Brigid Kelly (also Brigid Kelly Culter) (April 21, 1983 – March 26, 2024) was an American politician who was the state representative for the 31st District of the

Ohio House of Representatives The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate. The House of Representatives first met in ...

. She was a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

. The district consists of a portion of

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

as well as Norwood,

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, Silverton, St. Bernard and a portion of Columbia Township in Hamilton County. She later served as the Hamilton County Auditor in the State of Ohio from her election in 2022 until her resignation in 2024 due to ill health.

Life and career

Kelly was born and raised in

Norwood, Ohio Norwood is the third most populous city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and an enclave of the larger city of Cincinnati. The population was 19,207 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. Originally settled as an early suburb of ...

, and attended Saint Ursula Academy before graduating from

Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati and Evanston (Cincinnati), Ohio. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier has an undergraduate enrollment of 4,860 studen ...

with a bachelors and the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,00 ...

with her masters. A member of a union household, Kelly for years has organized for the

United Food and Commercial Workers Union The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) is a labor union representing approximately 1.3 million workers in the United States and Canada in industries including retail; meatpacking, food processing and manufacturing; hosp ...

. Prior to state elected office, Kelly served on the Norwood City Council. Kelly was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in 2022, and died from the illness on March 26, 2024, at the age of 40.

Ohio House of Representatives

In 2016, Representative

Denise Driehaus Denise Driehaus (born January 23, 1963) is an American Democratic politician currently serving as a Hamilton County Commissioner. She formerly served in the Ohio House of Representatives from 2009 to 2016. Life and career Driehaus was raise ...

was ineligible to run for a fifth term due to term-limits, and instead waged a successful bid for Hamilton County Commissioner. Kelly had long been planning to succeed Driehaus, and indeed did announce her campaign for the Democratic nomination. A safely Democratic seat, the primary was crowded, with six people running. Kelly however easily won with a plurality of nearly 35%. Kelly easily won the general election against Republican Mary E. Yeager with 68% of the vote to take the seat.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Brigid 1983 births 2024 deaths Xavier University alumni Democratic Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives 21st-century American legislators Women state legislators in Ohio 21st-century American women politicians Politicians from Cincinnati People from Norwood, Ohio University of Cincinnati alumni Deaths from cancer in Ohio Deaths from esophageal cancer in the United States