimed at reversing the fiscal, educational and other "disasters" of Sam Brownback's governance.

She characterized her opponent, who had been noted for his broad disenfranchisement of voters and legal strategies against immigrants, as "Sam Brownback on steroids".

On November 6, Kelly was elected with 48.01% of the vote to Kobach's 42.98% (the other 9% being split amongst two Independent and a Libertarian candidate.

Kelly was reelected on November 8, 2022, defeating Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, 49.2% to 47.7%.

According to Fox News's voter analysis of the 2022 race, Kelly won women voters (51% Kelly, 45% Schmidt), voters 18-29 (51% Kelly, 43% Schmidt), millennials (55%, 39%), Gen X (50%, 47%), college-educated voters (57%, 40%), and Latino/Hispanic voters (58%).

Kelly lost voters who were concerned about inflation by four points (46%).

She lost voters who listed groceries and food as their most important inflation concern by one point, possibly due to her support for eliminating or reducing sales taxes on groceries in Kansas.

69% of voters listed abortion as an important factor in their vote, and Kelly won this group by 24 points (60%, 36%), closely mirroring the results of the 2022 Kansas abortion referendum.

She won voters who listed "the future of democracy in this country" as an important factor in their vote (88% of voters) by seven points (52%).

Kelly was critical of the Kansas experiment, the experimental Kansas budget of her predecessor Sam Brownback that led to cuts in schools, roads, and public safety.

She would like to reverse those changes and pointed out that after there were major budget shortages she led a bipartisan effort to successfully balance the budget without increasing taxes.

In 2019, Kelly vetoed two Republican bills that would have cut state income taxes in Kansas.

She said that the state could not afford the cuts, and that the Republican bill, which would have cut revenues by an estimated $245 million over a three-year period, would have precipitated a "senseless fiscal crisis" and created a budget deficit.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, Kelly, like other governors, took steps to halt the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Kelly's decision, as well as higher-than-expected state revenue intakes, led to the state beginning its 2020 budget year with $1.1 billion in cash reserves.

She sought to use some of the reserves to pay down debt and make payments to the state pension system.

In May 2022, she signed a bill into law that will gradually reduce the sales tax rate on food before eliminating it in 2025.