George Joseph "Mike" Kelly Jr. (born May 10, 1948), is an American politician in the Republican Party who has been the U.S. Representative for Pennsylvania's 3rd congressional district since 2011.
Video Mike Kelly (Pennsylvania politician)
Education and early career
Kelly was born on May 10, 1948, in Pittsburgh, PA. He has spent most of his life in Butler, a city north of Pittsburgh. He played varsity football as a fullback in high school, and his team reached two WPIAL championship games. He graduated from Butler High School in 1966. He received a scholarship to play football at University of Notre Dame, but his playing ended because of an injury.
After college, he worked for his father's Chevrolet/Cadillac car dealership. In 1995, he purchased his father's business, and then added Hyundai and KIA to his dealership lineup.
Kelly is a former member of the Butler City Council.
Maps Mike Kelly (Pennsylvania politician)
United States House of Representatives
Elections
- 2010
Kelly challenged incumbent Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper in 2010. He won the election by 10%, largely by running up his margins outside of heavily Democratic Erie.
- 2012
Kelly defeated Democrat Missa Eaton 55%-41%. His district had been made slightly friendlier in redistricting. The district was pushed slightly to the south, absorbing some rural and Republican territory east of Pittsburgh.
- 2014
Kelly defeated Democrat Dan LaVallee of Cranberry Township 60.5%-39.5%.
- 2016
Kelly ran unopposed and received 100% of the vote.
Committee assignments
- United States House Committee on Ways and Means
In addition, Kelly serves as the co-chair of the Northeast-Midwest Congressional Coalition, a bipartisan group of U.S. Representatives from the 18 Northeastern and Midwestern States.
Caucus memberships
- Congressional Automotive Caucus
- Congressional Coal Caucus
- Job Creators Caucus
- Natural Gas Caucus
- Sportsman's Caucus
- Congressional Caucus on Korea
- Congressional Services Caucus
- Congressional Manufacturing Caucus
- Congressional Steel Caucus
- International Conservation Caucus
- Marcellus Shale Caucus
- Congressional Prayer Caucus
- Pro-Life Caucus
- Republican Study Committee
- Republican Main Street Partnership.
Political positions
"Deep state" remarks
At the Mercer County Republican Party's annual Lincoln Day dinner in 2017, Kelly suggested that former president Barack Obama was running a "shadow government" to undermine President Trump:
President Obama himself said he was going to stay in Washington until his daughter graduated. I think we ought to pitch in to let him go someplace else, because he is only there for one purpose and one purpose only, and that is to run a shadow government that is going to totally upset the new agenda. It just doesn't make sense. And people sit back and they say to me, 'My gosh, why can't you guys get this done?' I say, 'We've got a new CEO, we've got some new heads in the different departments, but the same people are there, and they don't believe that the new owners or the new managers should be running the ship.'
When asked about these remarks, Kelly said that they were meant to be private. After the remarks made national news, Kelly's spokesperson said that Kelly did not believe that Obama "is personally operating a shadow government".
Environment
On July 28, 2014, Kelly compared the Environmental Protection Agency to terrorists while speaking at an event hosted by the conservative Heritage Foundation, where he attacked rules limiting power plant emissions, saying "You talk about terrorism - you can do it in a lot of different ways,... But you terrorize the people who supply everything this country needs to be great - and you keep them on the sidelines - my goodness, what have we become?"
Healthcare
On August 1, 2012, Kelly called the HHS mandate of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) - which requires health insurers or employers that provide their employees with health insurance to cover some contraceptive costs in their health insurance plans - an attack on Americans' constitutionally protected religious rights and that August 1, 2012, would go down in infamy as "the day that religious freedom died".
Redistricting
When Kelly was elected, the district was located in the northwestern corner of the state, stretching from Erie to rural territory near Pittsburgh. In February 2018, after the Supreme Court ruled the Pennsylvania districts to be unconstitutionally gerrymandered, most of his district will become the 16th District.
Personal life
Kelly lives in Butler, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Victoria. They have four children, George III, Brendan, Charlotte, and Colin, and ten grandchildren. He is the brother-in-law of Tennessee's 1st congressional district Congressman Phil Roe.
References
External links
- Congressman Mike Kelly official U.S. House site
- Mike Kelly for Congress
- Mike Kelly at Curlie (based on DMOZ)
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Profile at Project Vote Smart
- Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
- Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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