Trent Kelly (politician)

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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
Personal details
Born	John Trent Kelly (1966-03-01) March 1, 1966 Union, Mississippi, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Residence	Saltillo, Mississippi
Alma mater	University of Mississippi U.S. Army War College
Occupation	Attorney
Religion	United Methodist
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	Army National Guard
Years of service	1985–present
Rank	Colonel
Unit	168th Engineer Brigade
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 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 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.

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, 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.

Committee assignments

• Committee on Agriculture
  • Subcommittee on Commodity Exchanges, Energy, and Credit
  • Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture
• Committee on Small Business
  • Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Tax and Capital Access
  • Subcommittee on Investigations, Oversight and Regulations

External links

• Trent Kelly at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Kelly for Congress campaign site

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Alan Nunnelee	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Mississippi's 1st congressional district June 2, 2015 – present	Incumbent
United States order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by Dan Donovan	United States Representatives by seniority 434th	Succeeded by Darin LaHood