Summary
Current Position: US Representative of MS 1st District since 2015
Affiliation: Republican
Former Position: District Attorney for Mississippi’s 1st Judicial District from 2012 – 2015
Other Positions: Intelligence and Special Operations Subcommittee – House Armed Services Committee
District: northeast corner of the state. It includes much of the northern portion of the state including Columbus, Oxford, Southaven, Tupelo, and West Point. The University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) is in the district.
Upcoming Election:
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.
In 1990, Kelly mobilized for Operation Desert Storm as a second lieutenant engineer officer. In 2005, Kelly 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.
Featured Quote:
I support the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act discharge petition led by @SteveScalise, @RepAnnWagner, and @RepKatCammack. Time to bring H.R. 619 to the floor for a vote. #MS01
U.S. Congressman Trent Kelly on why he trusts Uzbekistan
OnAir Post: Trent Kelly MS-01
News
About
Source: Government page
On Tuesday, June 2, 2015, Trent Kelly won a special election runoff to represent the First District of Mississippi in the 114th Congress.
Trent lives in Saltillo with his wife of 30 years, Sheila, and their three children John Forrest, Morgan, and Jackson. They are members of Saltillo First United Methodist Church.
Trent was born on March 1, 1966, in Union, Mississippi to parents John and Barbara Kelly. He graduated from Union High School and East Central Community College. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Mississippi and law degree from the University of Mississippi School of Law. In 2010, he received his master’s degree in Strategic Studies from the United States Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
Trent has spent 35 years in the Mississippi Army National Guard as a Combat Engineer and is currently serving as a Major General. In 1990, he mobilized for Desert Storm as an Engineer Second Lieutenant. In 2005, he deployed as a Major to Iraq 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 Bronze, Silver, and Gold de Fleury medals, and numerous other federal and state awards for his service.
Trent has worked at McRae’s Department Store as a manager, maintained a private law practice in Saltillo, and served as Tupelo City Prosecutor and Forfeiture Attorney for North Mississippi Narcotics Unit. Prior to being elected to Congress, Trent served as a District Attorney for the 1st Circuit Judicial District (Lee, Pontotoc, Alcorn, Monroe, Itawamba, Prentiss, and Tishomingo) managing all felony cases.
In Congress, Trent serves on the House Armed Services Committee, serving as the Ranking Member of the Intelligence and Special Operations subcommittee. Trent also serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the House Agriculture Committee, and the House Budget Committee. This is his fourth term.
Personal
Gender: Male
Family: Wife: Sheila; 3 Children: John, Morgan, Jackson
Birth Date: 03/01/1966
Birth Place: Union, MS
Home City: Saltillo, MS
Religion: Methodist
Source: Vote Smart
Education
Attended, Strategic Studies, Near End South Asian Center for Strategic Studies Executive Seminar, 2013
MA, Strategic Studies, United States Army War College, 2008-2010
JD, Law, University of Mississippi School of Law, 1992-1994
BBA, Marketing/Marketing Management, University of Mississippi, 1986-1989
AA, General Studies, East Central Community College, 1984-1986
Political Experience
Representative, United States House of Representatives, Mississippi, District 1, 2015-present
Candidate, United States House of Representatives, Mississippi, District 1, 2022
Professional Experience
Brigadier General, Mississippi Army National Guard, 1985-present
Brigadier General, United States Army, 1985-present
District Attorney, 1st Circuit Judicial District, State of Mississippi, 2012-2015
Instructor, Northeast Mississippi Law Enforcement Training Academy, 2000-2015
City Prosecutor, City of Tupelo, Mississippi, 1999-2011
Forfeiture Attorney, North Mississippi Narcotics Unit, 2000-2011
Attorney, Law Office of J. Trent Kelly, 1995-1999
Manager, McRae’s Department Store, 1990-1992
Offices
Washington, D.C.
2243 Rayburn H.O.B.
Washington, DC 20515
P:(202) 225-4306
Fax:(202) 225-3549
Columbus, MS
318 North 7th Street, Suite D
Columbus, MS 39701
P:(662) 327-0748
Fax:(662) 328-5982
Eupora, MS
855 South Dunn Street
Eupora, MS 39744
P:(662) 687-1545
Fax:(662) 258-7240
Farmington, MS
4135 County Road 200
Corinth, MS 38844
P:(662) 687-1525
Fax:(662) 841-8845
Hernando, MS
2565 Caffey Street, #200
P.O. Box 218
Hernando, MS 38632
P:(662) 449-3090
Fax:(662) 449-4836
Tupelo, MS
431 West Main Street Suite #450
Tupelo, MS 38804
P:(662) 841-8808
Oxford, MS
107 Courthouse Square
Oxford, MS 38655
P: (662) 687-1540
Contact
Email: Government
Web Links
Politics
Source: none
Finances
Source: Open Secrets
Committees
House Armed Services Committee
Subcommittee Assignments:
Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, Chairman
Intelligence and Special Operations
House Committee On Agriculture
Subcommittee Assignments:
Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Subcommittee
Forestry Subcommittee
House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
Subcommittee Assignments:
Defense Intelligence & Overhead Architecture Subcommittee, Chairman
National Intelligence Enterprise Subcommittee
Caucuses
- Veterinary Medicine Caucus
- Republican Study Committee
New Legislation
Sponsored and Cosponsored
Issues
Source: Government page
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More Information
Services
Source: Government page
District
Source: Wikipedia
Mississippi’s 1st congressional district is in the northeast corner of the state. It includes much of the northern portion of the state including Columbus, Oxford, Southaven, Tupelo, and West Point. The University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) is in the district.
The district includes Alcorn, Benton, Calhoun, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Clay, DeSoto, Itawamba, Lafayette, Lee, Lowndes, Marshall, Monroe, Pontotoc, Prentiss, Tate, Tippah, Tishomingo, Union, Webster, and a portion of Oktibbeha County.
From statehood to the election of 1846, Mississippi elected representatives at-large statewide on a general ticket.
The congressional seat has been held by Republican Trent Kelly who won a June, 2015 special election to fill the vacant seat previously held by Republican Alan Nunnelee who died February 6, 2015. In the November 2010 election, Nunnelee had defeated Democratic incumbent Travis Childers, Constitutionalist Gail Giaramita, Independent Conservative Party candidate Wally Pang of Batesville, Libertarian Harold Taylor, and Reformist Barbara Dale Washer.
Wikipedia
John Trent Kelly (born March 1, 1966) is an American lawyer, politician, and U.S. Army general officer 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.
Early life and career
John Trent 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.[2]
Kelly graduated from Union High School in 1984 and joined the Mississippi Army National Guard in 1985. He earned an associate’s degree from East Central Community College in Decatur before graduating from the University of Mississippi with a bachelor’s degree. Kelly is a member of Phi Kappa Tau fraternity.[3]
Kelly graduated from University of Mississippi School of Law and received a master’s degree in Strategic Studies from the United States Army War College in 2010.[4]
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.[5]
Military service
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In 1990, Kelly mobilized for Operation Desert Storm as a second lieutenant engineer officer. In 2005, Kelly 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. Kelly has received two Bronze Star medals, the Combat Action Badge, the Bronze, Silver, and Gold de Fleury medals, 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.[6] Kelly was promoted to brigadier general in January 2018[7] and to major general in November 2020.[8] He currently serves as assistant adjutant general – Army, for the Mississippi National Guard.[9]
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
| Year | Republican | Votes | Pct | Democratic | Votes | Pct | Third party | Party | Votes | Pct | Third party | Party | Votes | Pct | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 (special) | Trent Kelly | 69,516 | 70.0% | Walter Zinn | 29,831 | 30.0% | |||||||||||||
| 2016 | 206,455 | 68.7% | Jacob Owens | 83,947 | 27.9% | Chase Wilson | Libertarian | 6,181 | 2.1% | Cathy Toole | Reform | 3,840 | 1.3% | ||||||
| 2018 | 158,245 | 66.9% | Randy Wadkins | 76,601 | 32.4% | Tracella L.O. Hil | Reform | 1,675 | 0.7% | ||||||||||
| 2020 | 228,787 | 68.7% | Antonia Eliason | 104,008 | 31.3% | ||||||||||||||
| 2022 | 122,151 | 72.9% | Dianne Black | 45,238 | 27.0% |
2015 special election
After the death of Republican Congressman Alan Nunnelee in 2015, Kelly entered the race to succeed him. Nunnelee’s widow, Tori Nunnelee, contributed to Kelly’s campaign.[10]
In the first round, Kelly finished second in a 13-candidate field, behind Democrat Walter Zinn.[11] As no candidate received a majority of votes, Kelly and Zinn advanced to a runoff on June 2.[11] Several of the other candidates in the race endorsed Kelly after they were eliminated.[12]
In the heavily Republican district, Kelly took 70% of the vote to Zinn’s 30%.[13][14][15]
2016 election
Kelly won the Republican primary in March 2016, defeating Paul Clever of Olive Branch both districtwide and in DeSoto County. Kelly had 18,152 votes in DeSoto County, or 80%, to Clever’s 4,497 (20%).
Kelly then won reelection with 67.57% of the vote to Democratic nominee Jacob Owens’s 27.97%, followed by Libertarian Chase Wilson’s 2.92% and Reform Party candidate Cathy L. Toole’s 1.45%.
Tenure
Kelly was sworn in by House Speaker John Boehner on June 9, 2015.[16] In his first term, he served on the House Committee on Agriculture and the House Committee on Small Business.
Kelly serves on the House Armed Services Committee, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the House Agriculture Committee. He has previously served on the House Committee on Small Business and the House Committee on the Budget.
In December 2020, Kelly was one of 126 Republican members of the House of Representatives to sign an amicus brief in support of Texas v. Pennsylvania, a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election, in which Joe Biden defeated[17] incumbent Donald Trump. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case on the basis that Texas lacked standing under Article III of the Constitution to challenge the results of an election held by another state.[18][19][20]
In 2024, Kelly voted against the $60 billion military aid package for Ukraine, although much of the money would go to his constituency.[21]
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[22][23]—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 roughly ten yards 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.[24] Scalise and Mika were taken to nearby hospitals, where they underwent surgery.[25] Scalise is the first sitting member of Congress to have been shot since Representative Gabby Giffords was shot in 2011.[26]
Committee assignments
For the 118th Congress:[27]
Caucus memberships
- National Guard and Reserve Components (co-chair)
- Steel Caucus
- Iraq Caucus (co-chair)
- Caucus on Uzbekistan (co-chair)
- Fertilizer Caucus
- Rural Broadband Caucus
- Crop Insurance Caucus
- Working Forests Caucus
Honours
- Order of Friendship (29 August 2019, Uzbekistan)[28]
References
- ^ “Trent Kelly sworn in as newest member of Congress”.
- ^ “About”. Trent Kelly for Congress. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
- ^ “Col Trent Kelly”. Combat Veterans for Congress. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
- ^ Guajardo, Rod (April 29, 2015). “Kelly sees Congress as ‘ultimate’ service job”. Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal.
- ^ Brumfield, Patsy R. (December 29, 2011). “Kelly ready to take on DA’s responsibilities”. Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal.
- ^ “Biography : Congressman Trent Kelly”. trentkelly.house.gov. March 9, 2015. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. - ^ JOURNAL, CALEB BEDILLION DAILY. “Kelly promoted to rank of brigadier general”. Daily Journal. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
- ^ “Congressman Trent Kelly: Representing the First District of Mississippi”. House.gov. March 9, 2015. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
- ^ “Assistant Adjutant General, Army”. ms.ng.mil. Archived from the original on May 21, 2021. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
- ^ Harrison, Bobby (April 21, 2015). “Nunnelee funds directed to Kelly’s campaign”. Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal.
- ^ a b Easley, Jonathan (May 12, 2015). “Democrat advances to runoff in Mississippi special election”. The Hill.
- ^ Pender, Geoff (May 13, 2015). “Democrats celebrate Tuesday win; battle moves to runoff”. Clarion Ledger.
- ^ Cahn, Emily (May 12, 2015). “Mississippi Special Election Heads to Runoff”. Roll Call.
- ^ Pettus, Emily Wagster (May 13, 2015). “1 Dem, 1 Republican headed to US House runoff in Mississippi”. Washington Post. Archived from the original on May 27, 2015.
- ^ Cahn, Emily (June 2, 2015). “Kelly Wins Runoff for Mississippi House Seat”. Roll Call.
- ^ “Rep. Trent Kelly of Mississippi Sworn in as New House Member”. ABC News. Associated Press. June 9, 2015.
- ^ Blood, Michael R.; Riccardi, Nicholas (December 5, 2020). “Biden officially secures enough electors to become president”. AP News. Archived from the original on December 8, 2020. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ Liptak, Adam (December 11, 2020). “Supreme Court Rejects Texas Suit Seeking to Subvert Election”. The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ “Order in Pending Case” (PDF). Supreme Court of the United States. December 11, 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
- ^ Diaz, Daniella. “Brief from 126 Republicans supporting Texas lawsuit in Supreme Court”. CNN. Archived from the original on December 12, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
- ^ Thiessen, Marc (April 25, 2024). “These politicians voted against their states’ best interests on Ukraine aid”. The Washington Post. Retrieved April 26, 2024.
- ^ Laughland, Oliver; Swaine, Jon (June 15, 2017). “Virginia shooting: gunman was leftwing activist with record of domestic violence”. The Guardian. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
- ^ Pierce, Matt; Tanfani, Joseph (June 14, 2017). “Virginia gunman hated Republicans, and ‘was always in his own little world’“. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
- ^ de Vries, Karl; Scott, Eugene (June 14, 2017). “Rep. Scalise shot in Virginia”. CNN. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
- ^ Staff. “Hospital: House Majority Whip Steve Scalise in critical condition after surgery”. AOL. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
- ^ Yadidi, Noa (June 14, 2017). “Giffords tweets support following baseball practice shooting”. CNN. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
- ^ “Trent Kelly”. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
- ^ “Trent Kellini “Doʻstlik” ordeni bilan mukofotlash toʻgʻrisida”. UzA (in Uzbek). August 30, 2019. Retrieved August 31, 2019.
External links
- U.S. Representative Trent Kelly official U.S. House website
- Kelly for Congress campaign website
- Trent Kelly at Curlie
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
- Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
- Profile at Vote Smart
- Appearances on C-SPAN
