Laura Kelly

Laura Jeanne Kelly (born January 24, 1950) 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 from 2005 to 2019. Kelly was elected governor in 2018, defeating Republican nominee Kris Kobach. She was reelected in 2022, narrowly defeating Republican nominee Derek Schmidt. Early life and education Kelly was born in New York City 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 (1971), and at Indiana University, 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 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 Kansas Senate representing northern Topeka in November 2004, later serving as Minority Whip. 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, Joint Committee on Home and Community Based Services and KanCare Oversight, and Public Health and Welfare Committee.