Kelly Miller Alexander Jr. (October 17, 1948 – September 6, 2024) was an American politician who was a Democratic member of the

North Carolina House of Representatives The North Carolina House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The House is a 120-member body led by a Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, Speaker of the House, who holds powers si ...

, representing the 107th district from 2009 until his death in 2024. During the 2015 legislative session, Alexander was one of 22 African Americans in the North Carolina House of Representatives.

Early life

Alexander was the son of NAACP chair Kelly Alexander Sr. and nephew of civil rights activist Frederick Alexander. He attended West Charlotte High School and

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

. While at UNC, in 1969, he was one of the students who started Project Uplift, designed to provide high school seniors exposure to college life by allowing the high school students to stay in the university students' rooms and showing them the university. Alexander returned to Charlotte after college to manage the Alexander Funeral Home. He has taught classes at

Central Piedmont Community College Central Piedmont Community College (Central Piedmont) is a Public college, public community college in Charlotte, North Carolina. With an enrollment of more than 40,000 students annually, Central Piedmont is the second-largest community college ...

, Johnson C. Smith University,

Queens University of Charlotte The Queens University of Charlotte is a private university in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. It has approximately 1,900 undergraduate and graduate students. Established in 1857, the university offers 50 undergraduate majors, 58 minors, ...

and

University of North Carolina at Charlotte The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte, or simply Charlotte) is a public research university in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. UNC Charlotte offers 24 doctoral, 66 master's, and 79 bachelor's degree programs thr ...

Political career

Following in his father's footsteps, Alexander became President of the NC

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...

and served on the national NAACP board. He first ran for NC General Assembly in 2008 and won, taking his oath in 2009. Alexander was the first African American to be appointed to the Airport Advisory Committee from 1978 to 1984. He was involved in preventing an NC amendment that would allow state assemblymen to serve for four terms instead of two.

Death

Alexander died on September 6, 2024, at the age of 75.

Electoral history

2022

2020

2018

2016

2014

2012

2010

2008

References

External links

Interview with Kelly Alexander Jr

Kelly M Alexander Papers
J Murrey Atkins Library, UNC Charlotte. {{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Kelly 1948 births 2024 deaths Politicians from Charlotte, North Carolina University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni 21st-century African-American politicians African-American state legislators in North Carolina Democratic Party members of the North Carolina House of Representatives 21st-century members of the North Carolina General Assembly