Name Trent Kelly Spouse Sheila Kelly | Role U.S. Representative Party Republican Party | |
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Office United States Representative since 2015 Residence Saltillo, Mississippi, United States Children Jackson Kelly, John Forrest Kelly, Morgan Kelly Education United States Army War College, University of Mississippi | ||
U s rep trent kelly visits calhoun
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.
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Trent kelly wins congressional race
Early life and career
Kelly was born on March 1, 1966 in Union, Mississippi and 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 attended East Central Community College in Decatur before graduating from the University of Mississippi with a bachelor's degree in Business Administration. Kelly attended law school at the University of Mississippi and has a masters degree from the United States Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He remains a member of the Army National Guard, serving in the 168th Engineer Brigade, and served in the Iraq War and subsequent occupation in 2005 and 2009. 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.
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. 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, most political observers expected Kelly to defeat his Democratic opponent. In the election, 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.