Laura Jeanne Kelly (born January 24, 1950)"Laura Kelly,"
''Kansapedia,''

Kansas Historical Society The Kansas Historical Society is the official state historical society of Kansas. Headquartered in Topeka, it operates as "the trustee of the state" for the purpose of maintaining the state's history and operates the Kansas Museum of Histor ...

, retrieved November 27, 2022 is an American politician serving since 2019 as the 48th governor of Kansas. A member of the Democratic Party, she represented the 18th district in the

Kansas Senate The Kansas Senate is the upper house of the Kansas Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. State of Kansas. It is composed of 40 senators elected from single-member districts, each with a population of about 73,000 inhabitants. Members o ...

from 2005 to 2019. Kelly was elected governor in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

and reelected in

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Early life and education

Kelly was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to a military family that moved often and was stationed overseas. She studied at Bradley University in Illinois, earning a Bachelor of Science in psychology in 1971,"Our 50 Governors and the Degrees They've Earned,"
updated October 4, 2022, CollegeCliffs.com, retrieved November 27, 2022 and at

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

, 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 Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

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.

Early political career

Kelly was elected to the

representing northern

Topeka Topeka ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County, Kansas, Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeaste ...

in November 2004, later serving as

Minority Whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline (that members of the party vote according to the party platform rather than their constituents, individual conscience or donors) in a legislature. Whips ...

. 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 A ways and means committee is a government body that is charged with reviewing and making recommendations for government budgets. Because the raising of revenue is vital to carrying out governmental operations, such a committee is tasked with fi ...

, 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 Kansas' 2nd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Kansas that covers most of the eastern part of the state, except for the core of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. The district encompasses less than a quarter ...

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

Governor of Kansas

Election

2018

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. 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 Kathleen Sebelius (; née Gilligan, born May 15, 1948) is an American politician who served as the 21st United States secretary of health and human services from 2009 until 2014. As Secretary of Health and Human Services, Sebelius was instrumenta ...

. 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 Lana Scrimsher Oleen (born April 26, 1949) is an American politician and teacher. She served in the Kansas Senate as a Republican from the 22nd district from 1989 to 2005. Early life Oleen was born on April 26, 1949, in Kirksville, Missouri ...

; 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 Samuel Dale Brownback (born September 12, 1956) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Kansas from 1996 to 2011 and as the List of governors of Kansas, 46th governor of K ...

'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 48.0% of the vote to Kobach's 43.0% (the other 9% being split amongst two Independents and a Libertarian candidate).

2022

Kelly was reelected on November 8, 2022, defeating Kansas Attorney General

Derek Schmidt Derek Larkin Schmidt (born January 23, 1968) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Kansas's 2nd congressional district since 2025. He previously served as the Kansas Attorney General from 2011 to 2023. A Repu ...

, 49.5% to 47.3%.

Cabinet

Tenure and political positions

Budget and economic issues

Kelly was critical of the Kansas experiment, the experimental Kansas budget of Governor

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.John Hanna
Rising Kansas revenues fuel GOP anger over lack of tax cuts
Associated Press (February 3, 2020). In 2019, Kelly vetoed two Republican bills that would have cut

state income tax In addition to Federal government of the United States, federal Income tax in the United States, income tax collected by the United States, most individual U.S. states collect a state income tax. Some local governments also impose an income tax, ...

es 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. 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 A sales tax is a tax paid to a governing body for the sales of certain goods and services. Usually laws allow the seller to collect funds for the tax from the consumer at the point of purchase. When a tax on goods or services is paid to a govern ...

rate on food before eliminating it in 2025. During the 2024 Kansas legislative session, Kelly vetoed multiple bills intended to cut taxes, including a bipartisan bill that passed the Kansas House unanimously, arguing that the bills were too generous to the wealthy and would create financial problems for the state within a few years.

COVID-19 responses

In response to the

COVID-19 pandemic in the United States On December 31, 2019, China announced the discovery of a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan. The first American case was reported on January 20, and United States Department of Health and Human Services, Health and Human Services Secreta ...

, Kelly, like other governors, took steps to halt the spread of the

SARS-CoV-2 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19, the respiratory illness responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had the Novel coronavirus, provisional nam ...

virus, which causes

coronavirus disease 2019 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include f ...

(COVID-19). She declared a state of emergency on March 12, 2020, following the state's first COVID-19 death, and issued a 60-day ban on public gatherings of 50 or more people and a moratorium on utility shutoffs on March 16. On March 18, citing the unprecedented crisis, Kelly directed the end to all in-person

K–12 K–12, from kindergarten to 12th grade, is an English language expression that indicates the range of years of publicly supported primary and secondary education found in the United States and Canada, which is similar to publicly supported sch ...

classes for the remainder of the school year, making Kansas the first state to take that step. On March 23, to combat the virus's spread, she limited public gatherings to ten people. On March 28, amid increasing deaths and illnesses, Kelly issued a "stay at home" order that directed all residents to remain at home, except for travel for essential work, essential business (such as traveling to obtain medical care or groceries), and outdoor exercise with

social distancing In public health, social distancing, also called physical distancing, (NB. Regula Venske is president of the PEN Centre Germany.) is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures intended to prevent the spread of a contagious dise ...

measures.Kansas governor orders residents to stay home to curb virus
Associated Press (March 28, 2020). Almost two dozen other states had already issued similar orders, and almost 75% of Kansas's population was already affected by similar orders from local officials, since 25 Kansas counties, including the most populous ones, already had stay-at-home orders in place. Kelly strongly criticized the Trump administration's slow response to the crisis and the federal failure to provide Kansas and other states with adequate supplies of

personal protective equipment Personal protective equipment (PPE) is protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or other garments or equipment designed to protect the wearer's body from injury or infection. The hazards addressed by protective equipment include physical, elect ...

(such as masks, gloves, and gowns) and testing kits.

The Kansas City Star ''The Kansas City Star'' is a newspaper based in Kansas City, Missouri. Published since 1880, the paper is the recipient of eight Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Star'' is most notable for its influence on the career of President Harry S. Truman and a ...

's editorial board criticized Kelly's rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine, writing, "Kansas seems to be uniquely underperforming, a recurring issue for Kelly and the administration she leads." But the board added that Kelly did not bear all the burden for the state's response shortcomings because Republican state legislators were insisting that individual counties exercise sole authority with respect to COVID-19 efforts. That resulted in a slapdash response when treatment and vaccinations became available. If the state was not sufficiently prepared for the pandemic, many counties were even less so, citing

CDC The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and is headquartered in Atlanta, ...

data showing Kansas near the bottom of vaccinations per 100,000 residents. Members of the Kansas congressional delegation, including

Sharice Davids Sharice Lynnette Davids (; born May 22, 1980) is an American politician, attorney, and former mixed martial artist serving as the U.S. representative from since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she represents a district that includes ...

, called on Kelly to do more to address the backlog of claimants at the

Department of Labor A ministry of labour (''British English, UK''), or labor (''American English, US''), also known as a department of labour, or labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workfor ...

seeking unemployment payments from federal programs aimed to help residents out of work due to the pandemic. On November 16, 2020, Kelly renewed her call for the legislature to join her in the issuance of masking orders.

Executive order on religious gatherings

Because Kelly's orders on public gatherings applied to Easter Sunday celebrations in churches, the Republican-majority Legislative Coordinating Council (LCC), a group of leaders of the Kansas Legislature, voted to revoke her order on a 5–2 party-line vote on April 9, 2020, asserting that the order violated the

free exercise of religion Freedom of religion or religious liberty, also known as freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice ...

.War over Easter: Kansas lawmakers revoke Gov. Kelly’s order limiting church gatherings
'' Wichita Eagle'', Jonathan Shorman, Amy Renee Leiker and Michael Stavola, April 8, 2020. Retrieved April 9, 2020.Conner Mitchell
Governor blasts Kansas lawmakers' vote to rescind limits on in-person religious gatherings
''Lawrence Journal-World'' (April 8, 2020). Republican Attorney General

opposed Kelly's order, issuing a memorandum calling it a violation of the Kansas state law, and urged law enforcement not to enforce it. Kelly called this "shockingly irresponsible"; at the time, there had been more than a thousand confirmed COVID-19 cases, and dozens of confirmed COVID-19 deaths, in Kansas, and of 11 identified sources of contagion, three had come from recent religious gatherings. She challenged the LCC's decision in the

Kansas Supreme Court The Kansas Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority in the U.S. state of Kansas. Composed of seven justices, led by Chief Justice Marla Luckert, the court supervises the legal profession, administers the judicial branch, and serves as t ...

. Following an expedited

oral argument Oral arguments are spoken presentations to a judge or appellate court by a lawyer (or parties when representing themselves) of the legal reasons why they should prevail. Oral argument at the appellate level accompanies written briefs, which also ...

(conducted remotely via Zoom teleconference), the state Supreme Court unanimously reinstated Kelly's orders, concluding that her executive order was valid and that the LCC lacked the authority to overturn it. A week later, in a separate case, U.S. District Judge John W. Broomes in Wichita issued a temporary restraining order blocking enforcement of Kelly's order as to two churches (one in Junction City, the other in Dodge City), contending that the restriction violated religious freedom and free speech rights. That case became moot after Kelly issued a new executive order with less restrictive COVID-19 rules effective on May 4, 2020, under an agreement that allowed the churches to hold larger in-person services but required

.Carylynn Stark & Jonathan Shorman
Kansas governor to issue less restrictive coronavirus rules beginning May 4
''Kansas City Star'' (April 25, 2020).

Healthcare

As governor, Kelly pushed the Republican-controlled Kansas legislature to accept the Medicaid expansion under the

Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and informally as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presid ...

, to provide health care coverage to up to 150,000 Kansans.John Hanna
New Kansas proposal breaks impasse on expanding Medicaid
Associated Press (January 9, 2020). A Medicaid expansion plan had passed the Kansas Legislature in 2017, but Brownback vetoed it. During every legislative session of her governorship, Kelly has proposed legislation that would expand Medicaid, but she has not yet succeeded. In 2025, the legislation is called the Healthcare Access for Working Kansans (HAWK) Act. Kelly has also supported reforming KanCare so that more citizens have access to health insurance.

Human services

Kelly combined the Department of Children and Family Services with the Department of Aging and Disability Services into a consolidated, integrated Department of Human Services. In January 2020, Kelly called for major changes to the Osawatomie State Hospital, the long-troubled state psychiatric hospital that has faced scrutiny from federal regulators over security, safety, and treatment lapses. She has supported a plan for state funding for mental health crisis centers in the state.

Immigrant rights

Kelly has clashed with immigrants rights advocates, signing a Republican-backed bill in 2022 that was written by her eventual gubernatorial opponent, then state

attorney general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

. The state law was written to prevent the implementation of a recently passed local law in Wyandotte County, which sought to enact a community identification card program intended to benefit immigrants, the formerly incarcerated, those experiencing homelessness, those aged out of the foster care system, and the elderly.

School funding

Kelly has largely reversed former governor

's education agenda since taking office in 2019. She has said that she would like to ensure Kansas schools are funded and focus on improving Kansas students' performance to be competitive with other parts of the country. For example, she would address the statewide teacher shortage and improve pay for educators. She would also like to expand early childhood programs and increase options for students pursuing higher education.

Social issues

In her first official act as governor, Kelly signed an executive order reinstating the employment discrimination protections for LGBT state workers that Governor Sam Brownback had eliminated in 2015. Kelly opposed a Republican-proposed

anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its Abortion by country, legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in r ...

amendment to the Kansas Constitution in early 2020, saying it would return Kansas to the " dark ages". Amid acrimonious debate, the state House fell four votes short of the two-thirds majority required to put it on the state ballot. In 2022, she expressed her opposition to the 2022 Kansas abortion referendum that would have removed the right to an abortion from the state constitution. The amendment was defeated, with nearly 60% of voters rejecting it.

Personal life

Kelly has been married to physician Ted Daughety, a specialist in pulmonary and sleep disorders, since 1979. They moved to

in 1986. They have two adult daughters, Kathleen and Molly Daughety. Kelly is Catholic.

Other political activism

In 2023, Kelly launched Middle of the Road PAC in an effort to elect candidates.

Electoral history

Notes

References

External links

* official government website
Laura Kelly for Governor
campaign website * , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Laura 1950 births Living people 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century Kansas politicians 21st-century members of the Kansas Legislature Bradley University alumni Catholics from Kansas Catholics from New York (state) American people of Irish descent Democratic Party governors of Kansas Democratic Party Kansas state senators Indiana University Bloomington alumni Politicians from New York City Women state constitutional officers of Kansas Women state governors of the United States Women state legislators in Kansas