Trent Kelly

For the cricketer, see Trent Kelly (cricketer).

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(1966-03-01) 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 Mississippi01 !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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

U.S. House of Representatives

2015 special election

Main article: Mississippi's 1st congressional district special election, 2015

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.

In the first round, Kelly finished second in a thirteen-candidate field, behind Democrat Walter Zinn. As no candidate received a majority of votes, Kelly and Zinn advanced to a second round of voting on June 2. Several of the other candidates in the race endorsed Kelly after they were eliminated.

In the heavily Republican district, Kelly took 70% of the vote to his Democratic opponent's 30%.

Tenure

Kelly was sworn in by House Speaker John Boehner on June 9, 2015. 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—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. Scalise and Mika were taken to nearby hospitals, where they underwent surgery. Scalise is the first sitting member of Congress to have been shot since Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords was shot in 2011.

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

Office Locations

Kelly maintains offices in Washington D.C., Hernando, MS, Farmington, MS near Corinth, MS, Tupelo, MS, Columbus, MS, and Eupora, MS.

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