Kelby G. Woodard (born April 1970) is a

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

politician and former member of the

Minnesota House of Representatives The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower house of the Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. There are 134 members, twice as many as the Minnesota Senate. Floor sessions are held in the north wing of the State Capitol in Saint Pa ...

. A member of the

Republican Party of Minnesota The Republican Party of Minnesota is the oldest active political party in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The Minnesota Republican Party’s platform is relatively moderate. The party’s main issues are economic growth, education, healthcare, civi ...

, he represented District 20A, which includes Le Sueur and Scott counties in the southeastern part of the state. He is also a small business owner of Trade Innovations, TRG Direct, and the Trusted Trade Alliance.

Early life, education, and career

Woodard graduated from the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School," ...

in Denton, receiving his

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in Criminal Justice. He went on to earn a Certificate of Global Security Management from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

and a

M.B.A. A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

in International Business from the

University of Dallas The University of Dallas is a Private university, private Catholic church, Catholic university in Irving, Texas. Established in 1956, it is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The university comprises four academi ...

. He worked for the

U.S. Customs Service The United States Customs Service was the very first federal law enforcement agency of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government. Established on July 31, 1789, it collected import tariffs, performed other selected borde ...

, was the Director of Supply Chain Assets Protection for

Target Corporation Target Corporation (doing business as Target and stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American big box department store chain headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the seventh largest retailer in the United States, and a compon ...

, and was also a member of the Minnesota

Civil Air Patrol Civil Air Patrol (CAP) is a congressionally chartered, federally supported non-profit corporation that serves as the official civilian auxiliary of the United States Air Force (USAF). CAP is a volunteer organization with an aviation-minded mem ...

and the Scott County Criminal Justice Advisory Board.

Minnesota House of Representatives

Woodard was first elected to the House in 2010, unseating incumbent

David Bly David Bly (born January 8, 1952 in Dubuque, Iowa) is an American politician and former member of the Minnesota House of Representatives. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), he represented District 20B, which include ...

by just 37 votes after a recount. He was re-elected in 2012. He announced on April 14, 2014 that he would not seek re-election.

Same-sex marriage

On May 21, 2011, he joined the House Republican Majority in voting for a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. On May 9, 2013, before the passage of a bill allowing same-sex civil marriages in Minnesota, Woodard pleaded with House members to reject the measure, citing a "deeply held belief" that marriage is between a man and a woman.

Cristo Rey Dallas

Kelby served as the president of Cristo Rey Dallas College Prep, located in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

. The School is the 30th school in the

Cristo Rey Network The Cristo Rey Network is a not-for-profit organization founded in 2000 to increase the number of schools modeled after Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Chicago, which was founded in 1996 to prepare youth from low-income families for post-seconda ...

, which focuses on empowering students from underserved, low income communities to develop themselves as leaders and contributors of society. Kelby accepted the position of president in 2014, making him the founding president of the school.

Saint Thomas Academy

On February 21, 2020, it was announced that beginning July 1, Woodard would become the headmaster of

Saint Thomas Academy Saint Thomas Academy (abbr. STA), originally known as St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary and formerly known as St. Thomas Military Academy, is the only all-male, Catholic, college-preparatory, military high school in Minnesota. It is located in Mendota H ...

, returning to Minnesota after several years in Texas.

References

External links

Rep. Kelby Woodard
''official Minnesota House of Representatives website''
Kelby Woodard
''official campaign website''
Project Votesmart - Rep. Kelby Woodard Profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Woodard, Kelby 1970 births Living people People from Belle Plaine, Minnesota Republican Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives University of North Texas alumni Georgetown University alumni University of Dallas alumni United States Customs Service personnel 21st-century American politicians