Trent Kelly

For the cricketer, see Trent Kelly (cricketer).

Trent Kelly
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Mississippi's 1st district
Incumbent
Assumed office June 2, 2015
Preceded by	Alan Nunnelee
District Attorney for Mississippi's 1st Judicial District
In office January 1, 2012 – June 2, 2015[1]
Preceded by	John Young
Succeeded by	John Weddle
Personal details
Born	John Trent Kelly (1966-03-01) March 1, 1966 (age 58) Union, Mississippi, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Sheila Kelly
Children	3
Education	East Central Community College (AA) University of Mississippi (BA, JD) United States Army War College (MSS)
Website	House website
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
Years of service	1985–present (reserve)
Rank	Major General
Unit	Army National Guard
Wars	Persian Gulf War Iraq War
Awards	Legion of Merit Bronze Star (2) Combat Action Badge

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

Major General Trent Kelly is the assistant adjutant general – Army, for the Mississippi National Guard.

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

Mississippi's 1st congressional district: Results 2015–2022

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

Main article: 2015 Mississippi's 1st congressional district 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

Main article: 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]

Veterans

The PACT ACT which expanded VA benefits to veterans exposed to toxic chemicals during their military service, received a "nay" from Kelly.^[27] Regarding cannabis, despite lobbying from VSOs such as the DAV^[28] Kelly also voted against 2022 MORE Act.^[29][30]

Committee assignments

For the 118th Congress:^[31]

• Committee on Agriculture
  • Subcommittee on Forestry
  • Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry
• Committee on Armed Services
  • Subcommittee on Intelligence and Special Operations
  • Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces (Chair)
• Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
  • Subcommittee on Defense Intelligence and Overhead Architecture (Chair)
  • Subcommittee on National Intelligence Enterprise

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 [uz] (29 August 2019, Uzbekistan)^[32]

References

1. "Trent Kelly sworn in as newest member of Congress".
2. "About". Trent Kelly for Congress. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
3. "Col Trent Kelly". Combat Veterans for Congress. Archived from the original on May 22, 2015. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
4. Guajardo, Rod (April 29, 2015). "Kelly sees Congress as 'ultimate' service job". Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. Archived from the original on March 21, 2016. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
5. Brumfield, Patsy R. (December 29, 2011). "Kelly ready to take on DA's responsibilities". Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. Archived from the original on May 27, 2015. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
6. "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.
7. JOURNAL, CALEB BEDILLION DAILY. "Kelly promoted to rank of brigadier general". Daily Journal. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
8. "Congressman Trent Kelly: Representing the First District of Mississippi". House.gov. March 9, 2015. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
9. "Assistant Adjutant General, Army". ms.ng.mil. Archived from the original on May 21, 2021. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
10. Harrison, Bobby (April 21, 2015). "Nunnelee funds directed to Kelly's campaign". Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. Archived from the original on May 27, 2015. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
11. Easley, Jonathan (May 12, 2015). "Democrat advances to runoff in Mississippi special election". The Hill.
12. Pender, Geoff (May 13, 2015). "Democrats celebrate Tuesday win; battle moves to runoff". Clarion Ledger.
13. Cahn, Emily (May 12, 2015). "Mississippi Special Election Heads to Runoff". Roll Call. Archived from the original on May 14, 2015. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
14. 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.
15. Cahn, Emily (June 2, 2015). "Kelly Wins Runoff for Mississippi House Seat". Roll Call. Archived from the original on June 7, 2015. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
16. "Rep. Trent Kelly of Mississippi Sworn in as New House Member". ABC News. Associated Press. June 9, 2015.
17. 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.
18. 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.
19. "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.
20. 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.
21. Thiessen, Marc (April 25, 2024). "These politicians voted against their states' best interests on Ukraine aid". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 26, 2024.
22. Laughland, Oliver; Swaine, Jon (June 15, 2017). "Virginia shooting: gunman was leftwing activist with record of domestic violence". The Guardian. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
23. 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.
24. de Vries, Karl; Scott, Eugene (June 14, 2017). "Rep. Scalise shot in Virginia". CNN. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
25. Staff. "Hospital: House Majority Whip Steve Scalise in critical condition after surgery". AOL. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
26. Yadidi, Noa (June 14, 2017). "Giffords tweets support following baseball practice shooting". CNN. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
27. https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/202257 ^{[bare URL]}
28. "DAV Magazine July/August 2023 Page 5". www.qgdigitalpublishing.com.
29. https://www.c-span.org/video/?519065-1/house-session&start=11123 ^{[bare URL]}
30. "Vote Smart | Facts for All".
31. "Trent Kelly". Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
32. "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
• 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

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Alan Nunnelee	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Mississippi's 1st congressional district 2015–present	Incumbent
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by Bruce Westerman	United States representatives by seniority 177th	Succeeded by Darin LaHood