Trent Kelly | |||
---|---|---|---|
Member of the United States House of Representatives
|
Incumbent | ||
Assumed office June 2, 2015 | |||
Preceded by | Alan Nunnelee | ||
Personal details | |||
Born | John Trent Kelly March 1, 1966 Union, Mississippi, U.S. | ||
Political party | Republican | ||
Spouse(s) | Sheila Kelly | ||
Children | 3 | ||
Residence | Saltillo, Mississippi | ||
Alma mater | East Central Community College University of Mississippi U.S. Army War College | ||
Occupation | Attorney | ||
Military service | |||
Allegiance | United States | ||
Service/branch | Army National Guard | ||
Years of service | 1985–present | ||
Rank | Colonel | ||
Unit | 168th Engineer Brigade 155th Brigade Combat Team | ||
Battles/wars | Iraq War |
John Trent Kelly (born March 1, 1966) is an American politician from Mississippi. A member of the Republican Party, Kelly is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Mississippi's 1st congressional district, following his victory in a special election on June 2, 2015.
Early life and career[]
Kelly was born on March 1, 1966 in Union, Mississippi to John and Barbara Kelly. He is a resident of Saltillo, Mississippi, where he served as the district attorney of Mississippi's 1st Circuit Judicial District (which includes Lee, Pontotoc, Alcorn, Monroe, Itawamba, Prentiss and Tishomingo counties).[1]
He graduated from Union High School in 1984 and joined the Mississippi National Guard in 1985. Kelly earned an associates degree from East Central Community College in Decatur before graduating from the University of Mississippi with a bachelor's degree in Business Administration. Kelly was a member of Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity.[2]
Kelly graduated from University of Mississippi School of Law in 1994 and received a master's degree from the United States Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in 2010.[3]
After law school, Kelly worked in private practice until 1999, when he became a city prosecutor in Tupelo. He was elected district attorney in 2011, defeating a nine-term Democratic incumbent.[4]
Military career[]
Kelly is currently serving as a Colonel with the Joint Force Headquarters for the state of Mississippi as a member of the Army National Guard, serving in the Mississippi National Guard. In 1990, he mobilized for Desert Storm as a combat engineer Second Lieutenant. In 2005, he deployed as a Major during the Iraq War with the 155th Brigade as the Operations Officer of the 150th Engineer Battalion. From 2009 to 2010, he deployed as a Lieutenant Colonel to Iraq as the Battalion Commander of Task Force Knight of the 155th Brigade Combat Team and commanded over 670 troops from Mississippi, Ohio, and Kentucky. He has received two Bronze Stars, the Combat Action Badge, the DeFleury Medal, and numerous other federal and state awards for his service. From October 2014 to November 2016, he served as the Brigade Commander for the 168th Engineer Brigade, leading 1,400 soldiers from the 223rd Engineer Battalion, the 890th Engineer Battalion, and multiple Engineer Specialty Companies from Mississippi.[5]
U.S. House of Representatives[]
2015 special election[]
After the death of Republican Congressman Alan Nunnelee in 2015, Kelly (also a Republican) entered the race to succeed him. Nunnelee's widow, Tori Nunnelee, contributed to Kelly's campaign.[6]
In the first round, Kelly finished second in a thirteen-candidate field, behind Democrat Walter Zinn.[7] As no candidate received a majority of votes, Kelly and Zinn advanced to a second round of voting on June 2.[7] Several of the other candidates in the race endorsed Kelly after they were eliminated.[8]
In the heavily Republican district, Kelly took 70% of the vote to his Democratic opponent's 30%.[9][10][11]
Tenure[]
Kelly was sworn in by House Speaker John Boehner on June 9, 2015.[12] In his first term, he served on House Committee on Agriculture and the House Committee on Small Business.
Second Term[]
Kelly won his primary in March 2016 defeating Paul Clever of Olive Branch both districtwide and in DeSoto County for the Republican nomination for the First District House seat. Kelly had 18,152 votes in DeSoto County, or 80 percent, while Clever got 4,497 votes, or 20 percent, in his home county.
Kelly then won reelection with 67.57% of the vote compared with Jacob Owens (D) at 27.97%, followed by Chase Wilson (Libertarian) at 2.92% and Cathy L. Toole (Reform) at 1.45%.
Kelly serves on House Armed Services Committee, the Agriculture Committee and Small Business Committee, where he serves as the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Investigations, Oversight, and Regulations.
2017 Congressional Baseball Shooting[]
On June 14, 2017, in Alexandria, Virginia, Republican member of Congress and House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana was shot while practicing for the annual Congressional Baseball Game for Charity, scheduled for the following day. Also shot were David Bailey and Crystal Griner, a Capitol Police officer assigned to protect Scalise; Zack Barth, a Congressional aide; and Matt Mika, a Tyson Foods lobbyist.
A ten-minute shootout ensued between the shooter—James Hodgkinson of Belleville, Illinois, a left-wing activist[13][14]—and officers from the Capitol and Alexandria Police. Media reports state Hodgkinson began firing from the fence adjacent to the third base dugout. At the time of the shooting, Kelly was playing third base and was roughly 10 yards away from Hodgkinson. As Hodgkinson opened fire, Kelly is reported to be the first person to be shot at and the first to alert the rest of the team there was an active shooter by yelling "shooter, active shooter" as he evacuated himself from the field. Officers shot Hodgkinson, who died from his wounds later that day at George Washington University Hospital.[15][16] Scalise and Mika were taken to nearby hospitals, where they underwent surgery.[17] Scalise is the first sitting member of Congress to have been shot since Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords was shot in 2011.[18]
Committee assignments[]
- Committee on Agriculture
- Subcommittee on Conservation and Forestry
- Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture
- Committee on Small Business
- Subcommittee on Investigations, Oversight and Regulations - Chairman
- Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Tax and Capital Access
- Committee on House Armed Services Committee
- Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces
- Subcommittee on Readiness
- Subcommittee on Military Personnel
- Republican Study Committee[19]
Office Locations[]
Kelly maintains offices in Washington D.C., Hernando, MS, Farmington, MS near Corinth, MS, Tupelo, MS, Columbus, MS, and Eupora, MS.
References[]
- ↑ "About". http://www.kellyformississippi.com/about. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
- ↑ "Col Trent Kelly". http://combatveteransforcongress.org/cand/3156. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
- ↑ Guajardo, Rod (April 29, 2015). "Kelly sees Congress as 'ultimate' service job". Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. http://djournal.com/news/kelly-sees-congress-as-ultimate-service-job/.
- ↑ Brumfield, Patsy R. (December 29, 2011). "Kelly ready to take on DA's responsibilities". Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. http://djournal.com/news/kelly-ready-to-take-on-das-responsibilities/.
- ↑ "Biography : Congressman Trent Kelly". https://trentkelly.house.gov/biography/. Retrieved 14 September 2017. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ↑ Harrison, Bobby (April 21, 2015). "Nunnelee funds directed to Kelly's campaign". Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. http://djournal.com/news/nunnelee-funds-directed-to-kellys-campaign.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Easley, Jonathan (May 12, 2015). "Democrat advances to runoff in Mississippi special election". The Hill. http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/241870-democrat-advances-to-runoff-in-mississippi-special-election.
- ↑ Pender, Geoff (May 13, 2015). "Democrats celebrate Tuesday win; battle moves to runoff". Clarion Ledger. http://www.clarionledger.com/story/politicalledger/2015/05/13/house-biloxi-races/27231493/.
- ↑ Cahn, Emily (May 12, 2015). "Mississippi Special Election Heads to Runoff". Roll Call. http://atr.rollcall.com/mississippi-special-election-results-walter-zinn-trent-kelly/.
- ↑ Pettus, Emily Wagster (May 13, 2015). "1 Dem, 1 Republican headed to US House runoff in Mississippi". Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mississippi-voters-filling-us-house-seat-left-empty-by-death/2015/05/12/997ee312-f903-11e4-a47c-e56f4db884ed_story.html.
- ↑ Cahn, Emily (June 2, 2015). "Kelly Wins Runoff for Mississippi House Seat". Roll Call. http://atr.rollcall.com/mississippi-special-election-results-trent-kelly/.
- ↑ "Rep. Trent Kelly of Mississippi Sworn in as New House Member". Associated Press. June 9, 2015. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/rep-trent-kelly-mississippi-sworn-house-member-31650992.
- ↑ "Virginia shooting: gunman was leftwing activist with record of domestic violence". June 15, 2017. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/14/virginia-shooting-suspect-james-t-hodgkinson-leftwing-activist. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
- ↑ "Virginia gunman hated Republicans, and 'was always in his own little world'". June 14, 2017. http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-pol-virginia-shooter-profile-20170614-story.html. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
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- ↑ de Vries, Karl; Scott, Eugene (June 14, 2017). "Rep. Scalise shot in Virginia". CNN. http://edition.cnn.com/2017/06/14/politics/alexandria-virginia-shooting/index.html.
- ↑ Staff. "Hospital: House Majority Whip Steve Scalise in critical condition after surgery". AOL. https://www.aol.com/article/news/2017/06/15/congressman-steve-scalise-critical-condition-baseball-shooting/22219808.
- ↑ Yadidi, Noa (June 14, 2017). "Giffords tweets support following baseball practice shooting". CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/14/politics/gabby-giffords-tweet/index.html.
- ↑ "Member List". https://rsc-walker.house.gov/. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
External links[]
- U.S. Representative Trent Kelly official U.S. House site
- Kelly for Congress campaign site
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Profile at Project Vote Smart
- Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
- Legislation sponsored at The Library of Congress
- Appearances on C-SPAN
The original article can be found at Trent Kelly and the edit history here.