Peter Gene Kelly (born June 3, 1956) is an American politician who served as a member of the

Alaska Senate The Alaska State Senate is the upper house in the Alaska State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. It convenes in the Alaska State Capitol in Juneau, Alaska and is responsible for making laws and confirming or reje ...

. He also served as President of the Alaska State Senate from 2017 to 2019. Kelly previously served in the

Alaska Legislature The Alaska State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is a bicameral institution consisting of the 40-member Alaska House of Representatives (lower house) and the 20-member Alaska Senate (upper house). There a ...

in the

Alaska House of Representatives The Alaska House of Representatives is the lower house in the Alaska State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. The House is composed of 40 members, each of whom represents a district of approximately 17,756 people pe ...

and Senate from 1995 until 2003. He was defeated for re-election in 2018, losing to state representative

Scott Kawasaki Scott Jiu Wo Kawasaki (born March 20, 1975) is an American healthcare professional and politician from Alaska. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, he is a member of the Alaska Senate representing the state's District P, which includes ...

Early life and education

Peter Gene Kelly was born in

Fairbanks, Alaska Fairbanks is a Municipal home rule, home rule city and the county seat, borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, United States. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior Alaska, interior region of Alaska and the second la ...

on June 3, 1956, the youngest of seven children of Halford "Hal" and Helen Kelly. He has lived in Fairbanks for most of his life, and graduated from

Monroe Catholic High School Monroe Catholic High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school in Fairbanks, Alaska. It is the only Catholic high school in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fairbanks. It is the northernmost Roman Catholic high school in the Americas. Back ...

in 1974. His oldest brother was Mike Kelly. Mike died in a plane crash on December 7, 2016. Kelly attended

University of Alaska Fairbanks The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF or Alaska) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-, National Sea Grant College Program, sea-, and National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program, space-grant research university in ...

and earned his BS in

business administration Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

from

Liberty University Liberty University (LU), known simply as Liberty, is a Private university, private Evangelicalism in the United States, evangelical Christian university in Lynchburg, Virginia, United States. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Conservativ ...

Career

In 1994, Kelly was unopposed in the House District 31 August 23, 1994 Republican primary, winning with 768 votes. He challenged incumbent Democratic Representative Joe Sitton in the general election. Kelly won the three-way November 8, 1994 general election with 2,269 votes (49.9%) against Sitton and Fairbanks Republican candidate Walt Johnson. In 1996, Kelly was unopposed in the August 27, 1996 Republican primary. He won with 1,986 votes, and went on to win the November 5, 1996 general election with 3,262 votes (66.5%) against Democratic nominee Erik Holland. In 1998, when Republican Senator

Bert Sharp Herbert Sharp (born 1926) is an Australian former international lawn bowler. Sharp represented Australia at the 1982 Commonwealth Games and won a gold medal in the fours at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane with Keith Poole Keith ...

retired and left the District P seat open, Kelly won the August 25, 1998 Republican primary, receiving 2,107 votes against District 32 Representative Al Vezey. Kelly won the November 3, 1998 general election with 5,082 votes (61.80%) against Democratic nominee Jane Haigh. Kelly was unopposed for the District B August 28, 2012 Republican primary, winning with 2,386 votes. He faced incumbent Democratic Senator

Joe Paskvan Joseph L. Paskvan (born May 19, 1952) is an attorney and a former Democratic member of the Alaska Senate. He represented the residents of District E, which includes the entire city limits of Fairbanks and several neighborhoods just outside, fro ...

(redistricted from District E) in the general election; Kelly won the November 6, 2012 contest with 6,232 votes (54.11%).

References

External links

Official biography
at the

Official Alaska Senate Majority page

Campaign site
*
Pete Kelly
at ''100 Years of Alaska's Legislature'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Pete 1956 births Republican Party Alaska state senators Liberty University alumni Living people Republican Party members of the Alaska House of Representatives 21st-century members of the Alaska Legislature Politicians from Fairbanks, Alaska Presidents of the Alaska Senate University of Alaska Fairbanks alumni